Raising abandoned chick

[kalaharikooks]

Hi there,

I am celebrating my 1 year anniversary of being a backyard chicken raiser this week and have a question on an area i am not familiar - chicks! we have 3 hens we got as adults so have never done this. On the 26th December a friend called me to ask if she could bring me a chick she found on the side of the road with no sign of mother in sight. Three days later and the egg tooth has fallen off and I started seeing feather growth yesterday so not sure what that means in terms of age.

A friend who has raised chicks suggested we put her (we hope) in a cardboard box with a towel and her food and water. We have made a fake mother hen for her to sleep under which does settle her and seems to be working but she is making very shrill insistent cheeps if not with me. We have not bought specific chick mash for her but have ground up the hens food which i have supplemented with dried worms. we ground up some egg shell for her and she ate a fair bit of that yesterday. She doesn't feed freely and only really feeds if we "peck" with a finger.

I am away for the weekend and she is going back to the friend who found her for the weekend - any specific suggestions on what we can do to help her make it through the weekend. It is very warm where I am at the moment so have not put a light on as we are getting days of 36 Celcius.

I don't need more hens but she is a sweet thing and the kids love the fluff ball. any tips or things i HAVE to do that i am not doing?

 

[Sunshine Flock]

That's very good of you to care for her.

I have no clue what an egg tooth is. Eggs have teeth? Chickens have teeth?

She needs more protein than what's in the layer feed. I suppose the eggshell is beneficial in some way, but protein in the form of cooked eggs would be better. She's lonely for companionship and really needs a fellow chick with her, but the substitute mother you created was a good idea.

I'm not sure where you live, but it sounds like the southern hemisphere. 36C should be plenty warm for her; just keep an eye on cooler temperatures at night. A heating pad would be safer than a heat lamp, or even a water bottle or an improvised non-electric heating option would work. It could be a real comfort for her right now.

She may be dehydrated. If she's taking water on her own, then don't use a syringe. Do add some chick vitamins and electrolytes to the water. You can find a recipe online to make your own or buy something at a feed store.

I don't know if she needs to be quarantined from your other hens at her age. It would do her well to be able to socialize visually just by being able to see and hear them. If you're able to acquire another chick, I would do so right away. You can always re-home one or both once they've gotten older.

Keep us posted on how she's doing, and please post photos when you get a chance.

ETA: One thought to consider is that she could be a rooster. Depending on her breed and age, it's possible someone determined she's actually a boy and abandoned her.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Layer feed has calcium that can harm the chick. Stop the ground up egg shells also, boiled egg yolk with mealworms ok temporarily but best to pick up some chick starter ASAP. Nutri Drench (vitamin/electrolytes) would be good to add to it's water. Yes, you will need to peck & show it where the food/water is. Whatever you have it's water in, make sure the chick can't fall in & drown or get too wet & chilled.

"Egg tooth" is at the top tip of the chick's beak that is used to break out of the shell. I would guess the chicks about a wk old at the most.

Heating pad is a good source for warmth, mimicking a hen. You can add a stuffed animal for comfort & a mirror reflexing it's self (chickens are social creatures). As suggested if you can get a companion (similar age & size) would be a plus.

Best wishes

 

[kalaharikooks]

Layer feed has calcium that can harm the chick. Stop the ground up egg shells also, boiled egg yolk with mealworms ok temporarily but best to pick up some chick starter ASAP. Nutri Drench (vitamin/electrolytes) would be good to add to it's water. Yes, you will need to peck & show it where the food/water is. Whatever you have it's water in, make sure the chick can't fall in & drown or get too wet & chilled.

"Egg tooth" is at the top tip of the chick's beak that is used to break out of the shell. I would guess the chicks about a wk old at the most.

Heating pad is a good source for warmth, mimicking a hen. You can add a stuffed animal for comfort & a mirror reflexing it's self (chickens are social creatures). As suggested if you can get a companion (similar age & size) would be a plus.

Best wishes

Thank you for the feedback. I have also got wildbird seed that I have ground up - will that substitute until the feedstores open in the new year? Wont do any more eggshell and will do egg yolk.

Will chat about a mirror and hotwater bottle with the friend who is looking after her. thanks for the help.

 

[kalaharikooks]

Thank you f

That's very good of you to care for her.

I have no clue what an egg tooth is. Eggs have teeth? Chickens have teeth?

She needs more protein than what's in the layer feed. I suppose the eggshell is beneficial in some way, but protein in the form of cooked eggs would be better. She's lonely for companionship and really needs a fellow chick with her, but the substitute mother you created was a good idea.

