One Surviving Chick...What to do?

[YES House Chickens]

After hand raising (inside my home) for four months, 8 separate broods of chickens and Wild Guinea. I can safely say YES House Chickens ARE doable! Of these birds I picked two that were to be INSIDE chickens. I lost my best girl and her house mate was alone for a year.. I was her flock and she did just fine "all" alone. ONE chicken CAN survive in your home and become your best friend. You must handle them several times a day and hold them often to form a bond. Carry them around the house like a football tucked in your arm. Place them on you with a towel or pee pad under them gently place your hand on their back to simulate a momma hen sitting on them, they will fall asleep just fine.. They talk with you sit on you and do crazy happy chicken dances. I did get another chick and currently have BOTH in my living room. Chickens can wear diapers.. Amazon has them. At one point I had 6 indoor cats and two large dogs AND 4 house chickens in a 1200 sq ft house. If you do not want diapers have waterproof floors and a quick swipe of a sanitizer wipe and you are done. If you have a sick chick you CAN raise it in your home AND it will have a RELATIONSHIP with you! Our living room is only 12ft x 22ft and we have the normal furniture. We have a 48inx30inx33in wire dog crate with TWO doors that houses our two chicks. You will need a heater of some kind.. I use a heated floor mat type they can lay on as well as a Ceramic Heat Emitter that has no light coming from it. 150 watt. For 1 bird I could use a smaller cage but prefer the xx large dog crate for more interior room for them. I have two perches in their house water and food at the ready. I put OXBOW ALPHA hay NOT ANY OTHER KIND OF HAY ... Alpha is a legume other hay is not. It may cause crop or stomach issues if you use any other type of hay or straw. In their nest box and on the floor as bedding.. Oxbow has less dust and is vet recommended for pets. I put a fitted sheet under the cage and brought it up around the sides to catch the "flung" hay.. Clothes pins hold sheet in place and allow for doors to open easily.. I allow the birds free rein of the living room.. I have perches in the corners of my walls near the ceiling. When I am in living room in evening they are on their perches. Put puppy pee pads under them and they and you are just fine. Keep cage and them away from open doors that cause drafts for outside air. I have gotten new cats as all others passed of age and new ones 'LIKE' my chicks a little to much.. We put four light weight wire panels from a portable puppy pen one on top of the other and side by side to reach floor to ceiling and the width of the door way that is held together with zip ties. It hinges so we can open and close it at our leisure. Hooks are attached to wall to lock "door" closed by hooking one of the wires on door. One side of door is zip tied to screwed into wood o rings that the hook fits into.. When chicks are loose cats are locked out.. If I am in kitchen cats are locked in a room and my chicks are in kitchen talking to me. Once you are set up it is easy peasy to care for a LONE CHICK. Children should be trained to handle them gently, not to chase them as they scare easily when chased. Wings are easily broken with rough handling. Remember that they are prey animals (other animals food) and predators (killers of other animals) like cats and dogs CAN harm them.. Due diligence is needed to keep them separated until you have trained cats and dogs the bird is off limits. ONE HOUSE CHIKEN CAN BE THE BEST PET YOU HAVE EVER OWNED!!!

 

[hayley3]

