Silkie chicken is a thin chicken characterized by its beautiful appearance. Its thin body is covered with soft feathers that resemble fur. It is also of good nature and calm temperament, it is friendly and loves to interact with the members of its flock and cooperates a lot with them.
It also loves humans and shows wonderful behaviors in dealing with them, so you find it holding them and hugging them also unlike What some may think is that chickens have no emotion. But the truth is that chicken can form nations just like humans with complex psychological aspects that are more than many people think.
But what about the psychological aspect of raising silkie chicken in loneliness? Are silkie chickens are affected by loneliness or not, and what are the effects of loneliness on them?
We’ve conducted our comprehensive research to gather the most reliable information on the topic as possible. In this article, we’re going to answer the question of whether silkie chicken really need a flock or not. Keep reading…
Can You Raise Silkie Chicken Alone?
The short answer is No. Silkie chicken do get lonely and cannot be raised alone. If they get lonely, they will be in a bad state that can be ended by death. Silkie chickens should not live alone, as being isolated leads to major mental health problems and make them depressed.
The Importance Of Silkie living In A Flock
Like other chicken species, they are generally very social beings, but friendliness and social qualities are more apparent in silkies than other chicken species. Silkie is very friendly and adores interacting with other members of their flock.
Slikie instinctively needs companionship for security, comfort, and warmth. They need to gather in flocks, where they can act as a small community. Silkie chicken lives in its natural hierarchy among the birds and expresses itself. Each each chicken breed has a specific role within the flock that it performs by alternating and coordinating with the role of the other members of the flock. These social behaviors satisfy the hen’s natural instincts and enhance its mental health.
Especially that Silkie chicken is not an aggressive breed, but it is a docile and gentle breed, and it is very cooperative. Silkie chicken helps the rest of their flock in hatching and raising chicks. Silkie hens are highly acclaimed for their superior qualities in incubation. They love to incubate and hatch not only its eggs but any number of eggs it finds, even duck eggs.
Does A Silkie Chicken Feel Lonely?
Yes, Silky chickens feel lonely and are affected by it. Silkie chickens are very emotional creatures that need social interaction to satisfy their emotional needs.
This is confirmed by recent studies that chickens in general, not just Silkie, are very emotional beings to the extent that they make decisions based on emotional factors.
The issue is more complex than it is believed to be. It has many aspects, as their presence in a herd is not limited to making them play a role in their herd that satisfies their instinctive behavior only. But also, the chickens want and value very much to feel themselves within the hierarchy and the social dynamic within their flock.
There is another aspect as well, as being in a flock satisfies their emotional needs through physical actions that they do together, such as roosting or sunbathing. As the behaviors of physical closeness when making roosts and taking sunbathes help to strengthen the bond between the chicken and the group of herd members because they form their own small clique within their flock that creates a strong kind of intimacy and sense of safety.
Read more one Silkie chicken behaviour: Why Do Silkie Chicken Purr?
What Happens When Silkie Is Kept Alone?
Silkie chickens should not live alone as Silkie chickens do not thrive alone. Rather Silkie being alone exposed them to stress, fear, and depression. In addition, Silkie chickens may self-harm by plucking their feathers to relieve the stress and boredom of loneliness.
Living alone, Silkie’s mental health will deteriorate over time. As the tension that results from a sense of loneliness leads to stress, which weakens their immune system and reduces their growth rate and egg production. The frequent plucking of their feathers makes them vulnerable to diseases of the digestive system.
Read more on Silkies: The advantages of silkie chicken.
Can Silkie Die When Lives Alone?
Yes, it may happen in most cases if he is kept alone for a long time. As their appetite and food intake will gradually decrease. their activity will decrease very much and you will find them most of the time in a state of lethargy. Living alone threatens their mental, emotional, and physical health, which exposes them to death in the end.
Never do this to your chicken. This is a social bird whose lowest rights over you provide it with a social environment that provides it with privacy and safety. we all know the cruelty of loneliness to the point that solitary confinement is a very harsh punishment for criminals and bad people.
So we must not overlook this or reduce the needs of any living creature, no matter how small it is. Even if emergency circumstances occur and most of your herds die or there is no space to house a large number, try as much as possible not to leave it alone and quickly bring companions to it.
What Are The Precautions For Introducing New Companions To Silkie?
Some things must be taken into account when thinking about bringing other chickens to live with Slickie in the same place. The most important of which is that the Silkie is peaceful, and meek, as they are completely non-aggressive, and they do not fly and occupy the lowest order in pecking among chickens.
All this suggests to you that the new companions must be compatible with these characters, and not be aggressive so as not to harm them.
FAQS
Can Silkie Chicken Live Alone?
No, It is recommended to raise Silkie chickens in groups of at least three chickens and more. So that there is some kind of interaction and interdependence between them.
Can You Have Just One Silkie Chicken?
It is not preferable to keep one Silkie chicken alone, because of the great psychological and physical damage resulting from being lonely that may kill them.
If any exceptional circumstance occurs and Silky chicken becomes alone with you, it is preferable that you keep her at home with you if possible so that she can interact with you and your family, as this will socialize her a lot in the absence of chicken companions.
How Do You Know If A Chicken Is Lonely?
Lonely chickens will be lethargic and abandon their basic hobbies such as scratching the ground and searching for food and insects. They will search for fodder less and less for food in general. They will also cry out in search of companionship.
