Adding new chicks in with 3 week old chicks

[NoCal chick]

Hello,

I have 4 lovely and healthy Buff Orpington chicks who will be 3 weeks old when I can get a few Barred Rock chicks (likely to be a week old or younger) to add to the brooder.

My questions:
1) how should I handle introductions with the larger chicks? The BO chicks are a tight-knit little group.

2) Should I separate the brooder between the two groups? I was thinking of using some chicken wire on a wood frame and placing length wise down the middle. That way they can see and interact with one another but the “bigs” can’t get any pecks in.

3) Is there a good “sign” when I can let both groups mingle? I’ll have 7 in total: 4 Buffs and 3 Barred Rock.

Any advice welcome!

 

[Tamdog]

I had four 2 week olds and went back a week later and bought 2 one day old chicks from the same breeder- she said throw them right in together with the others. I did- not do an intro period, just watched them for a while- they were fine. The two newbies stayed shy for a while but no one peeked them or treated them bad. - That was my experience.

 

[NewBoots]

2) Should I separate the brooder between the two groups? I was thinking of using some chicken wire on a wood frame and placing length wise down the middle. That way they can see and interact with one another but the “bigs” can’t get any pecks in.

Odds are @Tamdog is right and you could probably just mix them together. At 3 weeks they aren't normally territorial yet but just in case, have option 2 ready to go. As far as a "sign" they are ready to mix? I just waited a week then mixed mine together. That's shorter than an integration of adults, but with chicks you want to take advantage of the low aggression they have for a while.

 

[Eggscaping]

Hello,

I have 4 lovely and healthy Buff Orpington chicks who will be 3 weeks old when I can get a few Barred Rock chicks (likely to be a week old or younger) to add to the brooder.

My questions:
1) how should I handle introductions with the larger chicks? The BO chicks are a tight-knit little group.

2) Should I separate the brooder between the two groups? I was thinking of using some chicken wire on a wood frame and placing length wise down the middle. That way they can see and interact with one another but the “bigs” can’t get any pecks in.

3) Is there a good “sign” when I can let both groups mingle? I’ll have 7 in total: 4 Buffs and 3 Barred Rock.

Any advice welcome!

We integrated chicks that were about that far apart in age by putting them behind a chicken wire "wall" in the coop for a day or two, with their own food, water, and Mama heat plate. The first group was 2 weeks older than the others, and after a couple days, we mixed them and it was all fine. We were probably a bit over-cautious, but it was our first ever chicks so...yeah.

 

[Amylynn514]

We hatched some of our backyard chickens' eggs this spring. Two of our hatches were 3 and a half weeks apart. I decided to divide the brooder into 2 sections and integrate the smaller chicks when they were about a week old. The bigger chicks had different plans and ended up making their way over the divider (and under the screen covering the brooder- quite a feat!) when the younger chick was just 3 days old.

Anyway, there have been no issues. The little chick we kept (a friend wanted 4 of it hatchmates) thinks it's one of the older chicks, following them and copying their every move. It is super fun to watch them. I was initially concerned about the age difference, but I guess it wasn't an issue for the birds!