Is my baby chick too attached to me?

[sourland]

Chickens are flock animals. Plain and simply, she's lonely.

 

[MadHatcher]

Hello! Well after a trip to the pet supermarket we found her love of crickets... We're using them to potty train and so far we've had three "splorts" in a row in the correct place! We purchased a disposable litter box developed for ferrets. It is large enough for her to hop around in it and the sides are thick enough that she can perch on them. We've been snuggling and letting her hop around on the couch with us as she has normally been doing for about 30-45 minutes before setting her in the "potty place" after she "splorts" (which normally takes less than a minute) she gets a cricket... Oh boy does she love them. So my initial impression is that we're on the right track... she associates the potty place with crickets now because she runs over to it to hunt around between her "potty breaks"... So I'm hoping with enough reinforcement she'll be about to attain the connection between going potty in this specific place with getting crickets... Eventually I hope to remove the crickets all together and just have her associate the potty place as the place to go.

On a positive note I think eating crickets has boosted her appetite overall because she seems more interested in eating now! I'll keep you posted!

Here are the pictures as requested!


Excelsior! snuggling against my neck on my shoulder.

Excelsior! trying to help me make coffee in the morning... or maybe she just wants another cricket!

 

[mmaddie's mom]

What a sweetheart.

Enjoying her story.

 

[molly d]

Aww, she's sweet! She compliments your French press quite nicely, too.

 

[henney penny]

This is my story,I hatched out one silkie egg with the intentions of putting this baby under the mama that was waiting for her eggs to hatch in two weeks.Well the babies hatched and we took Jadee out and tried putting her under the mama and she screamed her head off and got in a corner and paced back and forth trying to get out,the mama would have accepted her but noway said Jadee.So we broght her or him(don`t know what sex it is) back in and put her in the aqarium with her teddy bear and feather duster and she was happy.She would sit and watch tv with dh in the evenings and follow us around when we put her on the floor.We tried many times to reintroduce her to the other silkies but it never worked out,so I told dh she really needs to be in the coop with the others so we moved her aqurium out and put her on a shelf that dh built for her but she still will not mingle with the others and now they will try to chase her if they can.She gets out a few times a day and is in the grass with the others but have to stay with her so they don`t hurt her.Would not ever do that again raise one chick.She thinks she is a human I did put a mirror in with her so she would see herselfand relize she was a chicken.She is scared of a lot of things.

 

[henney penny]

She really liked her baby,she is 6 weeks old now and does not have the bear anymore

 

[henney penny]

This is her out in the silkie coop

 

[henney penny]

This is her following dh around,she is kind

a small hope you can see her.

 

[MadHatcher]

Aw! She is super cute.

Unfortunately... I don't have any sort of flock to fit my little girl in with... Even at my maximum I'd only be allowed to own two chickens at one time... So unless I'm willing to break the law (which is an idea I toy with from time to time) I'm not sure she'd ever even have a "normal" chicken existence available to her.

With that being said she does seem happy... now I've only had her for about a week but each day she seems healthy, happy, and well adjusted to her new environment. She has her routine and seems more than willing to go along with it... I don't mind "spoiling" her and my husband doesn't either. She gets along well with my dogs and she is eating well, pooing well, sleeping by herself all though the night, and seems happy. So... I really don't recommend anyone raising just one chick unless you're willing to have a house pet... knowing what I do now I probably wouldn't have taken this route but, she is becoming part of our house's "mixed flock" made up of dogs, humans, and chicken...

Here is a picture of my small Chihuahua girl Widget giving her a sniff on the sofa...

 

[Arcane Araucana]

I'm just wondering if Excelsior! qualifies as one of the two chickens you're allowed to have since she is in the house (like a big canary or a feathery 2 legged dog). Raising poultry usually refers to birds raised in the yard - not the house.