Meet My Newest!!! Pics and some questions!!!!

[BrickWall Honey]

Until you can integrate her safely and if you can't get another, put in a mirror and another stuff similar size critter. the mirror will really help.
Best to you

 

[new breeder]

She may be lonely now, but the real serious problem will be when you try to integrate her with the rest of your flock when she's old enough to go out there with them. The way of chicken world is they run in packs. The chicks of the same age who are raised together will form a unit for life. They not only keep each other company, but they derive their self confidence and protection from being part of a unit. Chicks of units of four or more do much better coping with life in a flock of older chickens. It's even very hard for just a unit of three chicks when it comes time to face the big, scary adult chickens. One chick will be almost hopelessly lost, a misfit almost for certain, and it will have an awfully hard time because it will be the only smallest one, therefore have a bigger chance of being bullied and pecked to death.

You need to show this to whomever is making the decision that you can't have any more chicks. To raise just this single baby chick is really quite cruel. It needs at the very LEAST, two others of the same age. It doesn't even have to be the same breed.

 

[Cknldy]

The mirror and stuffed animal may help. I had 1 hatch out of 31 eggs sent, 13 fertile. I was very worried about having just one and all of my others are 7 weeks older and more. Even the bantams were too big to go in with 'Con' so I placed an ad in the local paper. It seems no one local is as chicken crazy as I am to be incubating in winter! Con is now 3 weeks old and knocks on the door of his brooder when he wants to come out. He is healthy and content but I worry when it is time to put him outside because he won't know how to socialize with chickens. I am hoping that by the time he can go out perhaps the duccles will be willing to accept him over time. Do everything you can to get at least one more chick, even if it means knowing that you must sell/give the extra away at a later date. Oh yeah- I also hung a cat collar with a bell in the brooder for when we aren't inside to keep Con company. Hope all turns out well for you

 

[Stewarts]

I'm afraid I have to agree with Azygous. One chick is very hard to raise alone unless she will be an indoor pet and chickens are very much a unit and rarely will they accept one not of their unit, although from my own experience it can happen if you do it right. I have this situation with a meat hen that we kept, she is in a palette enclosure with my rescue turkey hen and I can't put her in with my flock, she gets pecked and beaten up because she is a meat bird and a completely different breed. She also doesn't stand up for herself at all.

I have my two turkeys in with my flock, its winter and I only have the one outdoor coup and hutch. At first they would not accept Amber who is considerably larger than they are and they'd chase and harass her; the Roo has tried to jump on her - She was NOT impressed! Then one day she began pecking them back, once that started happening they smartened up and left her alone and they accepted her as part of their flock. My Tom they leave alone and accept for obvious reasons, he's huge!

Mr. Tom in the hutch with my other chickens - they all share the
coop and hutch. My rescue hen is at the bottom of the picture.
She has been in the house for a month now to recover her health.

Amber has been fully accepted by the brats in my flock.

But here's my experience so far and this is the first flock I've raised this year and am wintering; I would put her into a box that is large enough for her to comfortably move around in and have her feed, water and treats, the box has to be large and completely covered in with a large low opening on the side that has a mesh cover that can be easily opened and closed, so she can see them and they can see her. This will help her integrate with the flock. They will get used to her being there and eventually accept her presence; she will learn how to socialize with the flock. Everybody wins!!
Do this for at least a month until they are completely used to each other and there is nothing 'strange' about having a boxed chick in with them, then introduce her to the flock outside the box and see what happens. She is small so it might just be that after a month they will accept her because she is no longer seen as a threat to their unit.
Chickens are notoriously curious, about everything, hence the protection of the box, this type of curiosity causes harm to a newcomer. They will get to know each other through the mesh until its no longer needed.

I would do this immediately, the longer you wait the harder it is on the chick and the flock. Let us know how you progress, but I think this will work.

 

[silkiechick1994]

I've never had a problem with having only one chick. Just make sure you give her lots of attention and she will be just fine. I'm sure there are many mixed replies on here but nothing says it will hurt her to be alone until she is big enough to not get squished. I usually put a feather duster is the cage to act like mommas feathers and put a small stuffed animal in so they could cuddle with something if they felt lonely. Hope this helped you some. She is sooooo cute!!! Good luck with her!!

 

[Stewarts]

That's a good idea but a feather duster and a stuffed animal don't teach the chick how to socialize with other chickens and be like them, if this chick is to join the rest of the flock, she needs to do it now rather than later, before she gets too old to fit in properly with the rest of the flock. The reason my flock picks on Henny, my meat hen is because she 'acts' differently then they do and that is enough for them to reject her. This chick needs to socialize with the flock in order to learn their behaviors and sounds. If she is like them in behavior and sounds, they won't reject her.

 

[Mahlzeit]

I agree with the others who have said adding her to your adult flock later will be tough. I always add a group of chickens to my flock at the same time so they can stay together and feel safer. They all get chased and beat up for the first day or so until they find their spot in the pecking order but at least there are a number of them to take the pecking from the adults and not one lone chicken getting it from all the others. None of the other chickens want to lose their place in the pecking order so they are extra harsh on newbies.