# Raising a lonely chick



## newgirl97

To make a very long story short, i am not a chicken person. In fact, they scare me. 

But we ended up only having two eggs fertilized and one chick died while hatching. 

So now we have one very lonely little buddy. I feel so called to nurture this little guy, but I know nothing about chicks. 

He’s being kept warm and he has all of his necessities (my family has hatched chicks for years but we’ve never only had one.)

But I don’t know how to help his loneliness. When I leave him he chirps frantically. When I come back he hops into my hand and calms down. 

He’s currently asleep under my hand because he thinks that his mother is sitting on him. 

Has anyone raised single chicks ? Do they grow up okay? I don’t want him to be lonely but I feel like that it’s inevitable because I can’t be with him all the time. 

I’m wondering if anyone could think of a way that I could replicate a mother for him to sleep under? I don’t think he likes to be out in the open. 

I know it’s silly to be so worried about a chick but I love him

(I also don’t know if he’s a boy or not. Hoping he’s a hen. His name is Leonard regardless!)


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## oldhenlikesdogs

If you can find it some company that is always best. You can give it a mirror, and a hanging feather duster for company. I personally would find some chicks locally or order a small batch from a hatchery to keep it company and keep it sane.


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## newgirl97

oldhenlikesdogs said:


> If you can find it some company that is always best. You can give it a mirror, and a hanging feather duster for company. I personally would find some chicks locally or order a small batch from a hatchery to keep it company and keep it sane.


Thank you!! The mirror and feather duster idea is brilliant!

I tried to find more chicks online and all of them within an hour/hour and a half drive from us are either already a week+ old or are not hatching for another two weeks. 

I’ve posted an ad seeing if anyone can spare a chick or two, but so far there haven’t been any replies


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## oldhenlikesdogs

A few hatcheries sell small chick orders like Meyers and My Pet Chicken, but I haven't checked if any are available. Usually popular breeds are. Though you'd still have to wait until next week at least. Hopefully you can find something in the next few weeks. I know people have raised single birds, but company is always better. Good luck.


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## Bruce

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...d-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update.956958/

Heat lamp chicks peep all the time. Make her a Mama Heating Pad cave and she will sleep at night when it is dark.


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## newgirl97

Thought I would update everyone!!

This is Leonard. S/he is thriving! This week s/he graduated from a box in our kitchen to an entire chicken tractor to her/himself!


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## rachels.haven

Nice cockerel. He has eyes only for you, I see.


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## Bruce

Are you getting other chicks so he can have a flock?


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## newgirl97

rachels.haven said:


> Nice cockerel. He has eyes only for you, I see.


Thank you!!

He loves me so much. When I come to visit he initially runs away when the door opens but once i come in and get down to his level he runs to me and wants to be pet and held like a cat. 

I never thought I’d love a chicken but here we are!


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## newgirl97

Bruce said:


> Are you getting other chicks so he can have a flock?





Bruce said:


> Are you getting other chicks so he can have a flock?


Not sure what our plan is yet. We have 20 hens right now and no rooster (his father was killed by a fox the day before he hatched)

His chicken tractor is amongst all of the other chickens, so that he is not completely alone.

We’d like to keep him but are worried about him breeding his mother.
My dad is worried that he will start becoming aggressive because his father was extremely aggressive. (Never had a rooster so mean before) I believe that he won’t be aggressive because he’s been hand raised.

We’re Also considering getting him castrated and having him solely as a companion but that idea really scares me

If we are unable to keep him I’m going to find him a hobby farm to live at (you know the ones where people only have a couple of chickens for novelty)


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## Sheepshape

It probably won't be a problem if he mates with his mother.....anyway, if you're worried about what the offspring might be like, don't keep her eggs for hatching; eat them! If there are another 19 hens to choose from, then hatch their eggs.

I've currently got a beautiful Gold Brahma rooster who was hand reared and  yet he is/was aggressive. This is strange for two reasons....hand reared  birds are usually much friendlier, and secondly, Brahmas are usually not at all aggressive. I have to admit to kicking him a couple of times when he has attacked me from behind (I am a softy veggie who hates to hurt anything). He is learning, though. Last time he went for me, I kicked him and threw gravel at him, then my dog snapped at him and chased him off, and finally my old Naked Neck rooster came steaming over and sent him packing. Since then, he has become much more respectful.

