Chick died overnight! What happened and how do I protect the other one?

[HayleyBeth!]

We woke up to a dead chick and are very sad! But what happened, she seemed fine and happy yesterday? Chirping, pooping, eating...feathers have been coming in nicely. I just cleaned the brooder and put in new pine shavings, fresh food and water. Her vent was fine.

The remaining chick is sad/confused but seems healthy. Do I need to get another chick for company? She is about 2-3 weeks old. I removed the dead one for burial. I have 3 full grown chickens, just starting to lay and will need to introduce the baby at 14 weeks.

Thank you for help and advice

 

[peeper89]

oh no!!!!
put baby stuff animal teddy bear for little chicken to snuggie with
make sure she warm and drinks water and eats food

when she get oldr she can be with pullys look at how to let them meet each other
azygie has good wrote articles http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/introducing-a-single-hen-to-an-existing-flock

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

So sorry for your loss.

Yes, if I could get another chick the same age... I would.

Most my birds are integrated by 8 weeks, with the look but don't touch method. Age doesn't matter as much as flock dynamics. A single bird will have a harder time integrating than 2 or 3 will, in my experience.

How big/warm is your brooder? Some chicks simply don't make it.. but there are *USUALLY* symptoms. Where did they come from? Hatchery, feed store, or a person? This can help narrow down if there is something that need to be looked at a little closer.

I don't personally bury birds on my property. Too many wild animals to dig it up and if there is some disease I surely don't want it lingering. I guess I usually try to feed out anything dead to the wildlife (if I know it isn't diseased). But also, it is legal for us to send them to the dump. So that is sometimes what I do.

 

[HayleyBeth!]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

So sorry for your loss.

Yes, if I could get another chick the same age... I would.

Most my birds are integrated by 8 weeks, with the look but don't touch method. Age doesn't matter as much as flock dynamics. A single bird will have a harder time integrating than 2 or 3 will, in my experience.

How big/warm is your brooder? Some chicks simply don't make it.. but there are *USUALLY* symptoms. Where did they come from? Hatchery, feed store, or a person? This can help narrow down if there is something that need to be looked at a little closer.

I don't personally bury birds on my property. Too many wild animals to dig it up and if there is some disease I surely don't want it lingering. I guess I usually try to feed out anything dead to the wildlife (if I know it isn't diseased). But also, it is legal for us to send them to the dump. So that is sometimes what I do.

they came from a feed store. The brooder is a cage about 2 feet by 3 feet, but I was going to move them when they got a little bigger to the floor in a circular type pen structure. It's a cage we borrowed from the teacher we got our chickens from when they were chicks (we adopted from my son's class, and these were another group of 2 we adopted when we "rehomed" the rooster from the original flock.) We've only had these chicks for a couple weeks - will a newborn be ok to introduce to the solo one? Our coop is fairly small so I don't want too many chickens overall.

 

[debid]

I'd get the survivor a friend. I've mixed ages up to three weeks without issue. There will still be instant acceptance at this point.

 

[Folly's place]

So sorry! Try to get three chicks, not just one more. Maybe from a hatchery? Good luck! Mary

 

[EggSighted4Life]

they came from a feed store. The brooder is a cage about 2 feet by 3 feet, but I was going to move them when they got a little bigger to the floor in a circular type pen structure. It's a cage we borrowed from the teacher we got our chickens from when they were chicks (we adopted from my son's class, and these were another group of 2 we adopted when we "rehomed" the rooster from the original flock.) We've only had these chicks for a couple weeks - will a newborn be ok to introduce to the solo one? Our coop is fairly small so I don't want too many chickens overall.

The reason I asked about brooder size was trying to assess if the chick was possibly over heated or something.

A new hatched chick will have different heat needs than your current chick. If you can accommodate that, I have also successfully added new chicks up to 3 weeks apart. But it would be preferred if you were able to get another of the same age/size.

You say from the feed store is where you got these 2. This time of year non of our LFS have chicks from the hatchery (located in Northern Ca). But both of my stores will sell birds from local breeders on occasion. Do you know which yours are? With this question I am trying to rule out the possibility of certain diseases. Have you already checked to see if they had any more chicks available?

 

[HayleyBeth!]

I have not asked the feed store where they got the chicks. They do have more and my husband will go with my son tomorrow to get 2 more, they are of different breeds. Our brooder is small but I have the light on one side to keep the other a little cooler. The lamp is close to the cage and I don't have an obvious way to change the height until I move her to the floor.

Thank you for your help.