After hand raising (inside my home) for four months, 8 separate broods of chickens and Wild Guinea. I can safely say YES House Chickens ARE doable! Of these birds I picked two that were to be INSIDE chickens. I lost my best girl and her house mate was alone for a year.. I was her flock and she did just fine "all" alone. ONE chicken CAN survive in your home and become your best friend. You must handle them several times a day and hold them often to form a bond. Carry them around the house like a football tucked in your arm. Place them on you with a towel or pee pad under them gently place your hand on their back to simulate a momma hen sitting on them, they will fall asleep just fine.. They talk with you sit on you and do crazy happy chicken dances. I did get another chick and currently have BOTH in my living room. Chickens can wear diapers.. Amazon has them. At one point I had 6 indoor cats and two large dogs AND 4 house chickens in a 1200 sq ft house. If you do not want diapers have waterproof floors and a quick swipe of a sanitizer wipe and you are done. If you have a sick chick you CAN raise it in your home AND it will have a RELATIONSHIP with you! Our living room is only 12ft x 22ft and we have the normal furniture. We have a 48inx30inx33in wire dog crate with TWO doors that houses our two chicks. You will need a heater of some kind.. I use a heated floor mat type they can lay on as well as a Ceramic Heat Emitter that has no light coming from it. 150 watt. For 1 bird I could use a smaller cage but prefer the xx large dog crate for more interior room for them. I have two perches in their house water and food at the ready. I put OXBOW ALPHA hay NOT ANY OTHER KIND OF HAY ... Alpha is a legume other hay is not. It may cause crop or stomach issues if you use any other type of hay or straw. In their nest box and on the floor as bedding.. Oxbow has less dust and is vet recommended for pets. I put a fitted sheet under the cage and brought it up around the sides to catch the "flung" hay.. Clothes pins hold sheet in place and allow for doors to open easily.. I allow the birds free rein of the living room.. I have perches in the corners of my walls near the ceiling. When I am in living room in evening they are on their perches. Put puppy pee pads under them and they and you are just fine. Keep cage and them away from open doors that cause drafts for outside air. I have gotten new cats as all others passed of age and new ones 'LIKE' my chicks a little to much.. We put four light weight wire panels from a portable puppy pen one on top of the other and side by side to reach floor to ceiling and the width of the door way that is held together with zip ties. It hinges so we can open and close it at our leisure. Hooks are attached to wall to lock "door" closed by hooking one of the wires on door. One side of door is zip tied to screwed into wood o rings that the hook fits into.. When chicks are loose cats are locked out.. If I am in kitchen cats are locked in a room and my chicks are in kitchen talking to me. Once you are set up it is easy peasy to care for a LONE CHICK. Children should be trained to handle them gently, not to chase them as they scare easily when chased. Wings are easily broken with rough handling. Remember that they are prey animals (other animals food) and predators (killers of other animals) like cats and dogs CAN harm them.. Due diligence is needed to keep them separated until you have trained cats and dogs the bird is off limits. ONE HOUSE CHIKEN CAN BE THE BEST PET YOU HAVE EVER OWNED!!!

Awwww....she must be a really sweet hen. And most people don't realize that chickens do have personalities and they can learn. But it takes someone special to keep one in the house.

 

[YES House Chickens]

Hello,
Thank you for your response. Yes they are really great pets. If you want a really friendly cuddly one I recommend the Bantam {mini} chicken. Breed is called. Mill Fleur d'Uccle.. They just love attention are smaller in size but have BIG personalities. They have feathers on their feet and legs so they are called BOOTED birds. They also have tiny feathers under their beaks.. They are called BEARDED birds. Truly friendly and the smaller size is an added bonus.

 

[Kiki]

Do you have a few pictures of your set up?
Do you have an emergency type question?

 

[YES House Chickens]

I have two birds. This is set up for two. you can cut everything down to one if you have only one bird.. I do not recommend three birds in one cage. If they fight put the divider in between just set it at an angle. Keep divider about 1 or so inches off bottom so you can slide the pan in and out easily. You can get another cage and set it on top of the lower one but birds will not be able to see and interact with each other and they can not be loose in house at same time as they are not accustom to each other. Two MINI Chickens called BANTAMS is what I have in my house.. This set up can work for just one chicken as long it is not a Giant Breed. No pic of set up It is just a xx large 48in x 33in x 30 in wire dog crate in my living room.. Amazon.com : Life Stages LS-1642DD Double Door Folding Crate for Large Dogs(71 - 90lbs) : Pet Kennels : Pet Supplies (search on craigslist) I use the small plastic yellow round chick waterer that I put a quart mason jar on top of filled with water.. Amazon.com : M.Z.A Poultry Water Jug Automatic Poultry Waterer Small Poultry Water Containers Drinkers for Chickens Birds Pigeon Quail 1L (Red and White) : Pet Supplies I have the small red round feeder with about nine circles in it for them to feed from. I use a quart mason jar to hold the feed. Amazon.com : Miller Manufacturing 806RED 1-Quart Baby Chick Feeder, Red (Discontinued by Manufacturer) : Wild Bird Feeders : Pet Supplies Plastic base is better in case you need to add meds.. The meds will not interact with the metal base. I found two branches in woods and tied them to the cage one on each side of cage.. Giving room for wing expansion and keeping the food and water away from under the perches. I put Amazon.com : K&H Pet Products Thermo-Peep Heated Pad Tan 9" x 12" 25W : Pet Supplies on bottom of cage to give them heat. One on either side of cage. If you are adding a chick to your one bird you already have use the divider for at least three months. See how they do remove divider if they have issues put it back immediately.
For my door gate I used Amazon.com : Dog Exercise Pen Pet Playpens for Small Dogs - Puppy Playpen Outdoor Back or Front Yard Fence Cage Fencing Doggie Rabbit Cats Playpens Outside Fences with Door - 24 Inch Metal Wire 8-Panel Foldable : Pet Supplies To make the door way gate. We want to end up with a gate that swings open for human passage. I used pliers to undo the connections between panels. You will need needle nosed pliers, Small Zip ties, and 6 Hook and Eye hardware. They Eye hole MUST be large enough to hold the zip ties you use. You need two ... two sections of panels. Count door as panel 1 moving to the right you will have 8 panels. Panel number 8 is on left of door. Remove hinges connecting 3 and 4. Remove hinges holding panels 7 and 8 . Put panels 8, 1, 2, 3 in storage you will not need them for this project. Panels 3 thru 7 should remain. Remove hinges that connect panels 5 and 6. Go to doorway with panels 3 and 4 these make the bottom of your hinged door gate. You will need two people for the next part. With panels 3 and 4 resting on floor fully extended left to right in doorway place panels 5 and 6 on top of 3 and 4 . 5 and 6 panels should almost touch the ceiling. Line up lower and upper panels so they are even side to side. Once you have four panels floor to ceiling even on left and right sides, AND panels are from floor to ceiling zip tie the upper and lower panels together where they meet on the horizontal axis together. Make sure hinges are lined up vertically. This makes your gate swing. Now you should have a four panel door that swings in the vertical middle.
Screw the Eyes into your door wall where you see fit then zip tie hooks to wire gate.. I used six eyes floor to ceiling. Because we have cats I placed the HOOK on bottom of doorway near floor to keep cats from pushing wire gate open. and a Hook just a bit higher then half way to keep top of gate closed. This keeps flying birds inside living room.. Prowling cats and dogs out yet allows for gate to be opened and closed at our convenience as well as allowing sound and heat to pass thru doorway like normal. I hope this info helps you

