Baby Chick and not prepared!

[Roxy1778]

Hi! So I know that whenever you get a new pet, whatever it is, you should ALWAYS do research on how to care for it and if you have the means to care for it first. Normally it's the kids who violate this rule, but in my house it seems to be the parents. Yesterday my Mom came home from work with a baby chick, some parent at the Pre-K class she works in gave it to her. The parent in the class didn't tell my Mom how to raise it, it's age, what to feed it, anything. We've had it since yesterday around 5:00 PM and have kept it in a cardboard box lined with paper towels. All it's had is about 5 teaspoons of Quaker's Oats, some rice, quinoa, and water in a tiny dish. It's really become a handful because it kees flying out of the cardboard box. Chicks are NOT supposed to fly out of their cardboard boxes. *facepalm* So right now I've been Googling and Yahooing and forum reading, and most of the sites tell you what to feed them according to their age. I have no idea how old it is, except that it's still young. Big help, right? When I hold it, it pecks me and bites my thumb, but it doesn't hurt. Last night it was way calmer, but probably because it was exhausted from the transfer of home>school>new home. I had to chase it around my room for about ten minutes to get a distinguishable picture of it because when I held it it would squirm like crazy. Hopefully the picture might give you some idea of its age. What I'd really like to know is what to feed it for now and anything else helpful with it.

 

[AlienChick]

If you have a feed store nearby, give it some chick starter feed.
Also, you can boil and egg and give it the crumbled up egg yolk.
A picture would really help!
If it's flying out of the box and pecking at your hand, it sounds like it is a bit older than, say, a week old chick.
Also, since you're feeding it table food, go ahead and give it some grit.
You can either purchase grit at the grocery store (canary or parakeet grit).
Or purchase chick grit at the feed store.
Or just grab a hammer and chop up some small rocks outside your house.
This will help the chick "chew" its food.
Also, since chickens are social creatures, you will now have to think about getting another one or two.
Don't forget to check out the brooders and coop threads for nice ideas on brooders and coops.
Keep reading and learning and GOOD LUCK with your new baby.

 

[cafarmgirl]

A chick that age (I'm basing this off your avatar pic) needs to be eating chick starter, it needs a heat lamp and it needs a few other chick friends! Chickens do not like to live alone. It will need chick grit to digest what you are feeding it but chick starter is what it really needs. She may be pecking you because she's hungry! The chick feed has all the nutrients a growing chick needs. And in about 5 weeks it will need a coop and run.

If you have a Tractor Supply or other feed store near you that's where you will find what this chick needs. Don't forget a heat lamp! It's also a good time of year to be able to find other chicks her age and bring home a couple!

Is your family prepared to raise and keep a chicken/chickens? If not maybe check around for somebody with the equipement necessary for raising chicks.

The person who gave your mom the chick probably didn't tell her anything about it's care because that person probably didn't know either! Ugh, that's one reason why I really don't care for most of these educational school hatches. Unless there is somebody knowledeable in charge and there is a home lined up for the chicks. It's fine to see chicks hatch at school but I wish they'd carry the education a good bit further in regards to continued care for the chicks.

 

[Madjohn85]

Oh my. First, I am thinking having one chick is probably going to be very sad for that soon to be 1 chicken. They are um....what is the word? Pack animals? Is that for mammals only?? Regardless, if you are considering keeping it, I would rethink keeping just the one.

When I finally agreed ( after my husband bringing it up CONSTANTLY for 2 years) to get chickens, I spent about 3 or 4 months reading every single book in our county library system on chickens. I thought it was goofy, as chickens are pretty self sufficient, and seriously, they are farm animals...how much maintanace could there be?

I was right.

Don't get me wrong, between the books, people I have met and coming to this site to learn, I know they need some maintanance, but they are chickens for crying out loud!!

I was still glad that by the time those cute little things arrived, there was going to be nothing that surprised me. So far it hasn't.

Well, maybe except that fact that the coop is STILL not done. I say this as my husband is out there in the light rain working on it. lol.

