Raising a lonely chick

[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.

 

[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.

 

[Bruce]

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

 

[RustyBucketFarmGirl]

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!

 

[Sheepshape]

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.

 

[newgirl97]

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!!

 

[newgirl97]

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!

 

[Granny Heeney]

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!

 

[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

 

[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.