 

[hayley3]

I have two birds. This is set up for two. you can cut everything down to one if you have only one bird.. I do not recommend three birds in one cage. If they fight put the divider in between just set it at an angle. Keep divider about 1 or so inches off bottom so you can slide the pan in and out easily. You can get another cage and set it on top of the lower one but birds will not be able to see and interact with each other and they can not be loose in house at same time as they are not accustom to each other. Two MINI Chickens called BANTAMS is what I have in my house.. This set up can work for just one chicken as long it is not a Giant Breed. No pic of set up It is just a xx large 48in x 33in x 30 in wire dog crate in my living room.. Amazon.com : Life Stages LS-1642DD Double Door Folding Crate for Large Dogs(71 - 90lbs) : Pet Kennels : Pet Supplies (search on craigslist) I use the small plastic yellow round chick waterer that I put a quart mason jar on top of filled with water.. Amazon.com : M.Z.A Poultry Water Jug Automatic Poultry Waterer Small Poultry Water Containers Drinkers for Chickens Birds Pigeon Quail 1L (Red and White) : Pet Supplies I have the small red round feeder with about nine circles in it for them to feed from. I use a quart mason jar to hold the feed. Amazon.com : Miller Manufacturing 806RED 1-Quart Baby Chick Feeder, Red (Discontinued by Manufacturer) : Wild Bird Feeders : Pet Supplies Plastic base is better in case you need to add meds.. The meds will not interact with the metal base. I found two branches in woods and tied them to the cage one on each side of cage.. Giving room for wing expansion and keeping the food and water away from under the perches. I put Amazon.com : K&H Pet Products Thermo-Peep Heated Pad Tan 9" x 12" 25W : Pet Supplies on bottom of cage to give them heat. One on either side of cage. If you are adding a chick to your one bird you already have use the divider for at least three months. See how they do remove divider if they have issues put it back immediately.
For my door gate I used Amazon.com : Dog Exercise Pen Pet Playpens for Small Dogs - Puppy Playpen Outdoor Back or Front Yard Fence Cage Fencing Doggie Rabbit Cats Playpens Outside Fences with Door - 24 Inch Metal Wire 8-Panel Foldable : Pet Supplies To make the door way gate. We want to end up with a gate that swings open for human passage. I used pliers to undo the connections between panels. You will need needle nosed pliers, Small Zip ties, and 6 Hook and Eye hardware. They Eye hole MUST be large enough to hold the zip ties you use. You need two ... two sections of panels. Count door as panel 1 moving to the right you will have 8 panels. Panel number 8 is on left of door. Remove hinges connecting 3 and 4. Remove hinges holding panels 7 and 8 . Put panels 8, 1, 2, 3 in storage you will not need them for this project. Panels 3 thru 7 should remain. Remove hinges that connect panels 5 and 6. Go to doorway with panels 3 and 4 these make the bottom of your hinged door gate. You will need two people for the next part. With panels 3 and 4 resting on floor fully extended left to right in doorway place panels 5 and 6 on top of 3 and 4 . 5 and 6 panels should almost touch the ceiling. Line up lower and upper panels so they are even side to side. Once you have four panels floor to ceiling even on left and right sides, AND panels are from floor to ceiling zip tie the upper and lower panels together where they meet on the horizontal axis together. Make sure hinges are lined up vertically. This makes your gate swing. Now you should have a four panel door that swings in the vertical middle.
Screw the Eyes into your door wall where you see fit then zip tie hooks to wire gate.. I used six eyes floor to ceiling. Because we have cats I placed the HOOK on bottom of doorway near floor to keep cats from pushing wire gate open. and a Hook just a bit higher then half way to keep top of gate closed. This keeps flying birds inside living room.. Prowling cats and dogs out yet allows for gate to be opened and closed at our convenience as well as allowing sound and heat to pass thru doorway like normal. I hope this info helps you

