What are the chances of keeping one baby?

[Nickles]

So if you missed the back story, I got two surprise chicks. They both did fine the first day, the second day one of them was really off and it went downhill. S/he died. Now I have one baby, just about a week old.

I don't know if I'm projecting, but he seems to be freaking out. Will one baby be ok, or do I need to go find another one? This is kind of a nightmare

 

[CascadiaRiver]

Best to find him a little buddy, try to find one of a similar or younger age perhaps.

 

[Nickles]

Best to find him a little buddy, try to find one of a similar or younger age perhaps.

Ok, that's what I thought. I have absolutely no idea where to find a baby chick. I'll call around to the local feed stores tomorrow, other than that, any ideas? It looks like you have to either buy a lot of them or pay a lot for them if you order online.

 

[Nickles]

Actually a quick Craigslist search showed me some "recently hatched easter egg chicks" for $8 each. That's definitely doable, and I've been looking at that breed anyway (I like their beards), but I've never bought chicks before. Anything I need to look for?

 

[azygous]

You're very perceptive in decoding your chick's frantic chirping. Baby chicks indeed do freak out when left alone. It's an instinct for survival. If you rig up a heating pad into a tight little cave, it will comfort as well as warm. Give it a try.

Meanwhile, try to choose chicks that are within a couple weeks of age of this one. Look for alert, active behavior, wide open, bright eyes, lively except for bouts of brief napping.

If you want pullets, and not roosters, look at the wing feather buds of any that have recently hatched, within three days of age, and choose those that have alternate lengths as opposed to even length. Boys also have practically no feather development at three days to a week while girls have noticeable feathers on their wings. At around three to four weeks, boys have longer, thicker legs and bigger feet.

Avoid any chicks that are standing in one spot and nodding off, unless they are running around acting normal most of the time. A sick chick won't be hopping around like a jumping bean, but lethargic all the time. Failure to thrive is a common occurrence during the first week as you've already discovered.

Good luck on your quest!

 

[Nickles]

Thank you!

 

[Nickles]

Ok, I got a little Rhode Island Red. She's a few days younger than the one I had, but close to the same size. Wish me luck!

They're inside, I do not have a chick-safe area set up outside. How long should I plan on them staying in here? I'm working on the main coop bit by bit, but it'll be a few weeks. I'm thinking I'd like to just keep them in here until it's time to introduce them to the others, what's a good age for that? How do you even go about it? Side by side cages for a few days?

 

[Peeps61]

Great! They can stay inside as long as you like, although at this time of the year, they could brood outside as long as they are safe and have a heat source they can get under to stay warm. You can move them out when your coop is ready, or make a smaller area for them after about 4 weeks, so that the older birds can visit through the wire or plastic. Then, you can slowly allow them to free range together, or put them with the other birds when they are big enough to get away from them if the bigger ones decide to show who is who on the pecking order. And they will! So be prepared to let them work it out unless blood is drawn.