One chick what to do

mycindysfarm

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i have one chick in the middle of the winter. The mom was sitting on it but then gave up but it hatched. She is doing well and at 5 weeks. I now have her in a dog cage inside the chicken coop. The problem is I have a red light on for heat but it is keeping the other chickens awake. Any suggestions?
 
Maybe try moving her inside or somewhere else at night or whenever you have the light on her. Also, is there any other chicks or did just one hatch? If the mom just abandoned the one, I would move all the other chicks in with the one. But if there isn't anymore I would buy another or a few more to keep her ccompany and warmer. Good luck!
 
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She is the only one. None of the other eggs hatched. I did have her in a rubbermaid tub in a different area with the light but i felt bad she didn't have any room to move around, and I wanted the flock to start gettting use to seeing her. I probably shouldn't have waited another week. I guess I could move her to the garage at night and then put her back out there during the day.
 
I use a heating pad brooder for chicks rather than a light... There is a thread on it, I think Mama hen heating pad brooder? If you search heating pad brooder it will get you there.
The heating pad you need is on the more expensive end as far as heating pads go, because it has a continuous function instead of auto 'off', but is well worth it for effortless brooding of chicks.
 
Welcome to BYC!

By 5 weeks it shouldn't need heat....depending on your location/climate(would be good to add this info to your profile).

I think keeping it in the coop, but separated by wire from flock, is best.
Again can depend climate and also the size and configuration of your coop.
Actual dimensions of coop are necessary and pics are the best way to go.

More info is needed to give any reasonable and viable solutions.
 
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I'm in NJ and we are getting down to the 20's this week at night. I have her in the middle of the coop against the back wall in a dog crate. The coop is the size of a small shed, 10 x 10 ish. I found today a different red bulb. This one is smaller and all red, not just red on the top, so it is not giving off much light. The other chickens seem fine tonight and they settled down easy, not like last night. I have the heat lamp on a timer and I will start making it less time a day weather permitting.
 
At five weeks, your chick is old enough to begin integrating into the flock. At the beginning, it will lack self confidence and will be fearful of the adults. But since you've had the chick in proximity to the flock, it has been accepted as a flock member pretty much.

What you need to do to give your chick the boost of self confidence it needs to integrate is to provide it with a safe refuge. Set it up in the run or where the flock spends the most time during the day. Create a small safe pen with two or more 5 x 7 inch openings so the chick can scoot back inside when it becomes fearful of the adults. Place food and water inside where the adults can't reach it by sticking their heads into the openings.

Over time the chick will need this "panic room" less and less. Usually by the time it's two months old, integration is all but complete.

You can get rid of the tub inside the coop and the light. The chick won't need it if it's spending its waking hours in the run. At night you may need to teach it to go back inside the coop to sleep. You can provide it with it's own space or wait and see if it will use a perch. I transition my chicks to coop sleeping by placing a cat bed inside in a corner for them to sleep in. It's a cozy and reassuring place for chicks to sleep and in a few weeks, they usually start using the perches on their own.

Don't worry about the chick's safety at night. Chickens are more intent on settling in to roost than they are in bullying a chick.
 
Ok thank you very much. I will make up something tommorow for her to escape into to hide when needed and I will keep on eye on them. We are having very mild temperatures for January which is not the norm, so that is helping. thanks
 
I just wanted to say. My one chick alone is doing fine now. She has a cardboard house outside to hide in and some hiding places inside the coop. She is not very social and spends most of her time alone. But she does go outside and wanders around. She sleeps with the big girls but on the lower roosting bar. But she seems content. I'm getting a new batch of chicks so hopefully she can make some friends.
 

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