Anyone kept a lone hen?

OldPodge · 2023-02-14T02:36:21+00:00

One of my last 2 FSFH rescues is being euthanised by the vet tomorrow. She has been poorly and in the dining room for several days, and her sister seems to have been coping on her own so far. I don’t want to rescue any more hens as I plan to move house in the next year or two. The remaining hen is an old bird like me, and would probably not do well in a new flock. Has anyone any advice about keeping a lone hen successfully?

HappyHolidays22 · 14/02/2023 03:09

Oh that’s very sad. Sending hugs OP. We used to keep chickens and I must admit; when we got down to our last two, we did ask for someone else to take them in as part of their flock because we didn’t want anymore.

I can understand why you don’t want to do this though if she is quite old. Hens are social beings though and she won’t like being on her own sadly. Having said that, I’m sure she sees you as part of her flock too so I would suggest spending lots of time with her if you can in the garden.

Good luck and enjoy OP. Hens are such lovely little characters xxx

Original poster

OldPodge · 14/02/2023 15:46

Ah thanks for this. That’s helpful. Was sad coming back to her after the deed was done. I will see how she goes for a few days.

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DontMakeMeShushYou · 14/02/2023 15:51

We had a lone hen for a few months after our second hen died. She seemed fine as far as I could tell. Would come out and wander about the garden and behaved much like she had before. Surviving hen was the 'omega' though - she probably quite enjoyed being able to eat food and wander around without alpha hen chasing her and pecking her all the time.

Lou573 · 14/02/2023 16:03

I'm sure I read somewhere that if you place mirrors around their run they think they have company!

Welfast · 14/02/2023 16:19

We had one. She was indoors with us most of the time to be honest. She would fall asleep at dusk in the kitchen and I'd carry her back to her coop asleep for the night. She was friends with the dog

Stickytreacle · 14/02/2023 16:24

We had a lone hen as I didn't want to keep on with henkeeping after the sad demise of the rest due to age, but I have to say she was pretty much a pet and would wander round keeping the dogs and cats in order, and always first in line for food when we had a barbeque!
She seemed quite happy, and I think as long as her routine is the same and there is plenty of enrichment she should be okay. I think it's preferabe to the stress of joining a new flock with the inevitable bullying that ensues

DancingDonkeys · 14/02/2023 16:29

We had a similar situation, and our lone hen thrived on it - she was a bit of an oddball though! She lived outside and was friends with our other, larger animals, and did teach herself to use the cat flap in the end!
She was a rum little thing, but had more personality than any other hen we've had and this only came out once she was on her own.
She also stopped sleeping in her own coop and put herself to bed with the goats, who were happy to have another bunkmate and offered some peace of mind for us when the fox was about.

Original poster

OldPodge · 14/02/2023 21:28

Welfast · 14/02/2023 16:19

We had one. She was indoors with us most of the time to be honest. She would fall asleep at dusk in the kitchen and I'd carry her back to her coop asleep for the night. She was friends with the dog

Aw…mine try to get in the house as much as they can as they love to steal the cats food. The cat is scared of them!

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AgathaMystery · 14/02/2023 21:29

We have a lone hen in our family - she seems okay about it and started laying again 3 days ago after her winter break. She is very very old.

Original poster

OldPodge · 14/02/2023 21:30

DancingDonkeys · 14/02/2023 16:29

We had a similar situation, and our lone hen thrived on it - she was a bit of an oddball though! She lived outside and was friends with our other, larger animals, and did teach herself to use the cat flap in the end!
She was a rum little thing, but had more personality than any other hen we've had and this only came out once she was on her own.
She also stopped sleeping in her own coop and put herself to bed with the goats, who were happy to have another bunkmate and offered some peace of mind for us when the fox was about.

Love this! As I said my cat is scared of hens but will see of a fox! Now I need goats too!

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Augend23 · 14/02/2023 21:31

Aww, I miss having hens reading all these tales. We used to have one who would fly in through the windows. I could definitely get on board with a house hen, but my tiny town house I now live in has too many carpeted rooms for that.

Welfast · 15/02/2023 05:13

We miss our last one too. She had every member of the household under control. If she wanted to come indoors she would do a panic scream at the back door which made the dog race outside thinking there was a fox, she would then calmly walk inside the kitchen and March into the living room

TheChosenTwo · 15/02/2023 05:18

All of you whose hens come indoors, HOW?! Ours literally take 4 steps and shit on repeat!!
OP I wonder about this too, I’m sure we’ll
probably get more for now but I’m curious as to how they are when there’s only 1. I’m not sure a house hen is the way forwards for us though.

OrderOfTheKookaburra · 15/02/2023 05:52

@TheChosenTwo - I was wondering the same thing! I've actually fenced mine off to the rear part of the garden because they pooped so much everywhere. Sick and tired of cleaning the veranda.

TheChosenTwo · 15/02/2023 07:09

Yes!! Ours used to get on our patio and within minutes it was covered! Maybe they just go more often than others.

Enko · 15/02/2023 07:31

I dont know anything about hens op
. You sound like a caring hennownwr though. but your post reminded me of this short reel so I thought I would share.

QuinkWashable · 15/02/2023 08:03

I'm down to 2, I've been thinking what to do when one of them finally pops her clogs too, and I'm still not sure, so it's good to hear some options.

I don't think I could let mine be a house chicken either - they do massive, frequent poos, and I have no idea how I'd keep them out of the cat food! (or any of the food TBH.. the alpha chicken would get into anything)

soberfabulous · 15/02/2023 09:42

Ah I love my chickens so much and am bereft whenever we lose one.

OP a friend of mine was in the same situation and their old chicken lives to be 10!!! She mainly snoozed all day in their kitchen. She had her own sofa (!) and slept on it.

I have occasionally allowed my girls into the kitchen. We have tiled floors and I put towels down.

QuinkWashable · 17/02/2023 10:43

Well, this thread jinxed it - dog from down the road broke out, broke into the run, and nabbed a chicken, so I'm down to one, and have to decide what I want to do next.

My 12 year was amazing - no fear, out there yelling at the dog and trying to get it away from the girls! Poor thing's totally distraught now though.

Stickytreacle · 20/02/2023 20:15

Oh no! Quinkwashable, I am sorry to hear that. I hope she settles.

On the hens in the house topic, ours once got in through the cat flap when we were out, I came home to a carpet covered in chicken landmines and a crystal decanter smashed, there seemed to be not much glass to clean up, and when I picked the hen up her crop was full of glass😮. She seemed fine afterwards, but sadly didnt lay crystal eggs.

TheChosenTwo · 20/02/2023 21:09

Oh no @QuinkWashable 😭 sorry to hear that. How’s the one remaining?
We seem to have a bit of a poorly hen on our hands at the moment, she laid a weird what we now think is a lash egg. She’s probably got an infection so I think dh is sorting out a vet visit tomorrow for her to see if that’s it. It’s sad, she’s the dominant one and the others don’t seem to know what to do with themselves!