Lonely chicken - will she be alright by herself?

[GudrunBrangwen]

I don't know if chickens need other chickens in order to lead a full life or if you can have just one and it be happy...I'm not sure I think it can be Ok on its own.

Basically till a month or so ago, we had three chickens, all the same age, all about 5yo.

One was poorly looking for a few days then bled from its beak and had to be PTS...the vet said probably a respiratory thing or perhaps tumour etc, but she suspected lung involvement. We didn't have a PM.

Then the other day another one went - she looked ill for a day, I went in to have a look and frontline her (the other one had had some lice which we found after she died - so this was the second dose but I didn't see any on this one) and she went floppy and passed out in my hands.

She didn't recover and was dead a couple of hours later.

So we have one left. I am worried that a) she might be incubating whatever it was - if the same thing killed both the others - though in a sense this would mean she wasn't on her own long term

and b) that she will be utterly fine and that means a life on her own with no other chickens for company.

She is in a walk in run with our two rabbits. Sometimes I let her free in the garden - which she loves.

WWYD - try and get more chickens, or just let her be alone till she goes too? It could be a few more years I know.

We weren't going to have any more but I didn't really plan for the 'one left' scenario.

Sorry to hear you lost two of your girls.

My initial instinct would be to get some more hens, flock animals need friends.

Maybe have a look in local ads for a single hen friend, or, if you don't want anymore then perhaps consider finding her another home?

Yes, thank you this is my instinct too - I'm not sure where to look, obvs not Gumtree etc - maybe I will look at a chicken forum and see what is around.

She keeps wandering about looking for her friend and not quite knowing what to do with herself. I will give her some banana later, should help matters a little

I had one rather eccentric hen whose companion died. This hen was alone for about two months after that, and she was absolutely fine. But she had always been very independant. When a new one was old enough to put in with her she was utterly vile to it, so much so that we got a second youngster to morally support the first. After ten days or so it settled down, then I got a cockerel as well, and still Independant Hen would pootle about the garden away from the other three, who stayed in a little flock. One of the younger two was taken by a fox last year, then Independant hen died, suddenly (she was 7) this Summer. I've just bought two more youngsters, as I knew with the hen and cock I had left, that if one died the other would be completely miserable and bereft. They are nothing like Independant Hen. Most hens are not very happy alone, so bringing in a young pair, or a cockerel and hen, now , would seem the best thing.