My Experience Raising a Single Chick...so far

[Johannanoel]

So helpful!!! Thank you so very much!

 

[quone]

Since my chick was for a classroom, I wasn’t as concerned about heat. During the day it was in a box with a screen window and the heating pad was underneath. I kept the wool hen in the box, too, although it never got used during the day. I took it home every night because, well, it was a cute little baby chick, and it stayed in its box with the heating pad underneath. At night I pushed it into the wool hen, and it usually stayed there until 7am. Since it was quiet all night I just kept the box in my bedroom, so still no worries about temp.
Nutmeg is almost 9 weeks old now. She spends all day with the older girls and still comes in at night. She socializes fine, but at dusk when they go in the coop, Nutmeg doesn’t get it. I’ve put her in several times and she just wants out. I blocked the exit so she could see what the other two do, but she’s just not interested. Nighttime temps are 50 now, so pretty soon I think I’m just going to leave her out there and see what happens. I think my husband will worry more than I will!
This is the box in the classroom:

This is the run I set up when she started needing more space:

And here she is today:

 

[quone]

Okay, it turns out all I had to do to get Nutmeg to go in the coop at night was to post about it-today the big girls went in at 7:00, and Nutmeg decided to go in at 7:45! Now I don’t have to wake up early to bring her outside!

On a side note, she’s seeming more like a he. Whenever she’s challenged, she fights back and gets the last peck. The only time it doesn’t work is if one of the others flies up and lands on top of her.

 

[quone]

3 1/2 months old and is now as big as the other two. He's a lot fluffier, and has gotten new feathers in a new color, so now he's highlighted with rust. I'm dreading the day when he crows and I have to either rehome him or cull him...

 

[Tonyroo]

He's beautiful and has interesting shades of colors, hang on to him as long as you can.