Chicken in mourning

20 years ago

Yesterday, one of our "meat" chickens, Martha, died. We had spared Martha and slightly smaller Mary when we harvested their "mates" last October. They were born last July so that makes them 9 months old. They were like sisters/best friends, always together, bottom of the pecking order. They slept together on the floor with Sluggo, our low status barred rock rooster (Underoo). Last week Martha had been sitting/resting a lot more than usual and I think her heart just gave out. When I got home, Martha was lying dead on the floor of the chicken house and Mary was in there alone with her. I think she was with her all day. When we took Martha out, Mary stayed in the house. And when she came out she was pretty quiet, didn't eat much. She really seemed sad, as if she was mourning the loss of her friend. I feel so bad for her. This morning she did come out and was getting around a little more. But I am worried about her. Will she be Ok without Martha? I've noticed that chickens stick with their own (the ones they hatched with I guess). Has anyone observed this kind of reaction to loss--and will Mary be come out of this?

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Comments (4)

sumac
20 years ago
Yes, I have seen this before. Any social animal will mourn the loss of their companion. I witnessed this with a pair of ducks I had and swore the male was dying of a broken heart. He moped for weeks until I got him a couple gals to keep him company. I had an injured or sick hen once and her friend stayed close by until I removed her from the flock. The rest of the girls just went about their business but that one hen stayed right by her friend. And they say animals have no soul. Well that's a topic for a new thread!
velvet_sparrow
20 years ago
Yes, chickens do mourn. They are flock animals and miss special friends especially hard. Show her lots of extra attention and give her treats.

When we lost our flock's Head Hen to old age, our Head Roo missed her terribly and died less than 48 hours later (nothing wrong with him at all!). The entire flock was lost and wandered about crying out and being VERY clingy with us. They needed lots of reassurance and special attention.

I even devoted a section of my chicken info page to this phenomenon. People who don't know chickens have no idea that chickens can grieve just like people do, it always surprises people when I tell them.

Velvet ~:>
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claraserena
Original Author
20 years ago
Thank you Sumac and Velvet--Unitl you wrote I was alarmed at Mary's behavior but I feel better now and have some hope that she will be OK. She has been acting more normally and I've been trying to give her extra treats (not easy with the others around) and I talk to her a lot.
Yes, the subject "do animals have souls?" would be a great one. And the experience of eating the flesh of an animal with a face I recognize and whom I have named is a new one.
I did not grow up on a farm. I envy people who have--they seem in synch with their land and their animals and that includes raising animals to eat.
lyam
20 years ago
That's a sad story. I feel for your girl.

We had a hen that was broody so we put some duck eggs in the nest for her to hatch. When they hatched they only lived for about 4-5 days. After they died the hen wandered around by herself (she didn't even socialize with her sister) looking so lonely an sad, so we babied her for a while so she wasn't alone.

Hope she gets to feeling better.

Tim