How to check if chick is eating

[Yoohis]

That sounds sad Pretend they have friends to boost their ego!

I also try putting chirping sounds on from youtube but im not too sure if thats making a difference

 

[Finnie]

He's probably not eating because he's alone. It's not exciting when there's no one to compete with for the tasty morsel. I have a lonesome one right now too, nearly the same age as yours. I just pamper it with some attention (human), and encourage it to eat from my hand. My chick LOVES cooked rice. I was surprised it could swallow the large grains (long rice) given its size, but it just gulps them down. It only pecks a little at the other feed I've given it--though it goes after some of the ants that wander its way. I'm hoping some companions for it will hatch in a few days from now--will see how many emerge. Shipped eggs. Very poor hatch rate.

Just a reminder for anybody who doesn’t already know, if you feed your chicks anything other than chick feed, make sure to provide chick grit as well. So rice, ants, etc. If the chicks free range, the soil should provide all the grit they need.

 

[Finnie]

I also try putting chirping sounds on from youtube but im not too sure if thats making a difference

Do you live anywhere near a Tractor Supply? Their minimum chick purchase is only 4, and you could run out and get him friends immediately. If you don’t want those 4 chicks later, say your TSC only has breeds you don’t want, it is easy enough to sell started pullets for more money than you paid for them, once they are off heat.

 

[Yoohis]

Do you live anywhere near a Tractor Supply? Their minimum chick purchase is only 4, and you could run out and get him friends immediately. If you don’t want those 4 chicks later, say your TSC only has breeds you don’t want, it is easy enough to sell started pullets for more money than you paid for them, once they are off heat.

Nah sadly i live in australia and we dont have TSC here, the easiest way to get chicks is to buy them at hatcheries or from other people. I've found some listings for a few day old chicks on gumtree so im gonna head out in a few days to buy some, probably 4-5 chicks. I'm also not too worried about the breeds or if they're males.

 

[Chicken poppy]

Do you live anywhere near a Tractor Supply? Their minimum chick purchase is only 4, and you could run out and get him friends immediately. If you don’t want those 4 chicks later, say your TSC only has breeds you don’t want, it is easy enough to sell started pullets for more money than you paid for them, once they are off heat.

I would suppose that greatly depends on where you live. Its 6 here, no less. 6 every time you wanted to get some.

Online its 12.

 

[Yoohis]

I would suppose that greatly depends on where you live. Its 6 here, no less. 6 every time you wanted to get some.

Online its 12.

Yeah here in aus you cant really purcahse chicks online to be delivered, in some circumstances you can but it costs a ton of money to get a courier/freight company to deliver them to you, its mainly for bulk orders of production chicks.

 

[Finnie]

Nah sadly i live in australia and we dont have TSC here, the easiest way to get chicks is to buy them at hatcheries or from other people. I've found some listings for a few day old chicks on gumtree so im gonna head out in a few days to buy some, probably 4-5 chicks. I'm also not too worried about the breeds or if they're males.

Oh, yeah I see. Didn’t know you were in Australia. I’m sure she will be fine until you can get her a friend, since you are taking such great care to make sure she eats.

I would suppose that greatly depends on where you live. Its 6 here, no less. 6 every time you wanted to get some.

Online its 12.

It used to be 6 here, too, but they changed it a few years ago.

 

[Egg Blues]

Any updates?

My lonely only now has three friends. The first two hatched about 7 or 8 days afterward, and I waited almost two days to take them out of the incubator and put them in with the lonely one. As I suspected possible, the lonely only became a bully, pecking forcibly at the newcomers' eyes. I tried slowing things down, knowing that a certain amount of pecking is inevitable to establish the order, but this was pure bullying. I tried adding food, even the favorite (cooked rice) of LonelyOnly, to no avail. I removed the older one for awhile. Nothing worked. Finally, I decided to change my approach. The next time Lonely pecked at the newcomers' eyes, I flicked Lonely with my finger--a pretty significant thump. That sent Lonely reeling, and off to a corner alone. The bullying stopped for at least five full minutes, and I had hopes of it having effected a permanent cure. But then, as soon as I walked away, Lonely began again. So I gave lonely another thump. It took three times, and I was a little worried I might injure the week-old chick. But after the third time, the bullying seemed to have stopped for good. It's now been nearly 24 hours since then, and, meanwhile, a latecomer hatched and was just added to the brooder with the other three. They are all getting along peaceably now.

Perhaps, if you add chicks with your own lonely one, you may have a similar experience. It was as if Lonely were jealous of the space, food, and attention that he/she presumed had all belonged to him/her. The first time I thumped Lonely, it looked like his/her feelings had been hurt (up to this point, I had only pampered the chick). It had definitely surprised Lonely to be thumped.

As an aside, that's three out of twelve shipped eggs to have hatched in this batch, which is now also the highest hatch rate I've seen from shipped eggs so far. In my case, the eggs all arrive looking great--but their insides have been scrambled in transit. I want the next shipment to include sand bags at the bottom of the box for 1) weight, to keep the handlers from easily tossing it, and 2) ballast, to keep the box from getting flipped upside down. Even deliberately damaging some of the cardboard carton on the outside might cause handlers to exercise more caution in handling it, lest it be further damaged!

 

[Yoohis]

Any updates?

My lonely only now has three friends. The first two hatched about 7 or 8 days afterward, and I waited almost two days to take them out of the incubator and put them in with the lonely one. As I suspected possible, the lonely only became a bully, pecking forcibly at the newcomers' eyes. I tried slowing things down, knowing that a certain amount of pecking is inevitable to establish the order, but this was pure bullying. I tried adding food, even the favorite (cooked rice) of LonelyOnly, to no avail. I removed the older one for awhile. Nothing worked. Finally, I decided to change my approach. The next time Lonely pecked at the newcomers' eyes, I flicked Lonely with my finger--a pretty significant thump. That sent Lonely reeling, and off to a corner alone. The bullying stopped for at least five full minutes, and I had hopes of it having effected a permanent cure. But then, as soon as I walked away, Lonely began again. So I gave lonely another thump. It took three times, and I was a little worried I might injure the week-old chick. But after the third time, the bullying seemed to have stopped for good. It's now been nearly 24 hours since then, and, meanwhile, a latecomer hatched and was just added to the brooder with the other three. They are all getting along peaceably now.

Perhaps, if you add chicks with your own lonely one, you may have a similar experience. It was as if Lonely were jealous of the space, food, and attention that he/she presumed had all belonged to him/her. The first time I thumped Lonely, it looked like his/her feelings had been hurt (up to this point, I had only pampered the chick). It had definitely surprised Lonely to be thumped.

As an aside, that's three out of twelve shipped eggs to have hatched in this batch, which is now also the highest hatch rate I've seen from shipped eggs so far. In my case, the eggs all arrive looking great--but their insides have been scrambled in transit. I want the next shipment to include sand bags at the bottom of the box for 1) weight, to keep the handlers from easily tossing it, and 2) ballast, to keep the box from getting flipped upside down. Even deliberately damaging some of the cardboard carton on the outside might cause handlers to exercise more caution in handling it, lest it be further damaged!

Yes!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-and-has-other-problems.1530941/post-25826083
He can eat now I just kept trying and trying to make him eat and he finally did, I was force feeding him the days before he didnt eat. Sadly i cant even get chicks now that are close to me so ill have to wait till my next eggs hatch out, i spend lots of time with him and understand that he also needs friends so ive been trying hard to find same aged chicks in my area.