Too many chicks for one brooder

Help! I received more chicks than I ordered. My chicks are 4 weeks old and 2 of them seem to have not grown as the others. I believe they are over crowded at this point. They have slightly more than 1/2 square foot per chick. Can I move the 4 of the 9 to another cage/brooder next to each other and still expect them to get along okay when I put them together into the coop in a couple of weeks? The coop is almost ready--fixing the roosts this weekend.
Thanks in advance--

There might be a bit of pecking order squabbling when you reintroduce them, but it should resolve fairly quickly.

Thank you! I am hoping to give the smaller ones more food access.

Chicks under 12 weeks are much more relaxed about the pecking order than older birds.

I never did a brooder, I used the entire coop as a brooder and it has worked out well so far, my birds have 4.5 sq ft each, I had small structures in there for them to climb on to build there balance up, I lost a few but came to the conclusion it was a attempt to give them water from the gutter rather than hauling water from the house, proved to be fatal for quite a few chicks. Only thing I changed in there environment and the deaths were all within 3 days of water change, I changed back to house water and never had a issue since. All my chicks are extremely happy and healthy, I had a 250w heat lamp on 24/7 which they would lay under when they needed it, the oldest birds are 3 weeks and 3 days old and the youngest are 2 weeks old, majority of the flock can fly up to the top of a bail of straw on its side and down without problem and a few can get on the second rung of the perch already 2 1/2 to 3ft high. There growing at a very fast rate. The last 4-5 days they haven't been using the heat lamp during the day or night so I put it on a timer to be on only when it's dark outside and put a smaller bulb in also to save on electric. I have 22 more on there way sept 9th from McMurry hatchery, that's were all but 9 of my 22 left came from, I liked there chicks so much I ordered 22 more to have a total flock of 45 after they send the free bird. I have one 10x20 coop but it has two rooms divided by a door which I recently opened to the first 22 and will shut to start the next group, when the new chicks are 2-3 weeks old I will let the flock mingle, there's too much of a size gap now, if I lower the feeder and waterer so the new borns can reach it the older ones will scratch it all out on the floor in no time. So I will start the new chicks same as I did with the current chicks on a troth feeder, a round feeder with a quart jar and two one gal waterers and heat 24/7.

If your coop is secure, you could go ahead and move them out now. They don't need roosts for several more weeks. As long as it's dry and out of the wind, they're good.

Thank you, I appreciate your advice. It's very reassuring. Being that these are my first chicks, their behavior is fascinating.

Good to know, I can hardly wait to get them out of my laundry room--Thank you

chickmama1001 said:

Good to know, I can hardly wait to get them out of my laundry room--Thank you

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I have a question are puppy pads ok to use as bedding or are they out of the question?

I'm using puppy pads right now in my brooder for my recently hatched chicks. They don't get moved around as easily as paper towels, and they are pretty absorbent. Now that they are all eating, drinking, and pooping, I'm going to switch to wood shavings tomorrow. They offer them a way to practice scratching and 'dust' bathing and they can nestle down into them.