Need an emotional support chicken for my chicken.

[lomine]

Breed characteristics are general for the breed but it's no guarantee a chick will grow up to fit those characteristics. For example, I had a Wyandotte (supposed to be friendly) that was real mean. There's no way to know how a chick will be when it's grown.

 

[Acre4Me]

You are making this way too complicated. You have 3 chickens in a 2+1 situation. But rather than this 2+1=3, it is in fact a negative situation.

So, either rehome the 1 (Easter), or the other 2 (and keep Easter).

Rehoming the other 2 might be easier all around. They have each other and integration might be easier for them in a new flock.

You can buy new chicks, and Easter will be the mature girl, she can properly heal, and be the teacher of chicken ways for the new chicks (not that she would be a momma hen, as she is not broody).

In fact, why not buy a few more chicks than you want in the end? First, you can end up keeping your favorites, with personalities you prefer. Second, the place that took your other two might be happy to take a couple young ones too (just ask in advance). But females are fairly easy to rehome.

I know some hatcheries guarantee sexing accuracy (for example Meyer), so something to look into.

We rehomed 3 dark brown Leghorns bc they didn’t fit our flock. The main male HATED them too, and pecked and chased them often. So, it was a good decision for us to rehome them all together to a different flock.

 

[aart]

The title of this thread cracked me up....
..reminded me of when I got second dog because
'my companion animal needed a companion animal'.
Luckily they clicked right away....not so much when I did it again years later.

 

[JavaFrannyEaster]

Whew! Been quite busy so I'm sorry I couldn't reply back quick to anyone. But I truly do appreciate all of the advice given.

I'll try to go down and answer as much as I can.

I'm aware that a breed's general characteristics is not a guarantee that the chick itself will have these same characteristics. But I'm trying to play to statistics more than anything. Which is why I was hoping to find out what breeds are more prone to what characteristics. I've done some reading but sometimes what's written tends to contradict what people with first-hand experience has to say about the breeds they've dealt with.

As far as rehoming goes, the problem with that is we don't have the ability to rehome. As mentioned, we were extremely lucky with Fluff, the other Easter Egger that turned out to be a Rooster, since we happened to know a co-worker that raises chickens and was willing to take him in to her happy fold. But said co-worker is moving. The few other people we've come across that would be willing to take in chickens always tell us up front it's to put them on a plate for dinner, hence trying to find a place that could guarantee us a female as best as possible.

That leads to those suggesting to rehome either Easter or both Java and Franny. Unfortunately, this isn't really an option for both the reason we can't find a good home for them and we're extremely fond of all of them. We adore all of our chickens. They aren't just beasts of labor to produce eggs for us. They're part of the family. Even our dog has adopted them and stresses out when they're outside and he can't find one of them. We've had to regularly bring Collin in to see that Easter is accounted for and okay inside the house. After a snuffle-over and a lick on her head, he goes back out to lay with the chickens.

I do agree that the number of chickens is a bit odd. Originally we were only going to get 2 chicks to start with. However, we were cautioned that it's common for chicks to not survive into adulthood and that we should get double the number of chicks to ensure we have what we have what we're looking for because most likely at least half will die. Several months later we still had all four. This wouldn't have been so bad had it not been for the horrible strangled man-screams coming from our flock. This was when we found out that Fluff was not a hen but a rooster. Of course, we held onto him for a while longer hoping it was just a hen attempting to assert dominance like we had read about. After all, when he wasn't making that horrible sound he still did his best to cheep like a chick, even though you could tell he should be clucking. But when his tail came in we knew he was a rooster. And our city is very strict on keeping roosters, so we had to rehome him. Which is why we now have 3 chickens.

However, we do have an UPDATE!

Easter is healing MUCH faster than we anticipated. There's still a bit of a dip in her back but it's still healing nicely thanks to daily cleaning and applications of Blu Kote. Even she's leaving it the wound alone. And the feathers are already almost completely back now over the area.

During all of this she's remained just as happy and cuddly and laying every day, though she's now taken to hiding her eggs and then unburying them to sit on them. And when she leaves the crate to forage around the room she buries any eggs she may have again.

