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just had a call from home (im at uni) from my mam to say one of our ladies died today, very likely old age a she was well into double figures . so now we only have 1 chicken and a greiving jack russel (dippy dog)

question...is it ok to bring in a new hen or two to keep the old one company or is she best left to it on her own?

sorry to hear about your old girl.. sounds like she had a good life. I think hens need other hens for company.. but bringin in new ones might cause some disturbance.. so.. difficult. i think i would get some new, young ones, maybe just a couple. and hope for the best

yeah we had an offer from our friend of 2 young one POLs maybe

Oh dear, I am sorry for your loss. Yes, this is a difficult one. Introducing two or more to one will result in some differences of opinion between them. You could try bringing in one new one, a couple of younger ones as Red suggests or maybe get a couple from different sources so that they are all new girls together, less likely to gang up.

She may just be happy with the dippy jack russell for company. You never know.

Zoe

That's a good old age and what a beauty she was too. I'm all for introducing a couple of young hens which the oldie will enjoy bossing around, and you'll get nice fresh eggs too!

ah,sorry to hear it,but i`m amazed she went into double figures,thats an achievment,is that her pic? she was a lovely hen.

Aww sorry you lost such a gorgeous chook
Like others have said, chickens are social and need company of other chickens. It’s a great idea to introduce some friends but you have to do it very slowly so will need separate coops/runs. they get used to seeing each other but cant harm, then once any squabbles through the wire settle, free range together with handful of corn so too busy foraging to fight. Also it will give a quarantine period for the new ones.

thanks for the advice peeps
yep i think a couple of young ones to boss would do her good as the one that died was the boss hen. she was a great layer till about 3months ago then just seemed to "age" suddenly .

Sorry for your loss, Jampot. It's so hard when our little friends leave us.

Martina