one chick help!

[Kittle74]

ok I have 1 chick and it is now 3 days old.The mom only hatched the one egg out of 3,Something took the mother hen during the night so the chick is now alone..tell me everything i need to know on how to keep this chick alive inside.he/she is very loud.

 

[minihorse927]

First thing you need to make sure you have is a safe container for the chick to live in with proper bedding. That can be anything from paper towels to wood shavings to wood bedding pellets. Secondly the chicken need a heat source which is going to be a heat lamp bulb generally they are red and 250 watt. You want to keep a section of the brooder heated with this heat lamp to 90 degrees for the first week of life and lower and approximately 5 degrees every week. You want to make sure there is a section of the border that does not have heat so that way the chick can get away from the heat and cool off.

Next you will need to buy some chick starter which can be obtained at just about any feed mill or Tractor Supply that you visit. Also get a small chick feeder and a small chick waterer.


Other than that they pretty much raised themselves. Yours will probably be noisier than usual since it is alone, would be best if you can find it a friend about the same age.

 

[azygous]

Do you have a heating pad? One that doesn't turn itself off? A heating pad, rigged over a scrap of metal fencing will closely simulate a broody hen. You can stuff a couple of rolled up socks under the pad with the chick to make it feel like it has the company of other chicks.

You will need to provide fresh water and chick crumbles.

Go to the thread on "Mama Heating Pad for the Brooder" to see how to rig the heating pad into a chick cave.

Just sticking a single chick under a heat lamp in a box isn't going to solve the problem of it missing its mama.

 

[Teila]

Hi there Kittle74 and Welcome to BYC!

I am so very sorry to read of your loss

Great advice from minhorse927 and azygous. I just wanted to add that a soft cuddly toy can sometimes help and I have read that a mirror may also help so that the little one does not feel so alone.

 

[Kittle74]

I used a heating pad last night and it worked great.

 

[Kittle74]

First thing you need to make sure you have is a safe container for the chick to live in with proper bedding. That can be anything from paper towels to wood shavings to wood bedding pellets. Secondly the chicken need a heat source which is going to be a heat lamp bulb generally they are red and 250 watt. You want to keep a section of the brooder heated with this heat lamp to 90 degrees for the first week of life and lower and approximately 5 degrees every week. You want to make sure there is a section of the border that does not have heat so that way the chick can get away from the heat and cool off.

Next you will need to buy some chick starter which can be obtained at just about any feed mill or Tractor Supply that you visit. Also get a small chick feeder and a small chick waterer.


Other than that they pretty much raised themselves. Yours will probably be noisier than usual since it is alone, would be best if you can find it a friend about the same age.

Thanks and I went and bought everything that you listed here,I have the lamp centered,but I will go fix that now.thanks for the help

 

[minihorse927]

Your welcome. The heating pad over wire is a great idea too. I've seen it used and it works well. I just don't use it cause I brood way to many chicks at one time for it to be effective. Best of luck and let us know how things go! Definitely at least get it a stuffed toy to cuddle with if you don't want a buddy.

 

[azygous]

Kittle, glad to hear the heating pad worked for the chick, but you do not need a heat lamp on top of the heating pad. Both will put out way too much heat for a single chick.

Many people have the incorrect notion about heating the brooder. You are not heating the brooder. You are providing a heat source for the chick. If your broody hen was still alive, you wouldn't find it necessary to hang a heat lamp in the coop. The hen's body heat is all the heat a chick needs, and so is the heating pad!

 

[FarmerTony]

They need food water shelter and security, just like any newborn. I use a bait cage with pine shavings. They make more noise when they are cold than when they are warm I have discovered. If you provide it with a heat lamp it will quite down some, but being a solo chick it will still peep for its brothers and sisters, even though it has none. Chicks instinctively want to stay with the rest of the chicks and they peep to call each other. They like temps in the 90's. I keep mine in the incubator for several days until the hatch is finished.

I've also heard that hanging a feather duster feathers down a few inches off the floor will calm them down, they think they are under mama

 

[Kittle74]

I got the lamp up ,and the chick is very happy,but acts a little spoiled after holding it wants back out of it cage lol.