Depressed chicken

[kittensinmydinner2]

My lovely girl is very down in the dumps.
Three weeks ago 2 of her friends were taken. They are a group of four hatched together although different types. The two who were taken were 'twins ' .. so the set up was this pair, another one who was lonesome chickens friend.. then .. poor friend also grabbed by the fox.. so only lonesome left. ..

She used to be so bossy and friendly. Now just sits like this all day. .. we rushed off and bought her two friends but no change...

How can I help her feel happier?

(Two new friends are thriving after a life in intensive egg production)

how long have the 2 new ones been there?
we bought 3 new ones to add to a flock of 4 and it took aaaaages- weeks- before it all settled down

Ahh that's interesting. They have only been here a week. They are rescued from being turned into dog food from an intensive free range operation. Mrs Hen has been with us since 3 months old and has only known us.. wandering around a half acre garden. New girls LOVE it.. and are flourishing. Mrs Hen greeted them by climbing on them and pecking them.. since then they have been calm and coincided together well but don't hang out with her. The rescues hang out together- mostly..

Poor chick, it's so nice to hear how you are trying to cheer her up. Have you tried giving her things to occupy her, maybe this would help while she is getting bonded with the new chickens? My chickens like food enrichment items, like hanging some corn or a cabbage on a piece of string, or my chicken's favourite is an almost whole melon with a bit cut out so they can get inside. You can buy chicken toys too, but I've never tried them!

I hope she feels better soon.

Is it connected to the incident or could it be that the chicken is apathetic, which is a sign of bird flu?

Can you educate me on bird flu ? We are a 3 miles from nearest neighbour but guessing it can be transmitted by wild birds ?
She is free range in the garden until 6pm then in their run...

I don’t know too much about it, but yes it can be transmitted by wild birds and I know that one sign is that the bird becomes apathetic. I would look it up on the Defra website (and if you call out a vet and they decide it has bird flu they will err on the side of caution :-(). It can be though if you have introduced new birds that they are not getting along and rescue chickens can be a bit aggressive unfortunately. I am not an expert and not a vet, just what I know from observing friends’ and family’s birds. I do know some people that have got rescue chickens and had to pass them o n because they didn’t gel with the existing flock, however small. It would be good if we had some vets come on the thread and advise about the behaviours...

Here is some official information:

www.gov.uk/guidance/avian-influenza-bird-flu

Fingers crossed though that they are just needing to spend a bit of time together. Is she eating okay? If so, it is probably just about the flock rather than your girl.

One of my girls became like this after her 'sister' was taken by a fox, the noise she made was incredible. She ran away next door (they also have hens) and would not come back to us for months, not even venturing into the garden. She too was very unhappy, not eating very much.

To me she was just too traumatised to come back, and she did not until she was ill, then she only came to me.

I would of got at least 3 new hens, as I would find the 2 would stick together and leave your other girl out. It will take time, give her lots of attention and fuss, and perhaps some treats. Try and keep her occupied, a hanging basket with lettuce/cabbage/corn pushed through the holes is a good occupier for all the hens to enjoy and hopefully help them get along.

But over the years of myself introducing new hens to established ones can be difficult at times and you can see 'gangs' starting and only those will stick together and others left on their own, or maybe I have spent wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy to much time with my girls!

Cannot really see by the picture, what kind of hen is she?

Different breeds have very very different personalities

I am not sure what sort of hen. I will take another photo when I'm back from work.
I wanted to thank everyone for their ideas. We have set up some food treats on strings and will also get her a melon in the way home ..

Hi

Just wondering how your hen is doing? I wonder if it would help getting a couple of the same breed that she is? Are the rescue birds a different breed?

P

Hi

Just wondering how your hen is doing? I wonder if it would help getting a couple of the same breed that she is? Are the rescue birds a different breed?

P