Is my chick lonely?

[ccorvidae]

This is my first time raising a chick.
I have a single lone chick after the other eggs didn't hatch (none were fertile). She's 4 days old, and she eats and drinks frequently on her own. Her brooder is on my kitchen table, she's in a clear brooder. The area she's in is generally pretty quiet, but me and 4 other people in my family walk by very often and talk. The chick is always running back and forth along the side of the brooder, peeping frantically. Everyone talks to her a fair bit and I hold her several times a day, but she still always seems somewhat distressed. Is this normal? Or would she calm down and seem a bit more content if she had a friend? There are 2 stuffed animals and a mirror in her brooder, but she doesn't seem interested in any of them. She'll climb on one of the stuffed animals and try using it to escape, but other than that there's no interest in them.

So, does she need a friend? What should I do?

 

[NewBoots]

Get her some friends, chickens are very social and chicks even more so.

 

[rebeccaH86]

I would say your baby is in need of a friend it's usually best to have more then one , I seen a really cool ideal of putting a feather duster in the broader hanging a couple inches from the bottom maybe that would make it feel more at ease ?

 

[azygous]

Do you speak "chicken"? Did you know that baby chickens are hatched knowing how to speak "chicken"? They have the same exact language as adult chickens and communicate with other chicks with this language. Not only that, but you can learn it. If you pay attention over a long enough period, you'll find that chickens have syntax, meaning they speak in their version of sentences. Each rapid note in chick peeping means something, and just as humans need other humans to talk to, so do chickens, even tiny babies.

In addition to that, chicks have a survival instinct to cuddle together for warmth and security. This is a very important bonding that helps them develop self confidence to hold their own in a flock of other chickens.

So, yes, your chick is lonely. It's stressed because it's searching for those other chicks it knows instinctively should be there with it. You are likely a very fine human being, but you are not the chicken that this chick needs.

 

[ccorvidae]

Okay, thanks guys. Would it be suitable to just get one more chick? I don't really know what numbers they should be in, and I've tried looking it up but I can't find anything. How would I go about introducing her to other chicks?

 

[NewBoots]

My understanding is 3 minimum.

 

[azygous]

If one is all you can manage, it will be enough. Just pop it in with this chick who will give it the obligatory peck-on-the-head greeting which will start the bonding process. You will notice peace and quiet for the first time since this chick hatched.