"Our Single Chicken......"

Unfortunately, we only have one hen left of our small flock of 3.  The other 2, both Red Star sex-links (http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/red_star.html), died within a few weeks of each other.  They were such great egg layers, that I think they literally wore themselves out.  Chickens are supposed to molt once a year, giving them a break from laying eggs, rejuvenating their bodies while re-growing their feathers, but our 2 never did.  They continually laid eggs throughout the winters, even without artificial lighting.  Our last hen, a Buff Orpington, has molted each year and taken that break.

Don has taken to letting her have free reign of our backyard on weekends.  She spends much of that time near our backdoor, but also enjoys the time out of her chicken run eating grass and scratching through the flower beds looking for bugs and other delicious edibles.   ;)

She and our dog, Copper, get along fine.  Basically, they both ignore each other.

I do enjoy seeing Don walk out to the coop each day, or out into the backyard on weekends when she is out of her coop, just to check on her and have a quiet chat.   ;)

She had stopped laying eggs for awhile but has since begun laying them again.  We thought perhaps the combination of the extremely high temperatures this Summer, plus the change of her being the only hen left in the coop, might have had an effect on her.  Here I am "projecting" the human emotion of loneliness on her.......but since chickens are know as being in "flocks", perhaps I am correct?   ;)