10 days old and ready for anything

[ChickChick55]

We put three eggs under our bluebell, none of them were hers, 1 hatched 10 days ago, and its up for anything. should it be running around, with ours and mums supervision, will it pick up germs. Mum is fab, she calls chick to come come when new food source arrives, should the chick be eating what mum gives her. You read so much about the heat they need, the chick crumb food, (which it has) ours has been in a separate pen with mum from day 1 and just runs under the feathers when its cold. I haven't got a clue what breed it is, or if its a hen (I do hope so, as my other chickens are a bit old for a young buck). Can anyone help on this.

 

[donrae]

I can't help on breed or gender at this point, but I can tell you that momma can raise that chick just fine. The baby shouldn't eat layer food, so starter or all-flock is best. I just feed that to everyone all the time, so I don't have to worry about who eats what. Chicks with momma don't need any heat or light, she does all that. Yep, at this age it should be running around and I'd put them back in with the flock. Momma won't let anyone mess with her baby, and the chick will learn how to be a good flock member and how to have manners with the other hens. Momma will show it what to eat. Exposure to germs actually helps develop immunity, so don't worry about that at all. As long as no one in your flock's been ill, they're all healthy germs and the chick's system is designed to be exposed to them.

I love when my chicks jump up on momma! I had one do that on the roost the other day, tried to get a pic but he jumped off, little bugger..