12 week old & new chicks together?

[JanaMcG]

We have 3 12 week old chickens. They haven't started laying. My FIL has a connection to get 2 new chicks. Can we let them be in the same coop with our other 3 or would they need to stay separate until older? Also, we live in AL & the lowest it gets @ night is 68. Would the new chicks need to be inside at night or would a heat lamp out in the coop be ok?

 

[Pyxis]

What age are the chicks? I wouldn't put them in with the older chicks unless the age different is two weeks or less. They would be fine with a heat lamp in a brooder in the coop as long as you can provide a spot for them to get to that stays the appropriate temperature for their age, for example 95 degrees if they are less than a week old.

 

[JanaMcG]

Not sure exactly, but I know they're not more than 3 weeks old. I figured they'd have to have a heat lamp. Thanks!

 

[realsis]

Keep them separate. The older ones can seriously hurt the younger ones. Have you ever tried the ecoglow brooder? This year i used the 20 chick one for the first time and it was wonderful. No fire hazzard like a heat lamp and a fraction of the cost to run! If you have more than 10 chicks, id get the 50 chick one. No need to worry about temp it regulates itself. Its great

 

[JanaMcG]

It's just 3 chicks.

 

[azygous]

Yes, you will be able to keep the new baby chicks in the same coop as the three-month old chicks.

However, you will need to keep the babies separated by a see-through barricade for their safety as the older ones are certain to thrash them. It's what big chicks do to baby chicks, and especially since there are so few of each group. It's even more likely that the large ones will focus their aggression on the babies.

It's advantageous to raise the new babies along side the older ones since it will give them all time to get to know ones another and by the time the babies are ready to mingle with the older ones, they will be considering themselves as a flock.

Your best chance for a safe integration after the new chicks get in the range of three or four weeks old, would be the panic room method, using smaller entrances from the baby pen into the rest of the coop or run. I like to raise my chicks in my covered, weather-protected run since it gives the flock more room and opportunity to be exposed to one another. By the time the chicks are successfully integrated, then moving them into the coop to sleep there is pretty easy. But if you aren't set up with a protected run, raising them in the coop is certainly doable.

For more details on brooding chicks in a run alongside older chickens, read my article on outdoor brooding linked below my post.