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Author Topic: Single chick advise needed please.  (Read 3840 times)

aaronsundin

  • Joined Jul 2011
  • Aberdeenshire , Scotland
Single chick advise needed please.
« on: October 09, 2011, 05:16:15 pm »
Hello all ,
I have one gold lace orpington bantie in a brooding box in the kitchen , being kept warm with a brinsea eco glow heater . She was the the only hatchling from 5 eggs and yes, I feel sorry for her .  She is about 11 days old and doing great , eating and drinking well and I can see her wing feathers developing . Once she's bigger I plan to put her in a run ( the ark type , like rabbits have ) within one of the outbuildings with the rabbits and guinea pigs. I am a bit worried about how to wean her off the heat . I will be needing the eco glow heater for more new arrivals around 26th of this month and was wondering if I need to buy an infra red poultry lamp or would a red fire glow bulb be enough to keep this lone chick warm . We live in north east scotland and have quite cold autumns here so  I think it will be a while before I can move her to an outside run. Luckily there are the outbuildings with a power supply ,  any tips and advise would be very welcome.

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: Single chick advise needed please.
« Reply #1 on: October 09, 2011, 11:59:58 pm »
A couple of months ago we had a phone call from someone in a similar situation to yours.  We were able to offer a hen with 2 young chicks of about the same age (one week old).  It took a couple of days for the incubator-raised chick to understand about going under her new mum for warmth, but after that they were hard to tell apart.  There were no problems with the hen accepting her new chick.
« Last Edit: October 14, 2011, 06:25:46 pm by Fleecewife »
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reidi

  • Joined Oct 2011
  • Normanton West Yorkshire
Re: Single chick advise needed please.
« Reply #2 on: October 14, 2011, 10:00:02 am »
Hi,  i would put the single chick in with the hatch that is due on the 26th  i have done this before to keep costs down on heating and had no problems.

hope this helps

Andy

aaronsundin

  • Joined Jul 2011
  • Aberdeenshire , Scotland
Re: Single chick advise needed please.
« Reply #3 on: October 14, 2011, 05:43:47 pm »
Hi,  i would put the single chick in with the hatch that is due on the 26th  i have done this before to keep costs down on heating and had no problems.

hope this helps

Andy

Andy ,
many thanks for the suggestion , this option had crossed my mind . Do you think the single chick will be ok in a brooding box with the new hatchlings once they've dried out - as there will be about a 4 week age difference?
many thanks again
stefan

reidi

  • Joined Oct 2011
  • Normanton West Yorkshire
Re: Single chick advise needed please.
« Reply #4 on: October 23, 2011, 07:41:11 pm »
sorry for delay in replying    i do this regular and the larger chick helps keep the younger ones warm.  I wouldn't do it if there was a much larger age gap as the smaller chicks could be crushed.  they will huddle up together for warmth and with there just being one they may see it as a suragate mother.

hope this Helps

Andy

JEP

  • Joined Oct 2011
Re: Single chick advise needed please.
« Reply #5 on: October 23, 2011, 10:08:57 pm »
we did this like reidi said had no problems
all turned out OK

reidi

  • Joined Oct 2011
  • Normanton West Yorkshire
Re: Single chick advise needed please.
« Reply #6 on: October 25, 2011, 02:42:03 am »
glad to have helped 

Andy reidi

Victorian Farmer

  • Guest
Re: Single chick advise needed please.
« Reply #7 on: October 26, 2011, 10:25:18 am »
i would gladly give you a couple off chicks iff that helps IL be Art lanark Thursday

aaronsundin

  • Joined Jul 2011
  • Aberdeenshire , Scotland
Re: Single chick advise needed please.
« Reply #8 on: October 26, 2011, 01:31:06 pm »
Update - firstly , many thanks victorian farmer for your kind offer ! But things seem to be working out quite well . |The young chick is now 4 weeks old and  has been spending the daytime in one of the outbuildings in a rabbit hutch & coming back into the kitchen at night time , I am suprised how quickly she has grown , she eats really well and is fast out growing the brooder. . I have today  moved her into the hutch day & night , she has a heater and the company of another hen with an 8 week old chick in the run next door . And of course the rabbits and guinea pigs ! I have two chicks hatched in the incubator this morning with hopefully a couple more on the way - so maybe my single chick can be introduced to them once they're a bit bigger. many thanks to everyone for all the posts and tips - I love this forum , full of people helping each other along , especially appreciated by a  newbie like me !

 

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