Chickens are great, but they need a flock to be happy and mentally healthy.
When some get sick or attacked, chicken keepers will sometimes find themselves with only one chicken on their mini-farm.
Is this OK? Will your fowl survive?
Can you have just one chicken?
I didn’t know the answer, so I researched and asked other chicken farmers in my area. Here’s what I found.
It’s possible to safely keep just one chicken all by itself, though it won’t be as happy without a flock. Chickens are social creatures and need other birds to interact for their mental health. Experts recommend you keep at least three chickens in a flock to keep them happy and healthy.
Read ahead for more information on keeping a chicken by itself and why it’s not such a good thing.
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Will A Single Chicken Get Lonely?
Single chickens do get lonely. Chickens have a surprising capacity for emotions and form bonds and connections with other members of their flock. When on their own, chickens get lonely, depressed and will even injure themselves.
Part of the stress from being alone goes back to their survival instincts.
Chickens don’t defend themselves well when threatened, and they can’t run or escape quickly.
So strength and safety come from the flock.
Without others to help them feel secure, it’s no wonder they get more stressed and develop health issues from a constant state of nervousness.
Outside of this, they do form strong bonds with other members of their flock.
When another chicken dies, the others will make a specific chicken sound to call for them.
If a chicken was close to the one who died, they’ll visit the same spots they used to spend time together and show visible grief.
Learn more about this bird’s emotional range in our detailed article on chickens and depression.
Do Chickens Need Companions?
Chickens need companions to have a full life, but it’s possible to keep them on their own if their companions pass away. It requires more attention from your family and giving them things to do to keep them in a good place and help them get through the lonely times.
If you’ve spent any substantial amount of time with chickens, you’ll know they have friend groups and cliques within their flock.
Yes, there’s a pecking order (pun intended) in the flock, with older and bigger chickens often being more dominant.
But within this order, you’ll notice some chickens forming friendships and spending a lot more time with each other.
These companions are critical parts of their social life, and they’ll react poorly when their friends are sick or gone.
But on the flip side, if things are good, they’ll be visibly happier and produce a lot more eggs when they have friends.
Can A Chicken Survive By Itself?
A chicken can survive by itself, though the stress and depression may shorten its life and will lower its egg productivity. Chickens cuddle up for warmth, security, comfort, and for regulating their emotions, so it’s much better to have at least three chickens to live together.
It’s certainly possible for a chicken to survive on its own, even after a chicken companion has died.
The tips later will certainly help, so look forward to that.
One of the biggest concerns for solitary chickens (outside of depression and loneliness) is boredom.
Chickens need something to do, and a lot of their “entertainment” comes from the social interactions with the rest of their flock.
Single chickens will get so bored they’ll start plucking their feathers out to combat the boredom.
In some cases, it’ll even go so far as to cause injury.
Can Chickens Die Of Loneliness?
Chickens can die of loneliness. If they’re old enough, they may simply slow down and die in a shorter amount of time. Most of the time, loneliness shows itself gradually in lack of eating, drinking, movement, and an increase in irritation.
Tips On How To Keep A Single Chicken Happy
If you do end up with a single chicken, the best way to help them is to get more chickens.
But if that’s not possible, there are some options you have to help your lonely little guy (or gal!).
Here’s a quick list of tips to help keep them entertained and connected with those they do have left in their life:
- Move them into your house, so they’re always around other creatures and action.
- Give them food-based toys to play with.
- Spend a lot of time with them.
- Let them interact with other (safe) animals as much as possible (dogs, ducks, etc.).
- Hang apples for them to peck at.
- Play ball with them; they’ll chase it around for some fun.
How Many Chickens Should I Get?
At the minimum, chicken keepers need to get two birds so they don’t feel lonely. Experts recommend three chickens as the minimum size to reach consistently happy and healthy chickens. Of course, if you want more eggs, you need more chickens!
The exact amount of chickens you should get depends largely on how many eggs you want, how much space you have, and how large your family is.
But if we’re talking about social interaction and avoiding loneliness (which this article is), the simple answer is to get three chickens or two at a bare minimum.
If you want more information on how many chickens do get for a family, check out the link for our detailed articles with helpful tables for all types of situations.
Introducing New Chickens To A Single Hen: Must-Knows
Introducing new chickens is a time-consuming process, and you need to do it right, or they may end up fighting each other!
But if your chicken is all alone, they’re steps you need to take to give them companions for a happy life.
Here is a brief description of the steps you need to take:
Quarantine The New Chickens
Put your new chickens in their own coop or space for one week to a month.
A whole month is better, but if you don’t have time for that, make sure you’re extra observant of issues.
The goal here is to catch any illness, pests, or parasites before they get passed to the rest of the flock.
Chicks don’t really carry any issues, so you don’t need to quarantine them.
But adults need a quarantine period for sure.
Look for these things:
- Signs of lice, mites, or other bug infestations
- Dull, shriveled, or saggy comb
- Fluid around the nostrils
- Scaly legs
- Visible injury
- Signs of general illness
Let Them See (But Not Touch) Each Other
We want the chickens to see and get used to each other without the chance of fighting or challenging each other for the dominant role in the flock.
Bring the new chickens to the “old” chickens and let them interact with each other with a fence between them.
Do this for several days until they don’t seem to show as much interest in each other.
This could take anywhere from a few days to another two weeks!
Introduce Them Slowly
It’s time to get them together!
Where possible, let the new flock additions into the space where they’ll meet first.
Afterward, add in the established flock.
Be in the space where they meet and be ready to step in.
Challenging and some pecking is fine and normal with new chickens, but if it gets too violent, step in and remove the new chickens.
If any blood is drawn, get the wounded chicken out ASAP!
The sight of blood draws chickens crazy, and they’ll start pecking each other.
If you’ve waited long enough, then there shouldn’t be too much challenging.
If there is too much fighting, just back up a step and let them spend more time with each other with a barrier between them.