- Thread starter
- #41
VlkStinu
Songster
Awesome, thanks a lot for sharing your experience - that is quite encouraging! I will aim to find a week old chick at least (if I can't find younger) and if it won't be possible, I will try around 2 weeks old.Just my 2 cents, lol; I’ve had multiple groups of different aged chicks in the same brooder. I find it’s much easier to incorporate them all when they’re only a week or 2 apart. Any older or a larger age gap and the bigger ones don’t seem to get it and pick on the littler ones. However, I did successfully have a 4 week old, 2x 2 week olds, and days olds in the same brooder with absolutely no issues. I think because the oldest had already had little chicks introduced to her when she was a couple weeks old, she didn’t care much when the tiniest ones came in - she had already experienced the same thing before.
They weren’t in the space she wanted under the heating pad, since they went to the back where it’s lowest, they’re not up in the food dish in her way, etc. It actually became a good thing because once the littles started coming out more, when they got startled they would run to the bigger chick and tuck themselves up against her. I’m sure individual personalities make a difference but my experience has been that if you introduce day olds to week olds, they seem to be ok. Ducklings on the other hand, not so much.
Also I was thinking - what if the chick grows at first alone, say for the first 2 weeks and then I would find say 2-3 weeks old chick? Wouldn't that work as well? Because that might be a bit easier, as I would have more time to search for chicks and more opportunities would pop up (people usually start selling chicks when they are a bit older, at least here).