Baby chick emergency

[cundare]

We brought in a bowl of eggs yesterday and had them sitting in the foyer last night. The hen that had been sitting on them no longer had much interest since two of them hatched last week. Last night, we heard a chirping and one of them hatched!

In the past, our hens (all free-ranging) have always taken care of new babies naturally, but now we don't know whether it would be a good idea to even put this baby near the mother -- who doesn't seem to have much maternal instinct. We've never had to hand-rear a baby this young and are not set up for that. And we don't want to raise a bird in the house, where it will never have the opportunity to learn from other birds how chicken society works.

I can start wading through past postings, but right now, we're a bit overwhelmed keeping this little critter warm in a towel and trying to convince it to eat something. Is there anything else critical we should be doing now? And how can we safely introduce it to the rest of the flock.

One idea is to put the baby back in the nest where the eggs were, in the hope that mama bird will discover it there and start treating it like one of her own. But we'd be surprised if this particular hen reacted in a positive way.

We have a few other hens caring for their young birds and they have no qualms about injuring or killing other chicks that try to compete for food. So that's another concern.

There are no local resources that we know of. We're not sure what to do next. Any ideas?

 

[LaFleche]

That sure is unfortunate.

But the chick needs a warm water bottle covered in a towel so it will be able to snuggle up against to keep warm. A towel alone will not suffice.

You can feed it some millet and little pieces of boiled egg and fine rolled oats.

In your situation it might be best to look locally for someone in need of a day(s) old chick to give to their broody or provide company for their own single chick.

Craigs list, Faceb**k or similar might be the right place to find it a new home.

 

[cundare]

That sure is unfortunate.

But the chick needs a warm water bottle covered in a towel so it will be able to cuddle against to kero warm. A towel alone will not suffice.

You can feed it some millet and little pieces of boiled egg and fine rolled oats.

In your situation it might be best to look locally for someone in need of a day(s) old chick to give to their broody or provide company for their own single chick.

Craigs list, Faceb**k or similar might be the right place to find it a new home.

Thanks for the quick response. We'll get on that right now and keep you posted.

 

[Project Blue]

You really don't need anything fancy to get a chick started enough to survive the flock. Just a small clear plastic moving box, a lamp,(not led bulb) for warmth and some kind of litter. I've even used paper towels in a pinch. One chick won't be that messy or hard to care for. No way it'd survive the flock as a newborn, unless you could sneak it under a hen at night with newborns. You might check the other eggs for a companion. You can pretty much feed it any cereal, unsalted nuts and hard boiled egg yolks. I put cereal and nuts in a freezer baggie and pulverize everything with a rolling pin. Once the chick is mostly feathered out and strong, introduce it to the flock with plenty of places a small chick can safely hide. I've done this in the coop, where I set up a smaller feeding and water station near the "escape room" I put the chick. The chick can freely go in and out, but the bigger chickens can't get in.

 

[cundare]

Good recommendations, @Project Blue, thanks. We're working on it. So far, it still looks healthy, but I don't know what we can do long-term. The last time we hand-raised a rescue chick, it imprinted on us and now is afraid to go out with the rest of the flock, who sense her distress and attack her. Dont' want a recurrence of that situation.

 

[LaFleche]

Good recommendations, @Project Blue, thanks. We're working on it. So far, it still looks healthy, but I don't know what we can do long-term. The last time we hand-raised a rescue chick, it imprinted on us and now is afraid to go out with the rest of the flock, who sense her distress and attack her. Dont' want a recurrence of that situation.

You could go out at night and grab one of the youngest chicks from under one of your momma hens and add it to your house chick for company. After a few days making sure the baby chick is fit to walk, eat and drink on its own ( they learn fast from the other chicks) try to slip them back under the hen the company chick came from. With luck she will accept them both back.

This is best done at dusk with a little light left and waiting to see if the hen will accept it or peck.

If you just slip it under in the dark you may find it pecked to death in the morning. So stay there and wait for her reaction.
If the chick is of the same colour as the others it will be more easily accepted.

 

[cundare]

@LaFleche That sounds scary. That could work?

 

[LaFleche]

@LaFleche That sounds scary. That could work?

It did for me a few times over the 25+ years that I have been breeding chickens, but every case is unique and there are no guarantees.

 

[Project Blue]

It did for me a few times over the 25+ years that I have been breeding chickens, but every case is unique and there are no guarantees.

Did you put them back with older chicks? That seems to be the current situation. I'd try that with same age, but even a couple of days makes a big difference in behavior and size with chicks.

 

[LaFleche]

even a couple of days makes a big difference in behavior and size with chicks

That is why I suggested to take one of the youngest chicks (that hatched the previous week) and keep both in the house together for a few days until the motherless one was stable on its feet and eating and drinking on its own.
Having bonded with the few days older chick it will be easier for the previously motherless chick to integrate and be accepted.