Vallot Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 (edited) Hi everybody - I have a mirror-related question for you all... I've been struggling with a very lonely ex-batt chicken who lost her pal last Thursday. She's on her own until we get two new ex-batts on Saturday. She's been very anxious and has been crying a lot over the past few days - the only time she stops is if you literally go down and sit with her to keep her company, which sadly isn't sustainable for long periods of time. I read that a mirror can work as a good stop-gap for lonely chickens waiting for new pals, so I put one in the run - it seems to have had a miraculous effect on her, but perhaps a little too miraculous! She's now spending hours looking at and interacting with the chicken she thinks is in the mirror. I'm planning to take it down as soon as the new ladies arrive on Saturday, as it will no longer be needed. But for the time being, what do you guys think about it? Is it a comforting stop-gap or is it likely to cause problems down the line if she becomes too attached to it, or if it warps her behaviour towards other chickens? Any thoughts gratefully received! Edited February 25, 2020 by Vallot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 I've no actual experience of this but would imagine that, if it's giving her some comfort in the interim, there wouldn't be a problem? If you remove it when your new girls arrive then she will have other things to think about! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 If it helps her, leave it. She’ll be too busy establishing herself as top hen from Saturday to bother about it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 We used to sell dangly parrot toys with an A5 sized mirror on it for the chickens and they always sold well - if she’s enjoying it then I would leave it up, may be nice for the newbies to have something for enrichment too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallot Posted February 25, 2020 Author Share Posted February 25, 2020 Thanks very much everyone! In that case, I think I'll keep a good thing going and let our lonely lady enjoy her mirror for as long as she likes 😊 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
