mama rejected one chick

[modkevin]

Hi, my hen hatched three chicks last week who are outside in a coop and she seems to be taking good care of them. i went in Saturday and one more egg had hatched but she was ignoring the chick and i think she kicked it out of the nest. i bought a brooder 250 heat lamp and brought the chick inside. It is living in my bathtub with a glass backing dish and shavings in it with the light on all day and all night. The bath tub is big enough that he can move away from the heat if need be.The chick seems to be doing fine and walks around, eats, drinks and chirps. i am not sure what my next step is. i tried putting the chick back but mama ran at it and pecked it, so i am not going to attempt that again. If anyone has any advice regarding how much the red brooder heat lamp should be kept on or any other advice that would be great. the amp is not temperature adjustable. thanks

 

[TheNewMrsEvans]

It's hard to get just one to survive...i've tried and they never do well

My suggestion is to take them all and just raise them in the house. I just use a big cardboard box or tub with a few inches of shavings. The temp can be adjusted by raising/lowering the lamp. The goal for the first few weeks is 85-90F under the lamp. You can put a regular people thermometer on the litter and then check the temp. Make sure they have the space to get away from it, and put the water in the cool opposite end. Once they get big enough to hop out i just clothespin some dish towels across the top to keep them in! It sucks she won't love that one...poor little guy!
Good Luck