Only chick that hatched-will she get lonely?

[brandibaby23]

Too early here to buy chicks at the feed store or I would have been on that today!!!!!!!

 

[vkp23]

I had the same problem. I put a mirror in the brooder and a fuzzy scarf for her to snuggle in. The mirror worked wonders! I also spent as much time as I could with her. I would also let her run around the living room following me while I cleaned up after the kids went to bed. Since I have tile floors it wasn't a big deal to just use a baby wipe to clean any messes.

 

[77horses]

Quote:
I would, but the nearest feed stores don't sell chicks until more near springtime.

But I like the mirror idea! I already have a small stuffed teddy bear in her box, but she barely pays any attention to it. In fact, I have a small mirror handy right now, since we own a few Parakeets and a Cockatiel.

I will try it tonight.

Thanks!

P.S. Ivory is sleeping in my lap right now.

She loves climbing up to me and snuggling under my chin, too. Now that she's a bit older (she's already getting wing feathers!

), she is really hyper after she takes a nap and every time I get back home and I put my hand into her box to say hi to her, she will run over really quickly and peck it, like she's playing trying to attack it.

lol I wonder why she does this...?

 

[neuchicontheblock]

I have a chick that came to me and is 5 weeks, only quiets down out of her box, in fact, she is sitiing on the plant holder in the kitchen while we are working, looking outside. She was just so aggressive to the other little ones that were not related, and was fearful of the big one in the house for foot repair. I just done know what I am going to do with her. Will she get along with others eventually? When can I put her outside, though it is wayyy too cold today to think in it. She lives in an opaque box with the other inside birds that are growing up or recovering. Any sggestions? I just can't keep an inside bird indefinately.

 

[Criskin]

I had one chick hatch out 5 days before the rest so for those 5 days she was an only child, too. She did the same thing...she would peep really loudly until my son or I picked her up. She spent most of the time sleeping in our hands or on our laps. Somehow, though, she was able to tell it when the lights outside her brooder were turned off and after a tiny bit of protest she'd settle right down. I kept her in the living room, though, so she didn't wake me up at night. I also gave her a "blanket"...a fluffy washcloth...to cuddle with. Now that she has chicken friends, though, she seems a lot happier. At first she didn't like them but now she has settled down and become the leader of the flock!

The only thing that would worry me in your situation is when you introduce her to the flock. When a new member enters the flock, it seems that they get picked on a lot. When there is a group of new members they seem more comfortable with each other and there is less of a chance that a single individual will be hassled to death.

Have you checked to see if there are any BYC members in your state who could give you a couple of chicks? I'd give you some of mine if I lived nearby!

 

[77horses]

Quote:
Thanks Criskim, and I never thought of that...Maybe I will post a thread asking if someone has any chicks available nearby? I don't know how my dad will react...He's wasn't too happy when I told him I was going to start hatching eggs right now in the winter, even though I buy the chick feed myself. Right now we are at a limited amount of space for any new chickens (we have two coops; one made out of a small used-to-be-coal shed, and the other is in our garage, and it's such a square, enclosed space that we built with 2x4's and mesh wire. 6 adult chickens (all standard) share the coal shed-coop, and 7 adult chickens (mostly standard, one small bantam) share the larger garage coop). So that's 13 chickens in all, and though they do have plenty of space for themselves, there isn't much room for newcomers. That's one reason why I only put 3 eggs in my incubator, because I can't just put a dozen in and not think about what to do about the chicks that hatch (and like I said the other reason is that it was an experiment hatch with our own eggs). So when Ivory hatched, my dad didn't mind it that much because I'm buying her food and I'm cleaning her box and taking care of her, but that's right now, when she's just a small baby chick who can still stay in a small brooder box and not take up too much room. But when she gets older, she's going to be put with the other adult chickens and it will take up even more space until we build another coop. So, basically, I don't think he would be very happy about me buying more chicks, even though I would pay for them and I would only get one or two.