I'm not sure where you live, but it sounds like the southern hemisphere. 36C should be plenty warm for her; just keep an eye on cooler temperatures at night. A heating pad would be safer than a heat lamp, or even a water bottle or an improvised non-electric heating option would work. It could be a real comfort for her right now.

She may be dehydrated. If she's taking water on her own, then don't use a syringe. Do add some chick vitamins and electrolytes to the water. You can find a recipe online to make your own or buy something at a feed store.

I don't know if she needs to be quarantined from your other hens at her age. It would do her well to be able to socialize visually just by being able to see and hear them. If you're able to acquire another chick, I would do so right away. You can always re-home one or both once they've gotten older.

Keep us posted on how she's doing, and please post photos when you get a chance.

ETA: One thought to consider is that she could be a rooster. Depending on her breed and age, it's possible someone determined she's actually a boy and abandoned her.

Thank you for your reply. Its really interesting to see how lonely and without companionship she is. She is taking water and I will look at the electrolyte recipes.
There isnt anywhere locally selling chicks and she would have been a real freeranging local chicken found all over town following their mothers. The friend who helped me set her up in a box etc reckons shes a female after looking at the wing feathers but I am well aware that I may have the rooster i was avoiding on my hands.

I took her hoping that my one hen who gets very broody would take her on but the same friend who set her up had her doubts and thinks that she would be attacked by the hens.

 

[Sunshine Flock]

Thank you f


Thank you for your reply. Its really interesting to see how lonely and without companionship she is. She is taking water and I will look at the electrolyte recipes.
There isnt anywhere locally selling chicks and she would have been a real freeranging local chicken found all over town following their mothers. The friend who helped me set her up in a box etc reckons shes a female after looking at the wing feathers but I am well aware that I may have the rooster i was avoiding on my hands.

I took her hoping that my one hen who gets very broody would take her on but the same friend who set her up had her doubts and thinks that she would be attacked by the hens.

I love roosters, but I know lots of people are unable to keep them. Either way she has a safe home and good care. I would try putting your broody hen in with her for a short visit on and off throughout the day and see what happens. Supervised, naturally.

 

[theoldchick]

The egg tooth (the bump on tip of upper beak used to break out of shell) usually falls off in three days or so. You are so kind to take her in. Get her on chick food as soon as possible. Keeping her warm and dry perfect but make sure she can escape to a cooler area if needed. I put a heating pad under one half the container the chick is in. Mirrors are great entertainment as are tiny stuffed toys. With proper diet and housing you should be able to introduce her to the flock in about 6 weeks. Good Luck!

 

[Granny Hatchet]

Since you have been feeding things baby chicks shouldnt have I would suggest some chick grit to move that along. Chicks should have chick food , thats it. scrambled /boiled egg is a good treat. Not often unless they are having problems eating. 36 C ? I am not sure what that is but chick should have constant heat til they feather . week on is 90 degree then drop 5 degrees each week. Day and night. Unless its a sex linked chicken there is no way to tell hen from roo at this point.
I hope it goes well for you.

 

[Ridgerunner]

36C = 97F. I'm not sure if that is a daily high or what the actual temperatures are where the chick is. Since it is not doing that plaintive cheeping when you are around it is not likely to be cold so no added heat should be necessary. How did you make that fake mother hen? Some people on here have used that alone to keep them warm in some fairly cool temperatures. They use wool yarn or some type of material hanging in strips the chick can go inside. That traps the chick's body heat.

Be careful when introducing the chick to a broody hen. Some hens will mother practically anything but most imprint on their own and reject any new chick. At that age the chick may not imprint on her. Try it as soon as you can, the younger the chick the better the odds, but it is probably too late for it to work. Still, it's probably worth a try.

Check the label on that adult feed. If it has a calcium content of over 2% that has too much calcium for a growing chick. If the calcium content is less than 2% it should be OK. And yes, no ground egg shells, those are almost pure calcium.

The chick could use grit. I'd take it outside and let it peck at the ground, it should find its own grit that way. That's how a broody hen would handle that problem.

They are social animals. I agree with the mirror suggestion, sometimes that helps keep it from being lonely. It sounds like it has imprinted on you as its mother and flock. You cannot be there all the time so giving it another virtual companion might help with that. A small stuffed animal may help.

Feather sexing only works if the mother has the dominant slow-feathering gene and the father has only the recessive fast-feathering gene. Since you don't know how the parents were set up genetically don't count on that as a sexing technique. You have a 50% chance of it being male, but you also have a 50% chance of it being female. Good luck with that.