Mourning behavior in chickens?

[LuvMahChikies]

I lost my two favorite hens 3 days ago to a raccoon attack. Just now I found the remaining chickens quietly gathered around the grave of one of the two that was killed. Okra the Rooster is laying on top of the bricks I put on the grave to prevent predatory digging. Do chickens mourn the loss of flock mates? I don't know. But I like to think they do.

 

[daddyman]

Sorry for the loss of your hens.

Okra (Great name.) is very handsome, and the other two are pretty also.

I do think they can tell that some of their flock members are gone, and that this loss is confusing and disorienting. I think the flock members do feel an attachment to each other and can be comforted by the presence of their flock mates, and may miss this same comfort when it is gone.

Good luck with the others, and don't be afraid to expand the group when you are ready. You are not replacing the chickens lost, but adding to an ongoing, ever changing flock.

 

[LuvMahChikies]

Ha ha...yes, children come up with the best names for pets, don't they? (My daughter came up with "Okra"...I think it rather fits him.) I know the first few times they came out to free range, he kept running back to the coop, crowing, like he was looking for them. I never thought losing a chicken could be so heartbreaking.