Lonely aggressive chick

[Lbryony76]

I have a solo 3 day old Oxford Old English Game chick who is wonderfully healthy (eating and drinking as well as using its wings at only 2 days old) and fantastic with people. I felt sorry for it as non of the other eggs in the batch were fertile and tried to introduce a runner duckling who is in a similar situation. It went badly and my chick was very aggressive so I separated the duckling again.

Of course the chick now demands constant cuddles and is incredibly noisy. I'm looking for advice both short term (easing the chick's anxiety) and long term (introducing the chick to an established flock). The plan was to have a separate Old English Game flock but that is now scuppered for the moment due to only the one chick hatching. There is a possibility I could procure a broody but is the chick too old for her to accept?

 

[azygous]

You mentioned an existing adult flock? If you do have a flock, your solution is simple. Introduce the chick right away so it has company.

You do this by creating a brooder in proximity to the other chickens. I wrote an article for BYC on outdoor brooding and its many benefits, linked below.

This will integrate your chick immediately and by age two weeks, the chick will be able to start mingling safely with the adult flock. No need for any other fancy strategies.

Details are in the article.

 

[Lbryony76]

Thanks. This is worth a think. I have no electric supply out with the main flock but I've seen 10 hr microwave heat pads that could work during a warm day if I put a dog crate in the one of the runs?