If you plan on keeping the chick, do your basic research, let chicken math work on you, build a little coop, and enjoy the eggs!

 

[chicken pickin]

Looking at the pic id say its roughly a week old. You wanna first have it under a heat source like a heat lamp with a red 250 watt bulb so the box it is in is about 90 degrees at the chicks height. Use a thermometer if you have one. It should be eatting a chick starter food it comes in medicated or unmedicated your choice. If you have water in a small dish you should put marbles or rocks in the dish so the chick doesnt drown, sounds silly but it happens. Heat lamp bulbs chick starter and even pine shavings for bedding feeder/waterer can be bought at tractor supply or other local feed stores. Good luck with the new chick and just for the info they say chicks do better in groups of 3 or more since they are social animals.

edited to say the chick does need chick grit also since it has had food other than the chick starter. they dont have teeth so the grit help break down foods inside the chicks body

 

[Roxy1778]

Thanks so much for the information! There's a feed store about a mile away that I can bike to later today, but I'm not sure if they'll have feed and grit for chicks, and if they do, they'll most likely not be small enough to fit in my basket. In that case, we might not b able to check out that store until tomorrow, maybe even Monday. I doubt my parents will want to get a second chick, because when I begged for a pet rat they simply tossed aside the idea of rats actually needing to be in pairs. I'm thinking that they didn't consider the lifetime of chickens (they can live 20 years, right?) and the fact that its going to need a companion. If they don't consent to getting anoter chick, then we're probably going to just give the chick back to the original owner. Most people in our neighborhood don't have yards large enough for keeping even a cat, so it could take a very long time to find someone with the equipment necessary for keeping two or more chicks. I'll use your advice for keeping the chick this weekend, using guidelines for two week old chicks. I'll get together some grit and use my tortoises heat lamp. This should be fine for the improv of two days, right?

 

[horseshowmomnv]

You are doing a good job by asking lots of questions. Can you put a lamp with a light bulb for some sort of heat for this chick? How about a stuffed animal, I have heard of others doing this to help with companionship. Is the chick eating the oats?

 

[Albanese07]

I have 2 baby chicks in an empty 10 gallon aquarium with pine shavings. In a pinch you can use empty cleaned out tuna cans to put food in , water too. Get chick starter I'd get medicated. And canary or finch grit. And a lamp with even a 100 watt bulb will work. Put chicken wire or some type of wire on top so she can't fly out. The hardware store clamp on lamps work good. Ask someone they will help you!
Good for you for trying to help the little chick. But remember they grow FAST! My 7 week olds are in the coop allready and look like adults almost but smaller. You will need a coop. And they HATE to be alone, they can even die of loneliness . I'd suggest getting one more.
Good luck!

 

[Albanese07]

If you tell the feed store what's going on they will probably sell you a small amount of food til Monday that you can use over the weekend!

 

[Roxy1778]

The chick was doing really well, we had watered it and fed it and it was settling in really nicely. When I noticed my Mom had bought starter Feed but no grit, I took the chick outside where we have a whole bunch of tiny tiny rocks. I spread some of the starter feed there among the rocks, because it was warm out and I wanted it to get some exercise. When the wind blew a little hard, the chick would run up and hide behind my leg (I'm going somewhere with this, just wait). After a few times of this the chick would stretch out it wing and leg on it's left side. At first I thought it was stretching, but then it would come over when the wind blew and would lie on it's side with it's left wing splayed out a little awkwardly. It wouldn't get up until I moved my leg a little, then it would resume walking around. Do you think it was just being dramatic or attention seeking? The only time I could think of it being hurt was earlier today when it had some poop stuck to its butt so my Mom picked it up and used a napkin to remove it. I'm not sure how gentle she was, but the chick was squeaking a lot...at the time I thought it was simply from being held at a sideways angle and by someone unfamiliar, but maybe it was hurt. I'll try posting pictures later, but I'd appreciate opinions on whether you think it's hurt or not. It's probably not a lot of information to go on, but it's all I have at the moment. If it tuns out that there's a big possibilty of it being injured, we'll take it to the vet. Thanks.