Solo Feral Chickie

[Corn Thrower]

I love on Oahu, where feral chickens are extremely common. We like to throw corn for our neighborhood flock in the afternoons.

Last night I found a baby chick outside my window at nightfall. He was peeping and peeping and all alone, and I had already seen local cats out hunting. I picked him up and put him in a box with some corn and a capful of water. I say “he” because my daughter named him “Mr. Peep Peep” but I have no idea what sex the chick is.

He doesn’t seem to be drinking but maybe I just haven’t seen it. He’s had a few bites of corn. He was up almost all last night peeping and seems very tired today. I tried to reintroduce him to the flock at feeding time, and he ate even more corn, but the other chickens trampled him and he stayed behind when they moved on. I scooped him up again, and he is back in his box.

What should I do for this chick? He seems about 3-4 weeks old— he has wing feathers but is fuzzy elsewhere. He doesn’t seem cold (we live on Oahu, temps are between 72-80 at all times).

I have been seeing quite a few solo chickies in the parking lot lately... maybe something happened to a mother hen? Don’t little chicks need to socialize with other birds? Why would so many be alone all of a sudden?

I have kept chickens before successfully , but never younger than pullet age.

Any advice appreciated! Mahalo!

 

[rosemarythyme]

He might have gotten chilled overnight, so some heat may help him. If he only has wing feathers he's possibly younger than 3-4 weeks.

Do you have any all flock or non layer chicken feed available? Corn alone isn't a balanced diet. If layer feed is all you have on hand, I'd crush that up and use it for the time being rather than just corn.

With the water, did you show him where it was by dipping his beak in it?

 

[Corn Thrower]

I put a baby bottle full of hot water (wrapped in paper towels) in his box last night, he never went near it. I was thinking maybe wild chicks are a bit more tolerant of cooler temperatures? Or maybe he is unwell? He is almost constantly peeping. Is that normal?

He seems sleepy, he closes his eyes for a second, and then starts up crying again.

I just tried dipping his beak in the water. I hadn’t done that before, and he had a few good drinks. I think he was thirsty, poor guy. Thanks for the suggestion!

I don’t have any proper chicken food on hand, and can’t get any until tomorrow at the soonest. I was planning to set him free this morning but he wouldn’t go. I have wet cat food, dry cat food, and a fully stocked kitchen, however, if you have any other ideas...?

It’s kind of an odd situation. The neighborhood flocks from which he came seem to eat lots of bugs from the woods (it’s full of chicken size holes) and most of the neighbors feed them scraps. They typically tour the parking lot for handouts in the day, and hide and roost in the woods around us at night. The adults don’t have any predators, but they get hit by cars every now and then and humans also eat them or mess with them sometimes.

I’m also not sure what to do with him besides set him free eventually ! We are not really in a position to keep chickens as pets.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Ah sorry, I read your post as if you already had chickens.

One possible reason he's fussing is because he's alone. Chicks will call for their mother and flockmates. If he doesn't want the heat after having it offered, that'd be the most likely reason for all the crying.

Glad you were able to get him to drink! Chicks are pretty good at taking care of themselves, but sometimes they need to be shown where food and water and heat are.

As for food, do you happen to have some eggs on hand? As egg yolk is what supports a chick as it develops inside the egg, it's suitable to feed back to chickens too. Scramble an egg or two with minimal oil or hard boil some. Chop it up very fine.

Do you know anyone who has chickens or who might want him? If you have a local feed store maybe they'll let you put up a flyer for a free chick, or check craigslist. I know it might be tough in your area since there's so many feral chickens around.

 

[Corn Thrower]

An egg! Of course! Thank you! I never would have thought of that, but it makes so much sense. Cooking him an egg right now.

Do you think he could rejoin the neighborhood flocks successfully when he gets bigger? The local flocks seem happy out there, and really none of them are skinny.

Finding someone with good intentions for him might be tough. The Humane Society offered to take him, and I may do that, but I worry he would be alone there, too, and they didn’t have much advice for how to care for him.

 

[rosemarythyme]

He could possibly rejoin the wild flocks however it's hard to say how well he'd integrate back in - they might accept him, or he might be on the outside looking in. I don't know much about the feral chickens in Hawaii, I just know there's a lot of them.

If the Humane Society can take him, I'd probably go that route... I don't know how well they're set up for chickens but since they're willing to take him I have to hope they have some setup that would be appropriate for him until he's able to find a new home.

 

[Fluffyflufffluff]

I love on Oahu, where feral chickens are extremely common. We like to throw corn for our neighborhood flock in the afternoons.

Last night I found a baby chick outside my window at nightfall. He was peeping and peeping and all alone, and I had already seen local cats out hunting. I picked him up and put him in a box with some corn and a capful of water. I say “he” because my daughter named him “Mr. Peep Peep” but I have no idea what sex the chick is.

He doesn’t seem to be drinking but maybe I just haven’t seen it. He’s had a few bites of corn. He was up almost all last night peeping and seems very tired today. I tried to reintroduce him to the flock at feeding time, and he ate even more corn, but the other chickens trampled him and he stayed behind when they moved on. I scooped him up again, and he is back in his box.

What should I do for this chick? He seems about 3-4 weeks old— he has wing feathers but is fuzzy elsewhere. He doesn’t seem cold (we live on Oahu, temps are between 72-80 at all times).

I have been seeing quite a few solo chickies in the parking lot lately... maybe something happened to a mother hen? Don’t little chicks need to socialize with other birds? Why would so many be alone all of a sudden?

I have kept chickens before successfully , but never younger than pullet age.

Any advice appreciated! Mahalo!

I hope we can have that kind of breed here in the Philippines, I bet that will be a very nice addition in my coop.

 

[centrarchid]

Hypothermia even while in the box overnight. Very poor nutritional status based on description of diet provided so far. Either chick had health issue to start or mother has one that caused her to abort / cease brood rearing.

 

[Corn Thrower]

Thank you everyone for your help. The little chick died a few days ago. I feel terrible, sorry I haven’t updated you sooner. I think he overheated from the hot water bottle.

There is another solo chick still running around the woods, and he is still alive anyway. I should have just left the chick outside. Lesson learned. Very sad.