lonely chicken

[philomenasgirls]

Hello everyone. We are new at this and need help. 4 months ago we bought 2 new baby chicks. We fell in love with Lucille and Betsy. Betsy became Bob!!!!!!!!! and was crowing from 2 am in our residential home back yard!!!!!!!!!!!!We found a new home for him nd are very sad. Lucille is alone and now laying eggs. We would rather introduce a baby to her rather than anther a hen but need advice. I have heard of putting the baby in hoping she thinks it s hers .What do you think? And how do you do this correctly or are there other options. It is January in Phoenix and we have a heat lamp on the coop but is it too cold for a new chick without feathers or will Lucille keep it warm.

 

[Renee']

You're proabably better off getting Lucille a girlfriend rather than a kid.

 

[philomenasgirls]

Renee --why do you think that would be better.

 

[gritsar]

I would advise against giving Lucille a chick. If she's not broody there's a good chance she would kill it. Only a hen that's broody (meaning she's in the biological mode where she wants to hatch some chicks) is likely to take on chicks as her own and even broody hens have been known to reject chicks.

Chickens can get very lonely by themselves. They are flock animals and thrive best when kept with other chickens.

With winter approaching I'm afraid there's not alot of good options available to you. You could try and get what's called a started pullet from a hatchery, but I just did a quick search and the few hatcheries I checked are sold out of started pullets.

You can search craigslist or your local papers for a pullet or hen about the same age as your Lucille, but for the sake of Lucille you would need to quarantine any new bird(s) you bring in for at least 30 days. You do this to prevent the spread of disease.

You can check this section of the forum for anyone that has chickens that they are willing to ship:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewforum.php?id=35

Generally speaking you want to find a pullet/hen close to the same age as Lucille - so they can hold their own in any disputes, quarantine and then do a slow introduction.

Good luck to you.

 

[Papa Rooster]

ide say just buy her another couple of hens(make sure its not sick) so she will have a little family. without a rooster she probably will not go broody

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Not necessarily true. The urge to go broody happens entirely because of the hen's hormones and has nothing to do with whether there's a rooster in the flock or whether the hen has fertile eggs to set on. I've had hens go broody on nothing but thin air.