So....likely not to be aggressive, but needs to be shown who is boss if the tendency starts to show up. No real problem if he mates with his mother (By the way did you know hens can eject the sperm of roosters who they consider undesirable?), and caponisation (castration) is a nasty business in my opinion. i would think you can keep him.

Good Luck.


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## oldhenlikesdogs

Generally friendly roosters who are handled turn aggressive at sexual maturity. Not all, but many do unfortunately. That bold behavior becomes dominating behaviors. I personally never want friendly roosters. I prefer them to remain a respectable distance away, and I take a hands off approach. All my roosters are good roosters at maturity this way.


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## Bruce

I believe that is common. They see their caregiver as an equal, or worse, subservient. NOT something you want in a rooster.


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## RustyBucketFarmGirl

newgirl97 said:


> To make a very long story short, i am not a chicken person. In fact, they scare me.
> 
> But we ended up only having two eggs fertilized and one chick died while hatching.
> 
> So now we have one very lonely little buddy. I feel so called to nurture this little guy, but I know nothing about chicks.
> 
> He’s being kept warm and he has all of his necessities (my family has hatched chicks for years but we’ve never only had one.)
> 
> But I don’t know how to help his loneliness. When I leave him he chirps frantically. When I come back he hops into my hand and calms down.
> 
> He’s currently asleep under my hand because he thinks that his mother is sitting on him.
> 
> Has anyone raised single chicks ? Do they grow up okay? I don’t want him to be lonely but I feel like that it’s inevitable because I can’t be with him all the time.
> 
> I’m wondering if anyone could think of a way that I could replicate a mother for him to sleep under? I don’t think he likes to be out in the open.
> 
> I know it’s silly to be so worried about a chick but I love him
> 
> (I also don’t know if he’s a boy or not. Hoping he’s a hen. His name is Leonard regardless!)



I would get another chick or 2. Being social animals i would like they would thrive better with more chickens.

I am not a chicken expert but when i got my chickens and my goats this year i was encouraged to get more than one.

Good luck!


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## Sheepshape

Bruce said:


> They see their caregiver as an equal, or worse, subservient. NOT something you want in a rooster.


 They probably do. A few lessons in "The Pecking Order" and your own position in it (i.e Head Roo) works for most.If I want to keep a rooster, but he has too much attitude, I go to the coop first thing in the morning and pluck him from the perch (always the highest perch!). I then tuck him in my armpit and hold him tightly there (gripping the feet helps, as may a cloth/towel over the lower part of his body)). I then walk around for about 10 minutes with him under my armpit..... making sure that all the flock members see him. Only do this if you are able to hold him this way......no point in getting yourself hurt.Repeat this over two or three mornings. You are Head Rooster.

No doubt there are some terminally nasty roosters.....they make good chicken stew, I'm told (being veggie, my dog eats them).Some breeds are far meaner than others....huge Brahmas and Orpingtons are usually very docile.

 Having kept (many) chickens for over 20 years and having had 6 roosters simultaneously (all free-ranging together and peacefully), I can vouch for the above method.


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## newgirl97

Sheepshape said:


> They probably do. A few lessons in "The Pecking Order" and your own position in it (i.e Head Roo) works for most.If I want to keep a rooster, but he has too much attitude, I go to the coop first thing in the morning and pluck him from the perch (always the highest perch!). I then tuck him in my armpit and hold him tightly there (gripping the feet helps, as may a cloth/towel over the lower part of his body)). I then walk around for about 10 minutes with him under my armpit..... making sure that all the flock members see him. Only do this if you are able to hold him this way......no point in getting yourself hurt.Repeat this over two or three mornings. You are Head Rooster.
> 
> No doubt there are some terminally nasty roosters.....they make good chicken stew, I'm told (being veggie, my dog eats them).Some breeds are far meaner than others....huge Brahmas and Orpingtons are usually very docile.
> 
> Having kept (many) chickens for over 20 years and having had 6 roosters simultaneously (all free-ranging together and peacefully), I can vouch for the above method.


Thank you very much!!


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## newgirl97

RustyBucketFarmGirl said:


> I would get another chick or 2. Being social animals i would like they would thrive better with more chickens.
> 
> I am not a chicken expert but when i got my chickens and my goats this year i was encouraged to get more than one.
> 
> Good luck!


