1 chick is older than the others. Question.

[aim0474]

I have 3 chicks in my homemade brooder, which is a tub with the top cut out. All the necessities and the chicks seem to be doing well. One of the chicks though, the RIR, is at least a week older than the others. Sometimes I think she may be 2 weeks. She is molting her baby fuzz and getting her big girl feathers and is trying to fly. She is quickly outgrowing the brooder.

Problem is that the other 2 arent outgrowing it.

I was thinking of moving her to a modified dog crate for the next few weeks, but I am concerned that separating her and the 2 smaller chicks will cause problems in the future when I put them back together.

She is definitely the top of the pecking order and the other 2 are so sweet it is amazing.

So I am looking for advice on what I should do here? Leave them all together? Move them around? Move them all into the dog crate (worried the little ones wont stay warm enough).

Thanks!

 

[CluckerCottage]

I had chicks this spring that were a week apart in age due to chick replacement.
I kept them all in the same HUGE indoor brooder until they went to their outdoor brooder, which is within the big coop.
I would really advise keeping them together. Just make sure they can get away from the heat source when they need a cool-down. If that means building a bigger indoor brooder, do so. Soon enough, they will go out to their coop.
When it comes to brooders, bigger is always better. Best wishes with your babies!

 

[aim0474]

I think I will go and get a bigger tub this weekend. I was mostly worrying about her trying to fly. Thanks for your help!

 

[CluckerCottage]

She WILL fly and it's a great idea to secure the top of the tub with chicken wire or hardware cloth.
Have fun!

 

[donrae]

If she's outgrowng it now, and only a week or so older than the others, that means they're all going to be too much for it in a week or so. Might as well plan ahead now, instead of doing two or three stop-gap measures.

The best option would be to move them to the coop. Is this possible? If you don't have other birds, it should be do-able. You can do a heat lamp or heating pad cave in the coop and they'll do fine.

If cooping now isn't an option, I'd just go for a larger brooder. A large tote or cardboard box(es) work well. Don't separate them, that's just going to cause issues down the road.

 

[LadyShadowhens]

Our six chicks are four weeks old. Our neighbor loves them and wants two of her own. We were thinking of putting a run between the two coops. keeping them separate for the time being, but when they're all big enough let them all share both coops and the run. Any suggestions on how long to keep them separate? Our brahmas are definitely the more 'aggressive' in the group and I'd hate to see how they'd pick on some new babes.

 

[donrae]

Our six chicks are four weeks old. Our neighbor loves them and wants two of her own. We were thinking of putting a run between the two coops. keeping them separate for the time being, but when they're all big enough let them all share both coops and the run. Any suggestions on how long to keep them separate? Our brahmas are definitely the more 'aggressive' in the group and I'd hate to see how they'd pick on some new babes.

My best advice is to have your neighbor get her own birds and keep them separate. Trying to share or board or co-mingle someone else's birds with yours sounds like a relationship destroying proposition. Birds peck each other, birds get sick, birds get eaten by predators, birds just are runty and don't develop well, some birds don't lay as well, etc. This is hard enough to deal with in your own flock. Having someone else's birds involved? Too mch hassle IMO.

 

[lazy gardener]

I have 3 chicks in my homemade brooder, which is a tub with the top cut out. All the necessities and the chicks seem to be doing well. One of the chicks though, the RIR, is at least a week older than the others. Sometimes I think she may be 2 weeks. She is molting her baby fuzz and getting her big girl feathers and is trying to fly. She is quickly outgrowing the brooder.

Problem is that the other 2 arent outgrowing it.

I was thinking of moving her to a modified dog crate for the next few weeks, but I am concerned that separating her and the 2 smaller chicks will cause problems in the future when I put them back together.

She is definitely the top of the pecking order and the other 2 are so sweet it is amazing.

So I am looking for advice on what I should do here? Leave them all together? Move them around? Move them all into the dog crate (worried the little ones wont stay warm enough).

Thanks!

I would totally bypass the tote. See if you can find an appliance box, or staple, zip tie, or duct tape several boxes together to make a box that is about 5' long. You need this much space, especially if using a heat lamp to provide the varied heat that your chicks of varying ages need. This is just one more reason why using a Mother Heating Pad is so much easier.

Our six chicks are four weeks old. Our neighbor loves them and wants two of her own. We were thinking of putting a run between the two coops. keeping them separate for the time being, but when they're all big enough let them all share both coops and the run. Any suggestions on how long to keep them separate? Our brahmas are definitely the more 'aggressive' in the group and I'd hate to see how they'd pick on some new babes.

My best advice is to have your neighbor get her own birds and keep them separate. Trying to share or board or co-mingle someone else's birds with yours sounds like a relationship destroying proposition. Birds peck each other, birds get sick, birds get eaten by predators, birds just are runty and don't develop well, some birds don't lay as well, etc. This is hard enough to deal with in your own flock. Having someone else's birds involved? Too mch hassle IMO.

What Donrae said.

However, I will tell you that some neighbors are able to share poultry successfully. I've done so on several occasions. The first time, a neighbor and I wanted to raise some meat birds, and some layers. So, what we did was this: We ordered 25 of each. I brooded both groups. She then took the meaties home and raised them up to butchering age. I kept the layers. We got together for a processing party, weighed and divided the meat, and she took half of the layers home. We shared all costs equally. The second time, an other neighbor and I wanted to raise meat birds. I didn't mind doing the front end work. We split the cost of birds and feed. He came over when it was time to process, and he and I processed the birds. Hubby kept the hot water coming.

In the case of sharing a laying flock, I'd be a bit concerned that one of you will get the short end of the stick when it comes time to collect eggs. A shared run will not work, as the birds are likely to gravitate to one coop or the other, one set of nest boxes or the other. A lot depends on the type of relationship you have with your neighbor. You and your neighbor might want to keep separate coops and runs, and simply help each other out: Take turns going to the feed store, while you each pay for your own feed. Help each other out with feeding, and shut up for the night when your schedules need that kind of help. If you do want to do more "sharing" than that, I'd suggest that she get birds that lay a much different color egg than your birds do, so there won't be any ? about who's hen is laying on any different day.

 

[aim0474]

Thanks everyone! I will be searchig for larger accomodations the next few days.

I cant wait to figure out hiw to post a video of how Nugget falls asleep while having her back rubbed.