Chick lost, other acting weird?

[defenderinfaith]

About 2 months ago we hatched 2 chicks, Freckles and Red. They were in a baby coop because our adults are jerks and would peck at their heads. (They've killed 2-3 chicks this way).

Recently someone dropped off a 9 month old stray puppy at our house. He got a hold of Freckles while we were trying to figure out what to do with him, and sadly Freckles didn't make it. The other chick was put with the older chicks because it was about time to mix, and they've been leaving her alone. ((Yes the dog is now unable to get to the coop, we found out what happened, one of the edges had gotten pulled up when my daughter ran into it))

However....she seems to not really want to mix with the older chickens, she follows me around, will sit on my shoulder while I do work around the yard.

Is this normal behavior or something I should be worried about? She spends a lot of time looking for Freckles (who was white with black spots on her feathers). Do chickens get over this? Do they pine?

 

[aart]

Yes, normal.
Even tho the older birds leave her alone(you got lucky there),
she will not really be part of the flock until she starts laying.
She had bonded to you and missing her prior only flock mate.
Even then younger birds(any birds really) often form groups that are somewhat separate from the other birds.

Your post is a little confusing in talking about adult and other chicks...
....how many groups of birds, and what ages, do you have?



Read up on integration..... BYC advanced search>titles only>integration
This is good place to start reading:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock

 

[defenderinfaith]

Sorry about the confusing parts

We have

7 two year old chickens (5 layers, 1 brooder, 1 rooster) (3 Rhode Island reds, 3 Leghorns, 1 Partridge)

9 one year old chickens (9 layers) (5 Gold sex link, 4 Barred rock)

5 nine month old chicks (not sure if they have started yet) (2 Black sex link, 2 Asian blacks, 1 New Hampshire red)

1 two month old chick (obviously not laying lol) (Rhode Island-Partridge)

2 one year old ducks (1 layer, 1 male) (Swedish blue)

The weird age groups weren't planned, husband and I intercommunicated on the need for more chickens, and we ended up with some weird mixes.

I am in no doubt about how lucky we are that they older birds leave the chick alone, and I am very thankful.

Glad to know the baby chick is acting normal, and we check on her many times a day to make sure shes eating and drinking and not being attacked. She still likes to fallow me around, which I don't mind, because there were only two we were able to handle them more than the others. I figure she may grow out of it later since it's normal behavior.
.
.
.

 

[aart]

Nice detail....are all the birds living together?

 

[defenderinfaith]

Yes they all live together, we have one large hutch and coop, but for the most part they are free range around our yard, which is fenced in. The dogs ignore them, though they do like to cuddle with one of our dogs. Our dogs were very young when we got the birds so training them to leave them alone was just part of growing up.

 

[aart]

That's good, so integration isn't an issue....is the little single roosting with the others?
Does she hang out with/near them at all while ranging?
Probably just take time for her to assimilate into the crowd.

 

[defenderinfaith]

the little hangs out on the edges most of the time and seems to bed close to but not always with the olders

 

[aart]

Sounds pretty good....time will tell how/where she fits in.

 

[defenderinfaith]

She is now apparently fully part of the flock, sleeps in the roost with the rest, and no more pecking. She's stopped following us around, which i miss, but glad shes fitting in.