Orphaned chick

[Pam Allan]

I posted earlier about a single hatching of a chick - well the mother got killed last night. Now I have one lone chick - my question is how do you stand to listen to plaintiff cheeping because it misses mom - (I have it in the bathroom at the moment and it is eating) and the big question is how do I introduce it to the "herd" and when do I do it. It's almost 2 weeks old now - which is way too young. Just something else for me to worry about.....And I hope it's a hen and not a roo - or we are going to have a problem.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Poor baby

it will probably cheep for a while. I have a lone chick (half blind), she wasn't happy about being separated for a good 2 days. But I started spending as much time with her and taking her out to free range, and she seems to be handling it alot better now. I plan on re-introducing when she's about the same size as everyone else. I also had a similar situation to yours. My broody was killed by a hawk when her chicks were a week old. I left them in the coop with everyone else and they were fine, there were 3 of them though and momma did a good job intergrating them into the flock before she was taken. Good luck- sorry about your orphaned chick.

 

[MuckyPuppy]

We have an only chick but we hatched it in an incubator and so the only mother it has had is us. Ours at first would chirp a lot and we would hold it when ever we could but we lengthened the time between holds and now it chirps a lot less when it is alone in it's brooder. We still take it out several times a day and hold it but the noise is a lot less when we have things we have to get done. We have also put a mirror in the brooder and when it is alone it will sometimes stand next to the mirror.

I don't know how you would go about introducing a lone chick/chicken to an established adult flock as all of our birds are chicks. Our eldest chicks are now just over 4 weeks and the lone chick is just over one week. We are just now introducing it to the others with supervision. Right now the others only get to see/hear the new chick when it is in our hands on the ground. Next week we will be putting the chick on the ground next to them with us next to it. We hope that this way the new chick will be accepted by the time it is 4 - 6 weeks old.

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

Definitely give it something to snuggle up against. A feather duster, a small stuffed animal. Or even a towel kind of open and in a ball so it can really get in there to snuggle.

 

[taprock]

We had a single chick that hatched. We taped an old cd up so it could see its self and know what a chicken looked like. She had a soft pillow to sleep on and she also got held a lot. She was perfectly content by herself and would just peep if she wanted attention. We did have a problem introducing her to other chicks, she was very scared of them at first. She still prefers human company to chickens but is out in the coop with all the other youngsters.

 

[Pam Allan]

Thanks for the input - I put her (I hope) outside in a rabbit cage w/poultry netting around it to keep the snakes out - I also put a stuffed rabbit in there and last I looked she was underneath it - so cute. She's eating and drinking all right - and I figure if she's outside w/the other chickens wandering around the cage it will give them and her opportunity to see each other without being able to have contact at this point. I have a large run I built a couple years ago and when she gets bigger I'll put her (I hope) in there and if she gets out -so be it. I'm hoping by then they will have been around each other enough so that maybe there won't be too much of an issue. I've got 13 hens and 2 roosters and I sure don't need another rooster - I don't need the 2 I have. I just hope they can learn to get along - I'm assuming in time most of them do. I just don't want her tormented until that happens. I'll wait until she's almost as big as they are before I do that. Any other input will be appreciated. I'm going to put a mirror in there tomorrow. When I left her in the bathroom today and got home she was pressed up against the mirror. It just breaks my heart that she's all alone.

 

[spaceranger]

Hi
Having a similar issue, my Pekins hatched 7 eggs but they have rejected one chick, she's a different colour from the rest could that be why? we have the chick indoors and are using a snuggle safe to keep her temperature nice n warm, she is eating some crumb and boiled egg but squeaks all the time

I hold her a lot but worry her temp will drop too low if I keep her out of the brooder ??? any advice welcome xx

 

[Pam Allan]

Poor baby - Thankfully mine was over a week old when it became an orphan and it's so blasted hot here I don't have to worry about the temp - although this morning when I went out to check on it and held it for a bit it was trembling - probably more from stress - it felt warm and it's in the 70's here - it has its wing feathers and the tail is starting to emerge. It spent the night under a stuffed bunny so I know it stayed warm. Maybe you could warm up a towel or something to hold it in while you are bonding with it. I think it's important it has some interaction with you so I hope you can work something out. It won't be long before the temps aren't so critical.

 

[my chicken haven]

Here is the idea that worked for me. Follow this at your own risk. Make sure chick is close in size to those in the flock or full grown before trying this.

Separate the single chick from the main flock. The flock must not be allowed to come in contact with the chick and visa vera. They must be able to see, hear, and smell each other.

Allow single chick to be in his home for about 72 hours then place chick in with others.

Monitor coop intently for 30 minutes. Watch closely for ANY aggression from ANY ONE.

AT FIRST SIGN OF AGGRESSION place chick back in its home for 1 more day. Repeat until flock is integrated.

It is really not that hard.

When the chick is old enough to handle outside weather, place a coop within a coop. Find a dog crate that is big enough to allow the chick to walk around, house feed and water, and room enough to stand up. Place the chick in crate and place crate into the coop. Or use chicken wire to create a room for one in the coop.

CAUTION!! ADULT HENS ARE THE ONES TO WATCH. THEY CAN HARM THE NEW CHICK QUICKLY IF THEY HAVE NOT WARMED UP TO IT.
YOU MUST WATCH FLOCK TO BE SURE NO ONE IS GETTING PECKED LITERALLY TO DEATH.

The adjustment period is not that long. Some scolding from a hen is natural to set up the pecking order. But true agression must be prevented. Just try again. Separate for one more day.

I used this proceedure to introduce a lone hen to a flock of bantam and standard 6 week old chicks. I did this is the house. I dedicated one bedroom to the chicks. We made 4' square x 8' long outer pen. We placed a smaller coop from my chick-n-hutch inside the big coop.

I introduced 2 roosters to the flock as well using this proceedure. Now I have to determine when to put them all outside. I hope this works fo,r you like it did me.

 

[my chicken haven]

I spend time with my chicks by walking around with them. I have one chick that we take naps together.

If you place her on your chest, and place one hand over her back ever so lightly she will settle down in a roost position.

At first she may chirp a lot but she will assume the position and sleep for a couple of hours at a time.

The room is dark, I have a pillow case not a terry cloth towel as these get caught in her feet, around my neck. They do poo when they sleep.

I let her rest on my hand or fingers so I can tell if she moves so I can keep an eye on her.

I find cuddling with them sooths not only them but me too.