Single chick hatched. How do I raise it?

[drangle]

I had an order of 22 hatching eggs. Only 1 hatched I doubt there will be any others although I am crossing my fingers.

How do I raise a lone chick? I doubt I will be able to find any other chicks this time a year outside of hatching my own, and if I do that the they will be 3 weeks apart.

I really would like to keep this chick and add it to my flock. Any advice?

 

[Peaches Lee]

I've only "raised" a lone chick with a broody hen--so that was really easy. I haven't looked at any Hatchery sites, can you possibly order some chicks?

Good luck!

 

[Ridgerunner]

That hurts. Sometimes life doesn't make it easy on us.

I'd try for more chicks. Is the Colorado state thread active on here? Hopefully you can chat with your neighbors. You never know what someone might have. You can post in the
"Buy, Sell, Trade" section of this forum with Southern Colorado and Baby Chicks in the title. Or try Craigslist. Sometimes you just get lucky.

A single chick is hard. They may imprint on you or an animal like a dog and want to be near them at all times. It can be heartbreaking to hear them calling for company. Putting a mirror or a stuffed animal in the brooder can sometimes help a lot.

Integrating a single bird can be challenging. They want to be near the other chickens but may be attacked if they approach older chickens. Sometimes a flock is more tolerant of a single chick than other flocks. Mature roosters have been known to adopt orphans but don't count on that, it is rare. Usually a single young chick is not welcomed.

I don't know where you plan to brood. I'd want that chick in a pen in your coop as young as you feel comfortable doing that. Raise it with the flock as much as you can. When you try to integrate observe and decide how you proceed based on what you see.

 

[Finnie]

I was also going to suggest Craigslist. Or look for poultry groups in your area on Facebook.

Do you have a Rural King in Colorado? I was surprised to see our Rural King still had baby chicks a couple weeks ago. Some of them were a few weeks old. Maybe you could get lucky and find some the right age.

 

[drangle]

It’s a pretty rural area I doubt Craigslist will be of much help but I’ll check. Going to ask the people in town that have chickens if they maybe have a broody that has been setting or have chicks but it’s winter so I doubt it. I plan to put her in the run with the other chicks as soon as I can but it’s cold now.

Temps swing up and down but it has been 14 degrees at night lately. 25 35 degrees during the day.

 

[drangle]

Is a 10 day age difference too much?

 

[drangle]

I can order chicks but they will be 10 or 11 days younger

 

[gimmie birdies]

you could keep them in separate brooders until they can combine. If you had one chick introducing to olders then it could be bad, but if you have many youngers they may not have a bad experience.
Below is a single chick I had to introduce to 3 older chicks. (2 weeks older.) I put him in a little quiet box and let them get used to each other's peeping.

But I hatched one chick and then 5 more later, he was shocked at first with so many friends then got used to them.

 

[drangle]

I found a place in Fort Collins that has baby chicks year round. only problem is it is on the other side of the state. going to see if I can get a family member to bring 4 or 5 down with them for thanksgiving.

 

[kurby22]

I found a place in Fort Collins that has baby chicks year round. only problem is it is on the other side of the state. going to see if I can get a family member to bring 4 or 5 down with them for thanksgiving.

I too have a lonely baby that hatched and survived the first two weeks. I have been on several Facebook group pages and some have posted hatching babies but they just haven’t been the right breeds for my flock. In the mean time, she has a stuffed Olaf to snuggle and lots of hand holding time with me and the kids. I’m working on having some just after Thanksgiving! Good luck