Lonely chicken

[Heatherdckr]

Hello, this is my first time here.
My neighbors dog attacked and killed three of my chickens. One is left
She is a 6 week old chicken and we had just moved them into their new coop. This happened today, she seems lonely. We want to get new chicks tomorrow.
When can they be together? She’s 6 weeks and they’ll be about 1 week or so.
and if they cannot be together till the new babies are 6 weeks-ish, what do we do in the mean time to make her happy? I heard that they’ll get depressed and pick their own feathers?? Is there anything we can do to help her loneliness in the meantime?
Thanks so much

 

[nuthatched]

You can brood them in the coop as long as they're secure from her likely attacks.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Hello, this is my first time here.
My neighbors dog attacked and killed three of my chickens. One is left
She is a 6 week old chicken and we had just moved them into their new coop. This happened today, she seems lonely. We want to get new chicks tomorrow.
When can they be together? She’s 6 weeks and they’ll be about 1 week or so.
and if they cannot be together till the new babies are 6 weeks-ish, what do we do in the mean time to make her happy? I heard that they’ll get depressed and pick their own feathers?? Is there anything we can do to help her loneliness in the meantime?
Thanks so much

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you posted your dilemma here. It's a great place to get answers and share your stories. I look forward to seeing your pics, too!

I'm more concerned about what you've done to fix the run so the neighbor's dog doesn't do it again. Please put my fears at ease and tell me what your setup is like to protect against predators.

Where do you plan to keep the brooder for the new chicks? Can it go into the coop, so the 6-week old baby has their company, but can't attack them? Or can you put the 6-week old baby in the same space (garage? basement? barn?) along with the brooder where she's protected and can see and hear the chicks, but can't touch them?

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Raising the new chicks alongside the 6-week-old baby will do MUCH to ease integration when they're finally old enough to mingle. I'd say no sooner than about 7-8 weeks of age.

 

[Heatherdckr]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you posted your dilemma here. It's a great place to get answers and share your stories. I look forward to seeing your pics, too!

I'm more concerned about what you've done to fix the run so the neighbor's dog doesn't do it again. Please put my fears at ease and tell me what your setup is like to protect against predators.

Where do you plan to keep the brooder for the new chicks? Can it go into the coop, so the 6-week old baby has their company, but can't attack them? Or can you put the 6-week old baby in the same space (garage? basement? barn?) along with the brooder where she's protected and can see and hear the chicks, but can't touch them?

Thank you!
We are securing the fencing and everything around it to prevent this from happening again!

 

[Heatherdckr]

Thank you!
We are securing the fencing and everything around it to prevent this from happening again!

Can the brooder be in the chicken run outside? Or can they not be in direct sunlight?

 

[AntiqueB]

It depends on the older chick's personality, but I would bet that she'll be happy to have any company. I put a single (calm) 7 week old with a single 1 week old, and had no issues whatsoever. The tiny one snuggled against the bigger one, and that was that.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Can the brooder be in the chicken run outside? Or can they not be in direct sunlight?

The chicks must be kept at controlled temperatures - ideally inside your house or in the coop. For the first week of age, 95-deg-F. Then lower the temperature 5-deg each week until they are about 5 weeks old and fully feathered. Do you have a chick brooder? How did you raise the other chicks that are (were) 6 weeks old?

Yes, you can keep the brooder outside in the run during the day, as long as they have access to a heated area at the right temperature, and access to a cooler area if they get too hot. Direct sunlight is okay as long as they have shade, too. But at night, since temperatures drop and winds tend to pick up at dusk and dawn, they'll be too cold. Move their brooder indoors for the night.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Can the brooder be in the chicken run outside? Or can they not be in direct sunlight?

They can be in direct sunlight but they also need some shaded areas to cool off.

And chicks absolutely can stay in an outdoor brooder day and night, as long as they have a suitably warm spot that's draft free to sleep in. Most coops would qualify, though I brood out in the run and rely on brooder placement to help protect chicks from drafts instead.

 

[BastyPutt]

Hello, this is my first time here.
My neighbors dog attacked and killed three of my chickens. One is left
She is a 6 week old chicken and we had just moved them into their new coop. This happened today, she seems lonely. We want to get new chicks tomorrow.
When can they be together? She’s 6 weeks and they’ll be about 1 week or so.
and if they cannot be together till the new babies are 6 weeks-ish, what do we do in the mean time to make her happy? I heard that they’ll get depressed and pick their own feathers?? Is there anything we can do to help her loneliness in the meantime?
Thanks so much

You can maybe check Craigslist or Facebook groups to see if you can get another similar age chicken, or maybe rent one out.

If you did do this - Make sure you go to pick the chicken up so you can see the condition of the coop and other chickens. It is a risk with the chicken having some kind of a disease, but there are a lot of very good keepers out there who raise healthy flocks.