Bereavement!

[chickenslave]

This may sound mad, but does anyone think that chickens grieve? I had to have Ada PTS earlier this month.In the two weeks leading up to this while she was 'hospitalised' in a tea chest in the kitchen,and ever since, her pals Cissie (Orpie-ish) and Tina Turner(don't ask- black Silkie-ish with attitude) went into what I can only describe as a sulk! No matter what delights I put out for them-sweetcorn, sultanas, swede and all sorts of lovely greens, they just turn their beaks up at it all. Or am I reading too much into it and maybe it has all coincided with this really grot weather? They have to be encouraged out into the garden and don't even show much interest in their dust bath and as for me finding them a nice juicy worm, well you'd think I was offering them a KFC! of course there have been no eggs for a good month either, even though they both came back into lay roundabout 21st December. They look well enough although Tina Turner could do with a bit more meat on her and they eat their layers pellets and corn sctratch but they really don't have the enthusiasm they used to have...
What do you think!

 

[Anonymous]

I do believe that some chickens do grieve/miss their friends,and will display it in different ways.On the whole,animals do cope better with death than people do,but,when I separated an ill chook last year,and her friends didn't know she had died they looked and called for her.
Last week one of mine died,she died in her sleep in her hen house.Her sisters and a cockerel who are in with them didn't peck or damage her body,but,they definitely saw her dead and have coped a lot better.
One of my other hens, that lost her cockerel,looked for him to,and definitely moped for about 2 days,she's back to normal now.
It could be coincidence that you're other's are behaving like this,but,they could well be missing her a lot.

 

[Tim]

Chickens live in a flock with a pecking order and they are in fact quite nervous animals that like routine - so when a member of the flock leaves, it upsets the order and this can stress them. Stress in chickens can cause them to stop laying or worse fall ill.

When a chook leaves the flock, the gap (in the pecking order) can be filled almost immediately by another hen (they all move up one in the rank) but if the chook at the top leaves, there can sometimes be disorder for a while because more than one feels they would like to be boss. They normally have fairly short memories and order is restored to the flock quite quickly (sometimes if you remove a bird for a couple of days they get picked on when you put them back).

My guess is its more an upset in the flock that has caused them stress and they are behaving differently. They should come into lay again soon, it's not unusual for them to have stopped over Jan. Especially if they are in their first year, they probably didn't moult and came into lay when others were stopping for the winter.