One Delayed Baby

[swinfield89]

Hi, all,

I have one baby who is the same age as my other three, but she was very sick with cocci and didn't grow for a while. She is *finally* growing and getting feathers, but the others are almost fully feathered and are getting too big for the brooder. They need to be moved to the coop, but this one chick isn't ready.

I don't want her to be alone or have to be reintroduced to the group later. Right now, even though she's so little, they accept her and she isn't afraid of them or bullied. I've considered keeping her inside and buying a couple new chicks to keep her company while she grows, but I'm not sure that's the right solution. I could also move her to the coop with the others and use a heat lamp in there, but I'm concerned about safety (my neighbor's coop burned down when I was a kid) and the little chick's wellbeing. It's going to be highs in the 80's and lows in the 50's all next week. What are your thoughts?

 

[LateBirdFarms]

I actually just had the same dilemma, one runt chick and several larger all of the same age. I was panicking about letting the little one out into the coop, and by the end of the day I realized that she is probably better off with her broodermates than without, adding any new chicks in my case they would have been day olds and I was worried my runt was going to bully them. So for night one I secured the brooder lamp in the coop, with about enough screws to hold an elephant swinging from it... and then I remembered a post about using a heating pad like a cave! All I had on hand was a pet bed warmer, but after I got it all set up they just snuggled into their sleeping pile with my runt somewhere in the middle and ignored the heat source all together.

How did your coop transition go?