Our mama chicken was killed by the neighbor's dogs....

[ellerfamilytrio]

We have had four hens and one baby chick for about 2 1/2 to 3 months now and we have had to shoo the neighbor's dogs off a few times, we hadn't been able to build a pen for them yet, we have only had the coop. Of course, now we will be building a pen asap. But my main concern is the baby chicken that is about 3 to 4 months old... it is depressed (it won't eat) and the other hens just peck at it constantly (the mama was the one that kept it protected from them), so we removed it from the coop and put it in our shed with food and water (which it's not really touching). Any suggestions to keep it alive and healthy?

 

[Blarneyeggs]

Wow, so sorry to hear this.

Can you sprinkle a favorite on top of the food, like cracked corn? Or meal worms?

Also, can you keep the little one in a cage within sight of the larger chickens until things settle and you get her acclimated again? That way, she's safe, but still exposed to them.

 

[ellerfamilytrio]

Yeah, that is a good idea... my husband was thinking about putting chicken wire down the middle of the bottom of our coop to separate them, but I don't know how we could make that stay in place (since both sides are removable). A separate cage nearby would probably work much better. We have tried to feed her worms and tomatoes (their favorite) along with the feed but she will only drink water and lay back down... it's so sad. Maybe it will just take some time for her to get back to normal.

 

[Shireshome]

The fact that it is taking water is a good sign. How long has it been since it last ate? You could try some oatmeal in warm milk, or scrambled eggs. You might have to force it a bit at first. As soon as you do get the chick eating again I recommend taking the least dominant hen of the three that are left and putting her with the chick, that way your chick has a coup mate and will make things less problematic when you go to reintroduce them. Good luck!

 

[ellerfamilytrio]

The mama was killed yesterday afternoon/evening and we have not seen the baby eat all day today (it may have had some while we were not around though). I will try the oatmeal and warm milk or scrambled eggs if it's not eating soon. And one of our other hens that seems to be most docile also has coloring very similar to the mama, so maybe this might be calming to the chick (of course, I could be way off here, since I have no idea how chickens think).

 

[Shireshome]

I hope everything is going well with your chick. I don't think anyone really understand how chickens think but I think you should try boarding them together if you haven't all ready since chickens don't like being alone and can die from the loneliness. Plus as I said before it will take some of the focus off of the one little once you reintroduce them.

 

[ellerfamilytrio]

Thanks for the all the good advice! We have reintroduced the little chick back with the others, one hen does continue to peck at it but the baby just avoids that hen and it seems to work out. And it also did start back to eating on it's own the day or so before we put it back in the coop with the others. I was so worried it would end up dying without the mama since it still followed her everywhere, but I guess it is old enough to take care of itself.

 

[SillyChicken]

From day one, a chick is able to survive without the mother. It may just need other chickens around to show it how to "be a chicken".

 

[real_redhead]

So sorry! I am glad she is doing better.