Help! My 5 week old chick is bonded to me and afraid of chickens! I want to integrate her with the flock and get her out of the house.

[Bigtom Turkey]

Nope, a comb that size at that age is 100% male.

 

[K0k0shka]

It's never a good idea to get a single chick. Chicks need company, they are social animals. If you don't give them chicken company, they'll seek anything else they can get, in this case human, and bond to whatever company they do have. You've gotten a single chick twice so far... If you decide to do this a third time, next time get at least 2 or 3. Then they'll be their own little micro flock and will keep each other company even when placed with the main flock. No matter where they go, they'll have each other and won't be lonely like your chick is now.

Even when you don't specifically plan to have a house chicken, accept that that is always a possibility if you try to buy chicks for a hen. There's no guarantee that the hen will accept any chicks you give her, so you have to have a plan B to raise them yourself. Looks like you fell back on "house chicken" as a plan B here, even if it wasn't your main plan. Having a single chick often results in the "house chicken" situation because of the difficulty of integrating a single chick.

I agree with others that this one looks to be male. Not just the comb, but the wattles, too. Some breeds have females with larger combs than others, but wattles usually develop later in females regardless of breed. If you are not allowed to keep roosters where you live, then you should start thinking of plan C for your chick - how to rehome him. That will solve your problem of the house chicken and the difficulty integrating, too.

 

[All4Eggz]

Agree with the above. The "Mrs" does look like a "Mr".
Putting him with bantmas is a good idea. You have to be patient though; he will chirp - constantly because he wants you. Let him chirp

 

[Vickischics]

View attachment 2687543Here's Mrs. Kim.

Love it!!

 

[Vickischics]

Yup, thats a Cockerel all right.

 

[Cecisflock]

gotten a single chick twice so far..

WOW! I can't believe they did it twice

I agree with others that this one looks to be male.

x2, that is most certainly a boy

OP- are all of your bantams female? if so where did you get sexed bantams?

 

[alangholt]

Her comb is yellow not red. Does this matter?

Nope, a comb that size at that age is 100% male.

 

[Cecisflock]

Her comb is yellow not red. Does this matter?

No not really, its a boy. So sorry

 

[alangholt]

WOW! I can't believe they did it twice

x2, that is most certainly a boy

OP- are all of your bantams female? if so where did you get sexed bantams?

A neighbor was rehoming 4 bantams 12 week old chicks that she said she got from TS and they were sexed as female. They all look alike, but that said, the youngest has a comb and the others don't.

Also, re: my amberlink, I keep reading that combs are red for males. Hers is yellow. Might that matter?

Re: getting a second chick when Wilma went broody: we had no issues with her accepting the first one, and didn't realize it was a big deal. The issue this time was she wasn't fully committed to her broodiness (until just a week ago), and this chick is bonded to us now. Otherwise, it probably would've worked the second time. Wilma is very maternal. Mrs. Kim actually slept underneath Wilma for one night. But in the morning, they were pretty aloof with each other.

 

[Cecisflock]

A neighbor was rehoming 4 bantams 12 week old chicks that she said she got from TS and they were sexed as female. They all look alike, but that said, the youngest has a comb and the others don

TSC doesn't sex bantams so I would be VERY skeptical of that.

Also, re: my amberlink, I keep reading that combs are red for males. Hers is yellow. Might that matter?

If it is truly an amberlink then I wouldn't worry about it, you didn't specify breed, sorry.

didn't realize it was a big deal.

Yeah its a big deal, Happy house chicken! They sell chicken diapers...