3 weeks apart

[LeenaB]

I have two sets of chicks born 3 weeks apart. The newest ones are almost a week old, the older ones are almost a month. Right now they're in two separate brooders in my basement. Would it be okay to put them together in one brooder? I hatched out all the chicks from eggs.

The older set of chicks 7 chicks: 4 cockerels and 3 hens
The younger set:6 chicks- not sure of sexes yet but easter eggers and one RIR.

With this cold weather no one is ready to go outside yet.

 

[Judy]

In general you can mix chicks of different ages as long as they are all 4 weeks or less. Since you are at the line, I'd sure keep an eye on things, though -- and make sure they have things to do, climb and jump on, etc., plus lots of space.

 

[chickenlindz]

I put my 7 week chicks and 5 week chicks together in the coop for the first time all together. I figured it being new to both sets would be better than letting the older girls think it was their own.

I was very surprised but there was no issues.

I did make sure there were two feeding and watering stations. Even now 3 weeks later each set clearly hangs together but I've had no fights or squabbles!

 

[circesfire]

I had 3 chicks 2 were 4 weeks and 1 was a week old. I had them together and everything was fine for the first week. On day 8, I woke up to the now 2 week old chick dead in the corner. They were in a very large Rubbermaid bin. I would not do that again, but that was just my own experience.

 

[Waste]

One of my 3 day old chicks got out of the brooder and slept outside overnight in 62 degree F rainy weather. When I found it I put it back in the brooder under the light and within two hours I couldn't tell which one it was .I am on day 6 now and they are all still fine.

As far as how long to keep them in the brooder I think this has more to do with the temperature in the brooder without a light than it has to do with time. Using the 5 degree reduction per week method I find hat in the winter where I live I can reach 80 degrees in 3 weeks with the exceptional night when the temperature drops a bit. when this happens I will use the light. But in the summer I can turn off m light within 2 weeks and the chicks will be fine

Now for you snowbirds I guess life is a bit different...Ha

 

[Judy]

How interesting, that that chick survived that!

I've felt for a long time we tend to overheat them. When I brooded indoors in a spare bedroom, I kept having to lower the brooder temp because the chicks kept avoiding the warm areas. I never could keep the brroder as warm as those charts recommend, even the ones that start at 90 degrees. Anyone who as watched a broody raise chicks knows they will go out and forage even in cold weather for short periods; I think those chicks feather faster and are sturdier in the end.

I have sometimes wondered how many people buy a few chicks on impulse, with no research or experience, and never put them under heat, and how many survive.

 

[gameandmore]

I have raised chicks with no heat lamps, just the inside temp of my house, I did not loose any from that batch.

 

[Waste]

Your responses are all very interesting. I also find that when I leave the newborn chicks, be it chickens or quail, in the incubator for more than 24 hours after they hatch leave them less sensitive to temperature fluctuations in the brooder.

 

[Judy]

Where I live, the "old fashioned" method is to hang an incandescent 100W bulb in the coop or shed and pile some hay in there. Chicks usually start arriving at the feed store while it's fairly cold for our area, like the 40's at night. Occasionally they would "pile" but usually they did fine, or so I am told. Of course, they were fed scratch or cracked corn and kitchen scraps, and foraged for whatever else they could find, too. Not the best way to do things, but it does illustrate that they are pretty resilient if healthy.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You can try to mix them. It might work or it might not. They are living animals. No one can tell you for sure what will happen. I would not try to crowd them, that often makes things worse, but they might get along fine. Extra feeding and watering stations is a great idea. They need different heat so maybe try heating one corner and let the rest of the brooder cool down.

This last summer I had a chick hatched and being raised by a broody attack and kill a hatchmate. He also attacked two other chicks but I saw that going on and was able to intervene in time with those. Those were hatchmates, exactly the same age and less than 2 weeks old. The broody just ignored all that.

As you can see from the others, you have a reasonable chance of success but anything can happen. It would be good from an integration perspective to combine them now if you can. I wish you luck.