Brooding Different Ages

[AnchoredHomestead]

The Lavender Orpingtons We are hoping to get will be ready on March 18th. The Chocolate Orpingtons will be ready April 6th. Will there be an issue putting them all in the same brooding box as there will be a 3 week age difference?

We may use a broody hen if there is one at one of the times but my kiddos have their heart set on handling them a ton as we did with our BO chicks last year so the brooding box is our first choice.

 

[AnneRaduns]

Following

 

[grizleyguy]

I was able to put my black Australorp and silver laced wyandotte brooding together and they were 2 weeks apart. Went well with no bullying. Probably helped that the calm and gentle Australorp were the oldest chicks. May not have went so well if the energetic wyandottes were the older chicks

The Lavender Orpingtons We are hoping to get will be ready on March 18th. The Chocolate Orpingtons will be ready April 6th. Will there be an issue putting them all in the same brooding box as there will be a 3 week age difference?

We may use a broody hen if there is one at one of the times but my kiddos have their heart set on handling them a ton as we did with our BO chicks last year so the brooding box is our first choice.

Good luck

 

[AnchoredHomestead]

I was able to put my black Australorp and silver laced wyandotte brooding together and they were 2 weeks apart. Went well with no bullying. Probably helped that the calm and gentle Australorp were the oldest chicks. May not have went so well if the energetic wyandottes were the older chicks

Good luck

Did you do anything special to introduce the second set?

 

[grizleyguy]

I just watched very vigilant for the first couple days. Only aggression I seen were from the smaller wyandottes pecking each other. Sometimes they would peck the older Australorps but the gentle Australorps would just ignore the pecks or walk away from the peckers

Did you do anything special to introduce the second set?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Will there be an issue putting them all in the same brooding box as there will be a 3 week age difference?

Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. With living animals nothing regarding behaviors can be predicted with 100% accuracy. My suggestion is to try it, observe and make decisions based on what you see, and have a Plan B ready just in case.

 

[5Australorpasaures]

Picking up 4 more Blk Aus Mar 17 which will be 8 wks younger than 5 we have now. They will be in a separate brooder. Older ones because of size will finish out in the coop. They are a rambunctious crew and could steam roll over the smaller day olds. Just an ounce of prevention. Your new ones will be 3 1/2 weeks younger. Get a separate brooder set up just in case you aren't comfortable.

 

[Debbie292d]

The Lavender Orpingtons We are hoping to get will be ready on March 18th. The Chocolate Orpingtons will be ready April 6th. Will there be an issue putting them all in the same brooding box as there will be a 3 week age difference?

We may use a broody hen if there is one at one of the times but my kiddos have their heart set on handling them a ton as we did with our BO chicks last year so the brooding box is our first choice.

We just tried a two-week difference and I think our size difference is huger. This little silky chick was a day old when put with three 2-week-old Speckled Sussex pullets. It's been a week, and they get along, but the bigger ones kind of knock the little one over once in a while when they are in a hurry to get to the feeder.