Chickens - mine are immortal!

Oh, and I forgot to ask: has anyone ever kept a single chicken? The older one I have is now coming to the end of her life - just sitting quietly sleeping a lot of the time but not in any pain. I am worried that Sage, the younger one will be miserable on her own. She does have a fair size run but I know that they are flock animals and need company. Should I rehome her when the time comes, or see how she goes for a while? Advice please!

Hi Trisha. I've just googled and 3-7 years is average, and it's not unusual for them to live to 10 or even 12 years.
I'd love to have chickens, but we have a lot of foxes about.
I've mentioned before on here that my parents and I had tame tawny owls. Reg lived to be over 20 years, which I believe is very unusual.
Don't you fancy getting another friend for Sage? (What is the other chicken's name?)

Thank you for the info FannyCornforth! How lovely to have tame owls. They are one of my favourite birds although I've only ever seen one in the "wild", a huge white one which flew across the road very low down when DH and I were driving home late one night. It was so majestic! We hear them in the woods at the bottom of our garden but haven't spotted one yet.

My other chicken is called Joanne, after one of my previous work friends. I started off with four, all named after my friends at work. I topped up the flock with Sage and Onion and then Hinge and Bracket. Joanne and Sage are the two survivors. To be honest, I would like to get some more but DH is not keen. We have had the garden sorted out now after some years and it is no longer practical to let them free range, so they are now in an enclosure. If I thought Sage would be OK on her own, I would love to keep her but I have read that they are not really happy living solo. Although some people have had one chicken lving alone successfully, they tend to be those who let them come into the house, sit on the sofa with them etc. and that is a definite no-no! Having said that Joanne was sleeping a lot, she has now ventured out into the sunshine and is pecking about happily! I'll have to wait and see............

Sorry Trisha misread your thread title and thought it said ^mine are immoral
Thought we were in for some naughty chicken stories.

When we lived in France we kept chickens and ducks etc. I think their life span was about 3 to 7 years. Not counting the new chicks that disappeared. Predatory birds were another problem - especially the buzzard. But foxes moreso.
But I can't say for sure - they were a very mixed bunch bought from various markets abd local farmers.

sodapop

Fennel We're lucky in that since we moved out of London to Hertfordshire we've never seen any foxes near the house. When we lived in town, they were a common sight. One even used to sit outside the mobile library every Thursday and watch people going in and out! And this was just 100 yards from the main A12 road...

We do see a lot of Red Kites though, but they haven't yet tried to terrorise the chickens. Fingers crossed it continues that way!

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202104/medium-91788-opal.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202104/medium-817472-benedict-posing.jpg

How I miss my chooks. I think Opal, the Welsummer hen was eight when she died.

Benedict, the cockerel was happy to model for my attempt at a topiary box rooster but I gave up in the end and it's now a box ball.

My husband found a tiny chicken on the road which he hand reared. Turned out to be a beautiful cockerel but he was scared of the girls and would not go in withe rest of the chickens. He lived in solitary splendour in his own little house in the garden. He was very friendly and would run up to any passers by to have a word,

Oh that's lovely Sodapop. That's how my parents found the owls.
How funny that he was scared if 'the girls', bless him

Lovely pictures Merlot

Sad news...........Joanne the chicken died this morning. She just fell asleep in the corner of the run and passed away quietly. Poor Sage - I'm sure she is looking for her and keeps going into the hen-house and out again. DH has taken her body to the local vet who will cremate her for us.

oh I'm sorry. They are such lovely 'pets'

So sorry about Joanne, but at least she didn`t suffer.

So sorry to hear about Joanne, she seems to have had a long and happy life, and you didn't have a horrible decision to make in the end.

Couldn't you sweet talk DH into just one more as a companion?

Thank you all for your kind messages. I think I've resigned myself to seeing how Sage copes. If I can see she is distressed (and she is very vocal and demonstrative of her feelings!) then I will look to rehome her. At least I will still have my tortoise for company, although she's not the best conversationalist!

Merlotgran beautiful pictures! Shame about the topiary

So sorry Trisha hope Sage does cope OK.

oh don't rehome her. She is old and if you introduce new chikens they will fight and the same will happen if she's put with another flock. Just let her live out her days with you. I was left with one as I'd decided not to carry on keeping (rats/being upset when they died etc) and she was fine with me for company in the day, out in the garden etc

Thank you sodapop, I hope so too. JaneJudge I had thought that as well re. the fighting out the "pecking order". I don't think she would cope at her age. I am at home all day and although I haven't let her free range for a while, she has an open run and sees me every day as I potter in the garden, and I make a point of chatting to her (and Joanne, when she was here). I did let her out of her run this morning after Joanne died, and she was quite happy just scratching on the grass and seeing what I was up to. I'm not sure I will make a habit of it, though, as now the garden has been tidied up and has very low borders she might run amok amongst the dahlias!!!

So sorry to hear about Joanne, Trisha

Thankyou FannyCornforth

We were left in your position with just 1 remaining chook,so thinking she’d be lonely,got 2 more ,which she completely ignored ! And carried on living her life quite independently of them ,with the occasional peck to keep them in order

P.s. sorry about Joanne,we get very attached to them,don’t we !??