One chick looks like a loner

[Agathe]

Chickens will have different personalities, so having a chick like this is perfectly normal. She's probably low on the pecking order.

Just be very careful to look out for signs of serious bullying. If she's ever seriously hurt, you may need to do something to help stop the bullying.

Luckily I've never seen her being mistreated at all. She has her place on top of the heating plate and it seems they leave her alone up there. But I always keep my eyes on her just to be sure!

 

[Disintegration]

Luckily I've never seen her being mistreated at all. She has her place on top of the heating plate and it seems they leave her alone up there. But I always keep my eyes on her just to be sure!

That's good that you haven't seen any bullying!

 

[Agathe]

I also have a chicken like this (year and a half old, pecking order is fully established). When I bring the treat dish out, she kinda waits for the others to finish their frenzy and then maybe she'll pick at it. But she's also fine just going back to the pellet feed or the nest box while the craziness is happening. I have tried multiple feeders, she will come around but in general she'd rather stay out of the fray. BUT she does have a favorite treat she will go nuts for - "Golden Nuggets". I dunno why but she likes them more than anything else I've tried to give her. And I have another chicken that has no interest in them. They have their preferences!

This is the Golden Nuggets, in case you were wondering - https://www.chewy.com/farmers-helper-golden-egg-nugget/dp/248665

She was always the shyest out of the 10 in her batch of babies. But she's very sweet and seems to be doing fine, even if she is alone most of the time. She roosts with everyone and hangs around them, she's just not buddy buddy and doesn't want to get involved with all the hub bub. I don't blame her. (Also- she is the biggest and fluffiest chicken I have, and she's no where near the top of the hierarchy).

Ooh, I'll see if I can find those where I am. I'm glad yours seems to be doing fine. Mine does too, I suppose. I guess it will be easier to tell after some more time has passed. But it's good to hear that it's normal. I hope it's just her personality and nothing else.

 

[Sarahh_Janeyy]

Ooh, I'll see if I can find those where I am. I'm glad yours seems to be doing fine. Mine does too, I suppose. I guess it will be easier to tell after some more time has passed. But it's good to hear that it's normal. I hope it's just her personality and nothing else.

I hope so, too!

 

[Stephine]

For better distributing treats so that everyone can get some I take raisins or mealworms or grubs, or sunflower seeds, and toss them in the run, first handful attracts all the fastest, toughest, top half of the flock hens, second handful I toss far away from the first and then a third goes into another direction still, for the ones on the bottom of the pecking order. That seems to work pretty well, because even the top hen can’t be in three placed at a time! Also greens are a great treat as they take a lot longer to eat up and if you scatter them throughout the run really everyone will get some. If I am feeding treats in bowls, I always use three, set as far apart as I can, for 12-16 chickens. I don’t feed out of my hand because then I‘d really only be treating 4-5 of them to the special goodies.

 

[Agathe]

For better distributing treats so that everyone can get some I take raisins or mealworms or grubs, or sunflower seeds, and toss them in the run, first handful attracts all the fastest, toughest, top half of the flock hens, second handful I toss far away from the first and then a third goes into another direction still, for the ones on the bottom of the pecking order. That seems to work pretty well, because even the top hen can’t be in three placed at a time! Also greens are a great treat as they take a lot longer to eat up and if you scatter them throughout the run really everyone will get some. If I am feeding treats in bowls, I always use three, set as far apart as I can, for 12-16 chickens. I don’t feed out of my hand because then I‘d really only be treating 4-5 of them to the special goodies.

Thank you, that is a great idea! I rarely feed them from my hand anymore, but I often feed treats from a bowl. It always leaves 2 or 3 birds on the sideline unable to get to it. It is a good idea to use more bowls. Also the scattering of treats. For a while I avoided giving the treats to the slower birds because they were also the ones more confined to the coop. At this time I had grit outside the coop because they kept knocking it down inside the coop. So it made sense for only the birds that ate the grit to have access to treats. Now they all use the run though and I can make sure everyone get some!