Only one chick survived, any tips in keeping him alive?

[Fudge819]

I posted this in incubating and hatching eggs but i should of posted this here. This is my question, i only hatched one little chick and im scared he'll die of lonelyness, is their any experience chicken owners out there who can give me some tips in keeping little Uno happy and healthy ?


Thank you so very much

 

[CammieSilkie]

All I can say is, he needs a buddy! I suggest going on craigslist and buying just one or two cheap other little chicks from someone local. Imagine growing up with absolutely no one, he needs friends!

If that isn't possible, if you have and broody hens, you could try putting the chick with her. If she's broody she'll certainly raise it, and even though your chick wouldn't have any little buddies, if a hen were raising him it wouldn't be a problem.

If you don't have a broody hen but you have a hen that frequently goes broody, try possibly introducing the chick to the flock several times a day (beware-hens may peck at the chick. Keep a good watch.) and maybe in a day or so of frequently seeing the chick she'll go broody.

What happened that only one chick survived in the first place?

 

[Fudge819]

its my firstbtry at incubating and i only started 4 eggs one was too weak to get out of the egg one hatched and the two others didnt hatch at all.... i thought putting in a small mirror in his brooder

 

[Sally Sunshine]

I also had a single hatch... post an add on Craigslist for a peep and see if you can find a friend or two.... my Halo wouldnt settle for ANYTHING and we tried it all!!!

 

[Fudge819]

Sadly, from where im from , there arent any chicks for sale :0( i looked everywhere . I have another batch of eggs ready to hatch in 7 days, hope my little peep will hold on till then. Meanwhile hes doing just fine :0) eating drinking peeping !!!

 

[debid]

I've heard of people using feather dusters, mirrors, stuffed animals...

 

[ChiniakChicken]

I'm currently raising a single chick (it's a long story), she is 4-weeks old and I keep a small plastic mirror in her cage and she perches right next to it, we also have a big mirror in the room we have her in and when she's out of her cage she spends a lot of time next to it interacting with herself. We also have a ticking alarm clock next to her cage, not sure if she likes that or not. We get her out of her cage at least 3 times a day and she seems very happy, she's quite spoiled. I'm on an island in Alaska so can't find any buddies for her - I do have 25 eggs in the incubator so hopefully after December 15th she will have some chicken company. I would say get her company as soon as you can and spoil her in the meantime...
Good luck

 

[silkiechicken]

Single chicks can be done. They will do fine. Just give them a bit of attention by tapping on food and water at least a few times a day to make sure they eat. Yes it'll be lonely, but it won't die of loneliness. It'll have some integration issues if you wait till it's too old, like 2-3 months to find it a buddy, but it'll learn fast how to socialize with other chickens. I supose all chickens have some intergration tiffs when put with the adult flock, so that part might be normal. Just different as it'll be the only one being picked on vs having a group of young ones being picked on. Of course, every flock has it's own dynamics.

 

[Moonkit]

Just give him/her a small stuffed animal to snuggle with.. he/she will be fine, particularly if its only going to be a week before more hatch.

 

[blondiebee181]

I am glad you are planning to hatch more, little Uno will probably be okay until then but I do agree with everything everyone else has said here about mirrors and stuffed toys and making sure that you are giving it a lot of extra attention.