Hi Chicken lovers Hatch 1 Black Orpington 4 days ago just put it out under a heat lamp, unfortunatly no other eggs hatch. It won't shut up until I go to it, does it think I'm Mum/ chicken? Tried and still trying to get it a friend so it won't be lonely - I can get couple of day old chicks by Friday will they be ok to go in with a week old chick?? But in the mean time has anyone got any suggestion on how to help - I have even given it a famile of rubber ducks but still not happy. It is now been dark for 4 hours and I can still hear it calling??? I've check to see if it ok temp/ foods all fine/ water good???!!!???
Try giving it a small stuffed animal... one that is soft that it can snuggle up with. If that don't work... call yourself mama chicken and carry that baby around in your bra . (someone on this site mentioned doing that before)... My mother ended up with one lonely chick (after Thelma died, which she was chick sitting for me)... and that baby worked her way out of her bin... off the couch, across the family room, thru the kitchen, down the hall and up the stairs (she was 1 month old) just to find my mom. She continues to have a special affection for my mom even though she is with other chicks her age. D
I would give it a try and put the day olds in on Friday, I doubt this chick will be mean considering how lonely it is. There is a difference in a week but not that much difference. They are really not meant to live alone, being a flock animal its hard for them to survive by themselves, the poor little thing. It happened to me once with a hatch and I looked on Craigslist and found someone selling chicks and ran over and got him some friends. The age difference, did not make any difference in my case. I hope it works out for you, good luck.
It should be fine with the day olds. I had a hen hatch one chick, then stay on the nest waiting for the others to hatch. Meanwhile another broody hatched a few chicks, almost a week later. The first hens chick got tired of waiting for her mom to take her off the nest (for more than a few minutes at a time) so she joined the other chicks and adopted the other mom! The other mom adopted her too! She was always a little bigger than her siblings, but they got along fine.
My first hatch gave me a lone chick, and I posted a funny ad on Freecycle, claiming that my cat wasn't quite the playmate she was looking for. Babymakes5 responded, gave me two beautiful chicks, introduced me to BYC, and has been a friend ever since! Granted, Freecycle is overcrowded with ads from people looking for laptops, cars, even rent money, but my chick ad was a hit! Good luck!
