16 pullets and 3 roosters

[yates-chicks]

hello
the newbie here .. lol
i was wondering
i have 16 babies (girls)
and 3 roosters
i have them separated right now ,
so i dont lose which is which
but how long will it be before i can tell just by looking which is hens and which aint
can i put them all together they are 2 weeks old
and the 3 roosters seem to be lonesome since they came from a box full of others
micki

 

[Farmer Kitty]

You can have them all together. It will be a couple more weeks anyway before you can tell them apart though. Many here use bands to tell chicks apart. I use the zip bands but, with chicks you need to change them frequently and check them a couple times a day due to the fast growth rate. There are other ways and hopefully some others will chime in because right now I can't remember enough details to tell you.

Good luck and Welcome to BYC!

 

[silkiechicken]

If they are all babies of the same age or so, go ahead and raise them together. They will all act the same till about 12 weeks old.

 

[RubberChickenLubber]

Another option to mark them is to use fingernail polish on their nails.

 

[yates-chicks]

my hubby would laugh at me if he saw me painting my chickens nails LOL But i love the idea
thanks for the ideas
and i already love it here
have a good day
micki

 

[Kaneke]

experienced chick raisers, confirm or deny ....

is it wiser NOT to use red, orange, pink, or purple polish, if marking chicks toenails ... so they don't peck at one another ?

maybe blue, silver, gold, green, lavender, white, yellow or the like ?

valid concern or silly idea ?

Candy