ThankS was for the input! But this is an old thread haha

Leonard ended up being raised alone because we couldn’t find any chicks that weren’t two weeks older than him or hatching two weeks later. He’s a big boy now and lives in his own chicken tractor surrounding our 20 other chickens and he gets supervised time with them (they can be so mean to the new chickens I don’t want him alone yet because he’s so much smaller still)

In the next week or so he will be joining the girls full time!


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## Granny Heeney

newgirl97 said:


> View attachment 51388
> ThankS was for the input! But this is an old thread haha
> 
> Leonard ended up being raised alone because we couldn’t find any chicks that weren’t two weeks older than him or hatching two weeks later. He’s a big boy now and lives in his own chicken tractor surrounding our 20 other chickens and he gets supervised time with them (they can be so mean to the new chickens I don’t want him alone yet because he’s so much smaller still)
> 
> In the next week or so he will be joining the girls full time!


Hi there!    I was following your thread and was wondering how it's all going.  I've owned chickens less than a year but WOW it's been eventful.  I managed to introduce a silkie/Legbar hen in with 2 ginormous Barred Rock girls; it was a long process that involved 2 weeks of Chicken Jail for nasty old Scrambled (her own coop inside the main cage), but everyone's happy now.  I have a nearly 4 month old Light Brahma (there were 2 but her sister died) that's going to need to go in with the ladies soon, so I'm kinda keeping an eye out to see what other folks are doing when they bring newbies in.  I was given 5 adult birds last Feb.--4 Barred Rock hens and an evil roo named Leroy who terrorized them AND us and quickly left us.  After Leroy's demise, we lost Poached to a skunk and Rotisserie to a toxic millipede   , leaving only Scrambled and Dumpling.  If little Pearl has no mishaps, I'll be back up to 4 hens!    Next year, I'd like to get a Brahma roo.    Oy ve, sorry for yammering on, today's my first day here!    Loving BYH so far!


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## Baymule

I like that rooster taming @Sheepshape I have a nasty Australorp that attacks......he is on my fried chicken list. But I ordered two, in case one was mean. So after I get rid of Mr Meany, I think I'll do the armpit thing to the other rooster and get his goat before he gets mine! LOL


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## Sheepshape

You have to show (or, like me, pretend!) that you are fearless, Bay. My Gold Brahma rooster challenged me when he hit adolescence, in spite (or maybe, because) of the fact he was hand reared. As he's really pretty, obviously made of tough stuff (survived a power outage on the incubator, overheating, and breaking his egg whilst candling), and I'm veggie.....it was 'make or break' time. Several shows of 'I'm the boss' and he is turning into quite the Gentleman. He starts offering me bits of rubbish when I come near him and beats a hasty retreat if I come too close. Also, when he started to come for me one day, after a kick from me, he was chased firstly by the dog and then my old rooster, Gordon....so we are now a Multi-Species Team of Aggressive Rooster Busters who demand respect.

Granny Heeney.......your names for chickens are MEAN. Do you have an Omelette too?

I have had sheep called Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme....but NEVER Mint (Sauce).

Oh and chickens can cause just as much havoc as an other animal in my (chaotic) experience.


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## Granny Heeney

Sheepshape said:


> Granny Heeney.......your names for chickens are MEAN. Do you have an Omelette too?



I didn't do that, they were gifted to me by my bestie--she hatched them and kept them til after they started laying but decided to go full-time into Gold, White, and Silver Duckwing Phoenix, so I inherited them.    They were her first experience in raising from eggs and she had originally intended to butcher at one year, so she named them in an attempt to "keep it real."  ...And it didn't help.  LOL  She came to me in tears when her hubby gave an ultimatum.  :-o  "I have to give them away or we have to freezer them" sort of thing.  Being BRs, they are the friendliest, sweetest, cuddliest things alive.  So we got a coop, 4 hens that laid their wee hearts out, and Golden Comet roo Leroy who proved to us all that evil does truly exist.    My new additions are Mollie (silkie/Legbar), Pearl (Light Brahma) and 9 Volt, who is a sublimely goofy Old English Bantam roo rescue and house chicken.    His feet are wonky and we're still working on trimming his beak; here's a pic from when we first got him.


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