Hey y’all. I have 2 set of 6 chicks, one around 7 weeks, one around 11 weeks old. All regular sized pullets, no bantams. They’re currently cooped separately at night but together in a fenced yard all day. They mostly stay/move around in their individual groups but will occasionally (accidentally mostly!) interact. The older girls chase them when the little girls get too close and can be rough if one of the younger ones gets cornered. Theres plenty of space and several eating/drinking stations so this has been working well for 2 weeks. Eventually I expect they’ll all decide to roost together once the younger ones get big enough. I’ve had similar situations in the past and that’s happened… eventually.
Here’s the issue… I will be taking in 3 more which are ~2 weeks old now. Ideally, I’d like to wait until the 7 week old set decide to move in with the 11 week set on their own since I only have 2 coops. But I can force the issue if need be. But I wouldn’t want to do that until the 7 weekers are closer in size to the 11 weekers — to avoid damaging fights. At 11 weeks now my oldest girls look like “real” chickens, just small.
Question is… at what age do pullets level out in size? I’ve been at this for 7 years and can’t really recall! Am I looking at another 4 weeks of wait time before combining the older two sets do you think?
Here’s the issue… I will be taking in 3 more which are ~2 weeks old now. Ideally, I’d like to wait until the 7 week old set decide to move in with the 11 week set on their own since I only have 2 coops. But I can force the issue if need be. But I wouldn’t want to do that until the 7 weekers are closer in size to the 11 weekers — to avoid damaging fights. At 11 weeks now my oldest girls look like “real” chickens, just small.
Question is… at what age do pullets level out in size? I’ve been at this for 7 years and can’t really recall! Am I looking at another 4 weeks of wait time before combining the older two sets do you think?
