speethechicken
Chirping
- Apr 8, 2017
- 31
- 38
- 89
Hi everyone!
I have a single rescue chick who I've been raising him for almost 4 weeks now; when I took him in he looked about half a week to a week old, so he's probably somewhere between 4-5 weeks now. Fully feathered on his body and neck, half-feathered on his head.
He was initially in a brooder in my room, with a mirror set up so he felt a little less lonely during the day. However, a couple of days ago I started letting him out in a run so he can see my other two adult chickens during the day and putting him back in my garage at night, without his heating lamp. He cried a bit when I left him in the run on the first day but I think he was comforted by being able to see my other two chickens so he eventually calmed down and I've since seen him scratching/sunbathing/preening. I live in a very temperate climate (it hardly ever dips below 70 F or 20 C, even at night) so figured he didn't really need the lamp anymore, even at night, given he had feathered super fast.
Yesterday and the night before he seemed fine, went to sleep on his perch in a dog crate in the garage after spending the day outside. However, tonight, I left him out in the run quite late and only went in to get him at dusk, when the other two chickens had gone to sleep... he was crying when I walked out to the coops and wouldn't stop crying until I picked him up. I tried to put him on his perch, but he cried for a solid 15 minutes - again, only stopping when I would hold him. I tried holding him and letting him close his eyes, and then placing him gently on the coop, but... to no avail. He'd wake up, cry, jump down and run to me.
I've now taken him into my room and am letting him sleep under my chin as I write this, but he won't quieten! He's not making distress calls anymore, but he won't stop making the little chirping/warbling noises chicks usually make with their moms, and keeps shifting as though he's uncomfy every couple of minutes. I don't blame him, he's a big chicken now and really too small to be sleeping under his 'mother' - at one month he should be perching, surely?- but every time I try and encourage him to do so, even if it's right next to me... he starts chirping in distress.
Of course, this behaviour is quite unusual, even for him, so I'm a little concerned something might be wrong. Is it naive to think he maybe just got a bit of a shock by being left out later than usual and is now looking for comfort, or is this restlessness and neediness a sign of an underlying issue? Could it be to do with the fact that I transitioned him from heat lamp to no heat lamp too fast, or is he just lonely from being raised alone? (I feel I'm overthinking this...)
Essentially: should I let him sleep with me all night and risk squashing him in my sleep (and getting chicken poop everywhere...), or should I resort to tough love and just leave him in his crate until he gets too tired to keep up the crying?
I have a single rescue chick who I've been raising him for almost 4 weeks now; when I took him in he looked about half a week to a week old, so he's probably somewhere between 4-5 weeks now. Fully feathered on his body and neck, half-feathered on his head.
He was initially in a brooder in my room, with a mirror set up so he felt a little less lonely during the day. However, a couple of days ago I started letting him out in a run so he can see my other two adult chickens during the day and putting him back in my garage at night, without his heating lamp. He cried a bit when I left him in the run on the first day but I think he was comforted by being able to see my other two chickens so he eventually calmed down and I've since seen him scratching/sunbathing/preening. I live in a very temperate climate (it hardly ever dips below 70 F or 20 C, even at night) so figured he didn't really need the lamp anymore, even at night, given he had feathered super fast.
Yesterday and the night before he seemed fine, went to sleep on his perch in a dog crate in the garage after spending the day outside. However, tonight, I left him out in the run quite late and only went in to get him at dusk, when the other two chickens had gone to sleep... he was crying when I walked out to the coops and wouldn't stop crying until I picked him up. I tried to put him on his perch, but he cried for a solid 15 minutes - again, only stopping when I would hold him. I tried holding him and letting him close his eyes, and then placing him gently on the coop, but... to no avail. He'd wake up, cry, jump down and run to me.
I've now taken him into my room and am letting him sleep under my chin as I write this, but he won't quieten! He's not making distress calls anymore, but he won't stop making the little chirping/warbling noises chicks usually make with their moms, and keeps shifting as though he's uncomfy every couple of minutes. I don't blame him, he's a big chicken now and really too small to be sleeping under his 'mother' - at one month he should be perching, surely?- but every time I try and encourage him to do so, even if it's right next to me... he starts chirping in distress.
Of course, this behaviour is quite unusual, even for him, so I'm a little concerned something might be wrong. Is it naive to think he maybe just got a bit of a shock by being left out later than usual and is now looking for comfort, or is this restlessness and neediness a sign of an underlying issue? Could it be to do with the fact that I transitioned him from heat lamp to no heat lamp too fast, or is he just lonely from being raised alone? (I feel I'm overthinking this...)
Essentially: should I let him sleep with me all night and risk squashing him in my sleep (and getting chicken poop everywhere...), or should I resort to tough love and just leave him in his crate until he gets too tired to keep up the crying?