I'd like to see a picture of your birds. And why do you need heat if they are in your house? My daughter was wanting to get a bird and allow it to fly around the house but we have a cat and dog, which would be difficult to keep them from catching the bird.

 

[YES House Chickens]

I do not know how to put pictures on here. My birds are Mill Fleur d'Uccle Bantam and a Red Pile Bantam. I have had Plymouth Rocks, and Rhode Island Reds in my home. Look up the breeds and you can see their pic. Young Mill Fleur d'Uccle are mostly solid orangy in color with a few specks of black and white. The adult Mill Fleur d'Uccle will be speckled with black, tan and white dots all over the body. I have a Senior chicken, She is 12 most pass at 8. Since she is an old bird she can not regulate her body temp like she used to.. One sign she is cold is that she sits with her feathers all PUFFED up. Air between the feathers helps keep the birds body heat in. Watch wild birds they puff up too in the winter. She needs heat from another source to keep warm. Chickens are not like Exotic birds in their flight patterns. Chickens normally fly when being chased by a predator.(an animal trying to kill it) They can fly for short distances. Norma flight outside height is around 4ft. My birds just walk around following me or just looking at floors. I have perches near the ceiling in my wall corners they do fly to reach perches. But otherwise they dont fly around the house. If you saw my previous message I gave instructions on how to make an easy gate for any doorway to separate cats and dogs from area birds may occupy freely.

 

[YES House Chickens]

The cage they are in is 48 x 33x 30. XX LARGE. My Senior Red Pile Bantam chicken is on left. She is sitting on this heater. She cannot produce enough heat on her own so I gave her this. Great price too.
Amazon.com : K&H Pet Products Thermo-Peep Heated Pad Tan 9" x 12" 25W : Pet Supplies
She has no nest box because she stopped laying eggs.

Bird on right is Mill Fleur d'Uccle Bantam. She is a few months old. There IS as divider between the birds in this pic. Her nest box is a pet carrier with ALPHA HAY ......DO NOT USE ANY OTHER KIND OF HAY. Alpha is a legume and not a grass. Alpha is related to the bean, pea, peanut family. NOT grass family. Other types of hay may cause stomach or crop blockages and can kill your bird. The pet carrier has a cardboard front half way up with center cut lower. This keeps hay mess down a bit. I put Alpha hay in cage for forage.

Second pic is a young Mill Fleur d'Uccle. Third is same breed with a diaper. Fourth pic is Adult plumage of the second and third pic.

 

[hayley3]

The cage they are in is 48 x 33x 30. XX LARGE. My Senior Red Pile Bantam chicken is on left. She is sitting on this heater. She cannot produce enough heat on her own so I gave her this. Great price too.
Amazon.com : K&H Pet Products Thermo-Peep Heated Pad Tan 9" x 12" 25W : Pet Supplies
She has no nest box because she stopped laying eggs.

Bird on right is Mill Fleur d'Uccle Bantam. She is a few months old. There IS as divider between the birds in this pic. Her nest box is a pet carrier with ALPHA HAY ......DO NOT USE ANY OTHER KIND OF HAY. Alpha is a legume and not a grass. Alpha is related to the bean, pea, peanut family. NOT grass family. Other types of hay may cause stomach or crop blockages and can kill your bird. The pet carrier has a cardboard front half way up with center cut lower. This keeps hay mess down a bit. I put Alpha hay in cage for forage.

Second pic is a young Mill Fleur d'Uccle. Third is same breed with a diaper. Fourth pic is Adult plumage of the second and third pic.

I thought you let them roam around the house? That cage is too small, they can't walk around?

 

[YES House Chickens]

All judgments aside. I lock them up at night so the cats can roam freely without supervision. They have free range from 5am til they chose to roost on corner wall perches.