Additionally, we unintentionally ended up adopting a chick. We weren't quite expecting it but when asking around at stores that sell them (I won't specify which one since I don't want to risk getting the employee in trouble), one employee understood where I was coming from. It turns out she raises chickens, too, and one of her flock was recently killed by a hawk. Only a handful of the chicks survived but none of her flock are broody enough to take in the chicks and she doesn't have as much time as she needs to take care of all of them, especially little girl that wants to spend all her time cuddled up to her neck all day.

So we ended up adopting a chick (we seem to end up with a lot of animals this way...). She is very pretty and VERY cuddly. If she isn't on our shoulder or nearby she's pretty upset.

This is by no means a guarantee she and Easter will bond but once the quarantine period is over and she's big enough I'm hoping that introductions can lead to something. I hope. But we'll see what happens. I'm keeping in contact with the woman so she can be kept up-to-date on the situation as well.

I'll be sure to keep this updated as well.

Once more, thank you to everyone for your advice and suggestions. It's certainly helped me to learn a bit more and hopefully improve the life of our little flock!

 

[lissalischicks]

I hope it works out for me. I got tried to get a "companion" chicken for my lonely chicken but it didn't turn out too well.

 

[JavaFrannyEaster]

Why do you have to start with a chick? That is a long term solution to a pressing problem.

The main reason for this is because we've had EXTREMELY bad luck with buying adults. And it went beyond just the normal pecking order issue and letting them get used to people. In the long run we've had better luck getting chicks that we can verify are healthy and raising them by hand.

For now we have a set-up where Easter can heal separated from the other two while also being present through fencing. The few times we put her in the same pen as them (with the wound covered as best as possible) They really don't seem to care for the most part. They don't do the normal pecking order squabbles or anything. It's not until she absolutely will not leave them alone that they give her a bonk on the head or back to make her move from them when just walking away doesn't get her off their hip.

It's why we're hoping we can make this last just long enough for the chick to be grown enough to introduce to Easter. It may take a bit of time but we're in this for the long-term.

 

[JavaFrannyEaster]

I hope it works out for me. I got tried to get a "companion" chicken for my lonely chicken but it didn't turn out too well.

Me and you both. But there does seem to be hope. Easter is starting to show some broody tendencies. I'm hoping that this may help in the long-run. When we talked to a vet about it even he said a chick may help her out with her clingy tendencies.

 

[JavaFrannyEaster]

The title of this thread cracked me up....
..reminded me of when I got second dog because
'my companion animal needed a companion animal'.
Luckily they clicked right away....not so much when I did it again years later.

Glad that it made you laugh!

Yeah, dogs can be kind of like that. I had a dog that we did the exact same thing for. But when they get older they can be kind of grouchy about it all. Like, "Oh no, not this again..." But I hope it still worked out for you!

 

[lomine]

Glad you found a chick. I sure hope it is for sure a girl.

I've found that the younger the chick the easier it is to introduce it to adult birds. Chicks aren't a threat so they generally don't go after them. But the chick does need a place to hide where the big chickens can't get it. I'd suggest trying to start introducing the chick to Easter as soon as the quarantine is done. It will also be better for the chick to have a feathered buddy sooner rather than latter. Good luck!!

 

[JavaFrannyEaster]

Glad you found a chick. I sure hope it is for sure a girl.

I've found that the younger the chick the easier it is to introduce it to adult birds. Chicks aren't a threat so they generally don't go after them. But the chick does need a place to hide where the big chickens can't get it. I'd suggest trying to start introducing the chick to Easter as soon as the quarantine is done. It will also be better for the chick to have a feathered buddy sooner rather than latter. Good luck!!

Thank you for the heads up! And yeah, me, too. But this is also one of the main people at the store that the managers use to help sort chicks when they come in, plus she was able to see them as they hatch. So hopefully all works out and she's a hen.

We'll definitely introduce her when the other two are outside. There's lots of places to hide where Easter is kept and we won't be leaving her alone with Easter for the first few days. As soon as the quarantine period is over we fully plan on introducing them.

Thank you again for all the good wishes! =D