Introducing a single chick to an established flock

[Egg-Cellent Flock]

Some friends have recently incubated some bantam eggs for me. One of the chicks hatched, so I went down to pick it up. S/he was the first one to hatch, and our friends say they would give the rest to us once they hatched. But, it's been about 3 weeks and no more have hatched, so now we only have one chick.

Is it okay to raise only one chick? S/he seems fine, but since chickens are flock animals, I though s/he might start getting lonely.
Another thing is introducing her/him to my established flock of full-size hens. Since s/he is a bantam, and the rest are full-size, I'm worried the others might really pick on him/her. And since there are no other chicks, I'm worried that will make it even harder for her/him.

I'm not really sure what to do, so if I could get some help, that would be great! Thank you so much!!

 

[azygous]

This tiny chick has more than one strike against it surviving and thriving in your flock.

The first is that bantams usually fair poorly in a flock of standards. The second is it will be the only small chicken and will be noticed for that even more than if it were in a group of several of that small size.

Even more than those two things, this chick will lack support from mates its own age and size. This is important since chickens derive self confidence from their brooder mates. This chick has none so it may remain timid and afraid, and this behavior can attract bullying.

The odds are stacked against it. What I would advise is to return it to the people you got it from.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Is there anywhere you can get more bantam chicks of around the same age range? It really needs some "hatchmates."