Single Chick . . . How to Introduce Others from Different Source?

[graygiant]

Hi everyone . . . well, our babies at my child's classroom began hatching . . . first there were 2 little yellows and then 3 little blacks with some white areas. Apparently, the yellows (oldest 2) were picking on the blacks pretty badly, so the yellows moved to a different classroom for brooding. We had 3 eggs left in the incubator . . . 1 had some "gross blue stuff in it" (as I was told by the children) and the other 2 are still there--no pipping, etc. I don't know if they've checked them or if the teacher is just trying to leave them alone to give them a few more days. First eggs hatched on May 31st. From what I've been learning here on BYC, the last ones could take up to 5 days longer . . .

at any rate . . . I just learned this afternoon that only the 3 black chicks will be available to our class, so they'll be divided amongst the 3 families who committed to adopting chicks . . . This means 1 chick per family. I'm an animal person--any animal I ever have, I try to learn about and understand their needs, their behaviors, etc. I don't feel good about having just 1 single chick. I don't even feel o.k. about having a single adult chicken when it grows up in a few months. I'd like to get one to three more to go with it, but is that safe? I know new animals should be quarantined before being put in with existing animals. Is it worth it? Or would it be better to go ahead and take the single chick home and wait until it's a few weeks older and then try to get others?

Or is it best to offer this single chick to one of the other families and just get our own altogether?

I apologize for rambling . . . I must say, I feel quite a lot as though I've just had an adoption of a child fall through. I haven't tried explaining it to my 7 year old yet because she is very excited to bring her baby home next week.

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi,

If you allow one of the other families to have "your" chick and get your own, then you've killed two birds with one stone, so to speak. The potential single chick with one family, will now have a pal, and you will get chicks from the same source and they will be happy campers too!

Sorted

CT

 

[azygous]

CT states it well. That's what I would do

But I would also confront the idiot who made the stupid, ignorant decision to send a single chick home with each family. In focusing on distributing the chicks as if they were candy or cupcakes, no thought was given to the needs of the chicks.

That is, if you don't mind creating a scene. Lessons could be learned here.

 

[graygiant]

Well, we wound up bringing the baby from school home, but . . . we also bought 4 Buff Orpingtons from a local hatchery with an excellent reputation amongst the locals. They hatched the same week as classroom baby. We did a gradual introduction (which also gave us time to watch for any signs of disease, etc.) They've been here for 4 days now and everyone looks great. The first day, one of our Orps let everyone know that she is the head hen . . . I read here on BYC that when you have an overly assertive chick, to gently tap them on the back (as mother hen would do with her beak)--I did that only 4 times in a row over about 10 minutes and that was the end of it. She is still bossy, but not aggressive and not with her beak--she's just mouthy!

The other 2 families wound up not coming to pick up their chicks! I'm rather frustrated because I would have taken the 3 from school and been done if I had known they were going to bail out. The teacher has taken the remaining 2 home with her so neither of them is alone and I'm so glad for that!

Our family loves chickens and we loved the babies we had a number of years ago, but we forgot just how fun they are! We have had so much fun watching them and laughing at them and loving on them in just 4 days! I don't know how we lived without chickens for the past 8 years!