I have two hens, one chick -- should I get a second chick?

[abennett]

We are so sad! We had two hens and just got two new chicks. Unfortunately, we lost one of the chicks to some sort of predator last night (they were in a cage, but apparently a cat (racoon?) got it's paw under a part of the cage and grabbed the chick. I know chickens need pals, so I'm trying to figure out if we need to get another chick, or just integrate the one chick into the pen with the two older hens. The chick is about 8 weeks old. Thank you for any advice.

 

[PamB]

I would get another chick. You don't want to risk the larger hens hurting the baby.

 

[KiraCookie]

Poor chicky. U shud get another one.

 

[carrlr]

I would get another chick. Putting a vulnerable lone chick in at 8 weeks is a little risky. I usually wait until there around 12 weeks. Would you be getting a baby chick or another 8 week old one?

 

[abennett]

I won't be putting the chick in with the older hens right away -- I was thinking about putting her cage inside the pen with the hens to help get them used to her?

 

[abennett]

Also, I would probably be getting a younger chick (rather than trying to find another 8-week)