Only chick that hatched-will she get lonely?

[77horses]

So I have a 3 day old chick (born on Jan 29th, 2010) who was the only chick that hatched. It was an experiment hatch with my new homemade incubator. I only put 3 eggs in (from our own chickens), 2 quit early and one made it all the way. Ivory (the chick) seems fine so far all by herself. In her temporary cardboard brooder box, she has a light (of course), a small sock bed that she likes to sleep on, food/water dishes, and a small stuffed teddy bear to keep her company. Everyday she will be alone for almost 8 hours straight in her brooder box until she is old enough to join the older chickens outside. But that's still quite a while away.

I spend as much time as a can with her (in fact, she's sleeping in my lap right now as I type this). She seems happy and is the most spoiled baby chick ever.

lol

But I'm worried that she will get really bored while she's alone. At night, since it gets pretty chilly inside sometimes, I leave her light on all night so she will be warm. She will sleep most of the time, but when she's awake, she will stand in her box and peep really loudly for attention and she's calling me (she thinks I'm her mother lol). Last night she kept me up really late, because I kept trying to sleep but she kept peeping and I would go to her box and take her out for a while until she fell back asleep, then I would put her back and go back to bed. But then she would wake up again! I know I shouldn't spoil her too much, but how can I keep her from getting too lonely when I'm not there to give her attention? I've been thinking about getting a couple chicks for her, but at the moment there aren't many available nearby.


Any advice?
Thanks!

 

[RAWR]

put a stuffed animal in there to keep her company

 

[Chickie'sMoma]

this happened to my Chickie. this is probably why he is so imprinted on me and other humans. he cannot go in with any other birds since he will pick and chase them off, hens especially. he is now my house pet and doesn't crow in the mornings unless i wake him up with turning on the lights or it is about 7:30-8am. you will want to get more chicks to put in with yours as soon as you can and try to get them about the same age as yours. i like the idea that you have a stuffed animal in with it. i tried to put a rooster saddle i had bought for crafts but he didn't care for it. i used a 29 gallon aquarium for my brooder so he could see me when i walked by it. he used to chase me back and forth and would peep very loudly early in the morning (@3am) for the first week or two.

 

[MuranoFarms]

Can you put her in a small cage in the coop? With her heat light of course, but so she can see and hear the other chickens.

 

[gritsar]

Two things. One, a clean feather duster - don't laugh, it works. Two, a small mirror like the kind sold for pet parakeets.
Also, consider filling the sock with rice and microwaving it a couple times a day to add warmth and make it that much more cozy for snuggling with.

 

[MagsC]

Only chicks do get kind of lonely. The stuffed animal idea is good and also spend at much time as you can with him/her. Getting a couple friends for the chick (as mentioned) is an option too, but if you were going to do that, I would sooner rather than later.

 

[brandibaby23]

I have the exact same dilemma. I hatched two and one drowned in the water i had in the bator to raise humidity

. Mine even hatched on the same day as yours the 29th!!! And he peeps LOUD all night long, I could not go to sleep last night I laid on my couch trying while he Peeped, I then threw my hand up over the couch so he could see it and he quieted down, I finally got some sleep. I been looking to get some friends but haven't got any yet. I did put a small mirror in with him tonight and I haven't heard as much peeping!!! So maybe try a small mirror.

 

[Fourgirlsoneboy]

I have one that is about a week now (it was super lonely)- get a hand mirror and put it in- our chick is SURE we gave it a freind to talk too! Lol! That and a stuffed animal it sleeps with. The mirror really did the trick though!

 

[end9586]

im in the same delimma b/c all my other chicks died in egg and my one that survived is all alone but we have a mini webkinz rooster that we put in its aquarium/brooder and it climbs all over it but it keeps me up all night also. We are in middle of painting a house so everyday we take our 1 little baby with us brooder and all and set it up so that way it wont be alone all day, plus we have a cat and im scared my cat will eat the chick while im gone. im going to try the mirror tonight so maybe i can get some sleep, i feel like i have an infant.

 

[Mahonri]

Go to the nearest feed store and buy a couple of chicks!