Adding chicks?

[Medda]

Hi all,
I received 12 chicks from a Ideal Thursday that were hatched last Tuesday. They will be one week old tomorrow. I lost one yesterday (found dead in the morning) and I have a second chick that was in rough shape yesterday. I’ve tried direct PND, a mash of feed, water, and corn syrup, checked vents, etc. but this chick has no interest in food or water. This chick is also not growing compared to the other 10. I haven’t checked the chicks this morning (still dark) but I will be surprised if the one chick made through the night.

So now my question: both my TSC and local feed store have chicks available. Is it possible to integrate a few from the feed store in the brooder with these 10 chicks? If I purchase a few chicks today they would be very close in age - within a day or two since neither store gets chicks on Mondays.

Can I just add them in the brooder?
Thanks Medda

 

[careeka22]

We added chicks a week apart and they accepted them just fine. We lost one from the first hatch but it was a rare breed so we replaced it with 2 more chicks. One was from the same hatch and the other was a week younger. They checked them out and then were sleeping together that night.

 

[Folly's place]

I've added chicks with no problems, as long as there's enough room for them all.
Mary

 

[lazy gardener]

Yes, you can do so, provided the heat is adequate for the new chicks, and provided that your brooder is big enough: by the time they are 2 - 3 weeks old, they need 2 s.f. in brooder per chick. You will have to keep an eye on the new chicks to be sure they don't get bullied or trampled.