But we've raised a single chick before; Oreo, a chick that we hatched out last year, was the only one to hatch (another experiment hatch with our own eggs), and she made it just fine without any other chickens. She had even less attention because my dad took care of her and I didn't take her everywhere with me like I do with Ivory. And she didn't have a mirror or anything. Yet she still was happy and is now joined with her own flock in the garage coop. Sure she's not the leader and the big, older Buff Orpington hens sometimes boss her around because she's one of the smaller chickens in the coop, and it took a little while for her to adjust, but if she can do it, so can Ivory I think. At first Oreo was chased by the others a little, and she stayed away from them a lot, but she made friends with some of the smaller, friendlier ones of the flock and now she eats with them and follows them around like the rest. I'm sure Ivory can too, but it's one of those "what-if?" things. Like what if she gets really lonely despite having all the attention she gets when she can get it? Or what if she never bonds with the flock, even though it's been done with some of our other chicks that we've had that were alone?


Oh, and I tried the mirror idea last night! It seemed to help a lot; when I first put it in, she stared at it and just stood very still. Then she would move and when she saw it move, she froze up and just stood there again. She would eventually walk up to it and peck it, then she would back up really fast and make a little "peep-alarm" sound in surprise.

lol she actually thought it was a real chick and not her own reflection. Now she likes to run up to it and "attack" it sometimes and she will sometimes just stand and watch it with curiosity.


Also, I've noticed a behavior that Ivory shows whenever I reach into her brooder box after not seeing her for a while. When I reach in to say hi to her, she will run quickly over to me and peck me and stand up really tall, then will settle down and act normal again. I'm thinking it's either a greeting for me, because she does it the same way every time, or maybe it's a just a little "playful attack", or maybe she's turning aggressive? I just find it kinda funny because if I catch her by surprise when she's sleeping and I put my hand in, she will whip around and run over to my hand and peck it. She does it literally every time! lol any thoughts?


Thanks!

 

[Suburban chick farmer 09]

Just happened to me Friday. I went to the feed store Tuesday and picked up a 4 more chicks.

 

[neuchicontheblock]

Quote:
Thanks Criskim, and I never thought of that...Maybe I will post a thread asking if someone has any chicks available nearby? I don't know how my dad will react...He's wasn't too happy when I told him I was going to start hatching eggs right now in the winter, even though I buy the chick feed myself. Right now we are at a limited amount of space for any new chickens (we have two coops; one made out of a small used-to-be-coal shed, and the other is in our garage, and it's such a square, enclosed space that we built with 2x4's and mesh wire. 6 adult chickens (all standard) share the coal shed-coop, and 7 adult chickens (mostly standard, one small bantam) share the larger garage coop). So that's 13 chickens in all, and though they do have plenty of space for themselves, there isn't much room for newcomers. That's one reason why I only put 3 eggs in my incubator, because I can't just put a dozen in and not think about what to do about the chicks that hatch (and like I said the other reason is that it was an experiment hatch with our own eggs). So when Ivory hatched, my dad didn't mind it that much because I'm buying her food and I'm cleaning her box and taking care of her, but that's right now, when she's just a small baby chick who can still stay in a small brooder box and not take up too much room. But when she gets older, she's going to be put with the other adult chickens and it will take up even more space until we build another coop. So, basically, I don't think he would be very happy about me buying more chicks, even though I would pay for them and I would only get one or two.

But we've raised a single chick before; Oreo, a chick that we hatched out last year, was the only one to hatch (another experiment hatch with our own eggs), and she made it just fine without any other chickens. She had even less attention because my dad took care of her and I didn't take her everywhere with me like I do with Ivory. And she didn't have a mirror or anything. Yet she still was happy and is now joined with her own flock in the garage coop. Sure she's not the leader and the big, older Buff Orpington hens sometimes boss her around because she's one of the smaller chickens in the coop, and it took a little while for her to adjust, but if she can do it, so can Ivory I think. At first Oreo was chased by the others a little, and she stayed away from them a lot, but she made friends with some of the smaller, friendlier ones of the flock and now she eats with them and follows them around like the rest. I'm sure Ivory can too, but it's one of those "what-if?" things. Like what if she gets really lonely despite having all the attention she gets when she can get it? Or what if she never bonds with the flock, even though it's been done with some of our other chicks that we've had that were alone?


Oh, and I tried the mirror idea last night! It seemed to help a lot; when I first put it in, she stared at it and just stood very still. Then she would move and when she saw it move, she froze up and just stood there again. She would eventually walk up to it and peck it, then she would back up really fast and make a little "peep-alarm" sound in surprise.

lol she actually thought it was a real chick and not her own reflection. Now she likes to run up to it and "attack" it sometimes and she will sometimes just stand and watch it with curiosity.


Also, I've noticed a behavior that Ivory shows whenever I reach into her brooder box after not seeing her for a while. When I reach in to say hi to her, she will run quickly over to me and peck me and stand up really tall, then will settle down and act normal again. I'm thinking it's either a greeting for me, because she does it the same way every time, or maybe it's a just a little "playful attack", or maybe she's turning aggressive? I just find it kinda funny because if I catch her by surprise when she's sleeping and I put my hand in, she will whip around and run over to my hand and peck it. She does it literally every time! lol any thoughts?


Thanks!

Where are you located? I am in CT.

 

[77horses]

Quote:
Thanks Criskim, and I never thought of that...Maybe I will post a thread asking if someone has any chicks available nearby? I don't know how my dad will react...He's wasn't too happy when I told him I was going to start hatching eggs right now in the winter, even though I buy the chick feed myself. Right now we are at a limited amount of space for any new chickens (we have two coops; one made out of a small used-to-be-coal shed, and the other is in our garage, and it's such a square, enclosed space that we built with 2x4's and mesh wire. 6 adult chickens (all standard) share the coal shed-coop, and 7 adult chickens (mostly standard, one small bantam) share the larger garage coop). So that's 13 chickens in all, and though they do have plenty of space for themselves, there isn't much room for newcomers. That's one reason why I only put 3 eggs in my incubator, because I can't just put a dozen in and not think about what to do about the chicks that hatch (and like I said the other reason is that it was an experiment hatch with our own eggs). So when Ivory hatched, my dad didn't mind it that much because I'm buying her food and I'm cleaning her box and taking care of her, but that's right now, when she's just a small baby chick who can still stay in a small brooder box and not take up too much room. But when she gets older, she's going to be put with the other adult chickens and it will take up even more space until we build another coop. So, basically, I don't think he would be very happy about me buying more chicks, even though I would pay for them and I would only get one or two.

But we've raised a single chick before; Oreo, a chick that we hatched out last year, was the only one to hatch (another experiment hatch with our own eggs), and she made it just fine without any other chickens. She had even less attention because my dad took care of her and I didn't take her everywhere with me like I do with Ivory. And she didn't have a mirror or anything. Yet she still was happy and is now joined with her own flock in the garage coop. Sure she's not the leader and the big, older Buff Orpington hens sometimes boss her around because she's one of the smaller chickens in the coop, and it took a little while for her to adjust, but if she can do it, so can Ivory I think. At first Oreo was chased by the others a little, and she stayed away from them a lot, but she made friends with some of the smaller, friendlier ones of the flock and now she eats with them and follows them around like the rest. I'm sure Ivory can too, but it's one of those "what-if?" things. Like what if she gets really lonely despite having all the attention she gets when she can get it? Or what if she never bonds with the flock, even though it's been done with some of our other chicks that we've had that were alone?


Oh, and I tried the mirror idea last night! It seemed to help a lot; when I first put it in, she stared at it and just stood very still. Then she would move and when she saw it move, she froze up and just stood there again. She would eventually walk up to it and peck it, then she would back up really fast and make a little "peep-alarm" sound in surprise.

lol she actually thought it was a real chick and not her own reflection. Now she likes to run up to it and "attack" it sometimes and she will sometimes just stand and watch it with curiosity.


Also, I've noticed a behavior that Ivory shows whenever I reach into her brooder box after not seeing her for a while. When I reach in to say hi to her, she will run quickly over to me and peck me and stand up really tall, then will settle down and act normal again. I'm thinking it's either a greeting for me, because she does it the same way every time, or maybe it's a just a little "playful attack", or maybe she's turning aggressive? I just find it kinda funny because if I catch her by surprise when she's sleeping and I put my hand in, she will whip around and run over to my hand and peck it. She does it literally every time! lol any thoughts?


Thanks!

Where are you located? I am in CT.

I don't want to give out personal information, sorry, but lets just say that CT is pretty far from here.

Definitely not pick-up distance! lol

 

[nuggetsmom4life]

I have week old baby chick. She is so adorible. I put pandora or the radio on for her and she falls right asleep. And she stays asleep all night. And she stays quiet untill I get her out when I wake up! She is so needy! She has to be on me at all times! She thinks I'm her mom! She's like my baby!