Age difference in my chicks

[katlynd003]

I just got 18 baby chicks today all of them but two are 3 days old and the others are 2 weeks old. Should I keep them in the same brooder or separate?

 

[kbky1973]

Same brooder. They are ok together. Done this myself. Have some right now this ages, together.

 

[katlynd003]

Same broader. They are ok together. Done this myself. Have some right now this ages, together.

I am afraid that the older ones are stepping on the younger ones and hurting them but the younger ones seem to like the big ones so they can huddle up under them haha

 

[kbky1973]

Lolol they will do good even stepped on. You will be ok. Sorry about the spelling. Brooder. Lol

 

[donrae]

I have up to a three week age difference in my brooder. The littles do get stepped on from time to time, but they're a lot tougher than we give them credit for. The key is to give everyone lots of space. I don't know how large your brooder is, and how long you intend to keep them in it, but those plastic totes won't work at all. You need large cardboard boxes (yep, more than one) taped together with holes cut between them for a door. Or a livestock trough, or a home made brooder that's got enough space for them. And with that many babies, and the weather turning warm, you need enough space they can get totally, completely out from under the heat lamp. That many chick bodies are going to generate a lot of heat, and they'll need the ability to cool off. And space for enough water.

 

[azjustin]

I have up to a three week age difference in my brooder. The littles do get stepped on from time to time, but they're a lot tougher than we give them credit for. The key is to give everyone lots of space. I don't know how large your brooder is, and how long you intend to keep them in it, but those plastic totes won't work at all. You need large cardboard boxes (yep, more than one) taped together with holes cut between them for a door. Or a livestock trough, or a home made brooder that's got enough space for them. And with that many babies, and the weather turning warm, you need enough space they can get totally, completely out from under the heat lamp. That many chick bodies are going to generate a lot of heat, and they'll need the ability to cool off. And space for enough water.

+1

Lots of space, and then add some more. You'll be adding more next week also. And probably double that the week after. Now is a good time to be thinking about a coop!

We mix them up to 5 weeks old and everyone is always fine, as long is there is enough space.

 

[amynrichie]

+1

Lots of space, and then add some more.  You'll be adding more next week also.  And probably double that the week after.  Now is a good time to be thinking about a coop!

We mix them up to 5 weeks old and everyone is always fine, as long is there is enough space.  

Did you mean that you have day olds in with 5 week olds? How big is your brooder space? I have always been a little leery of this. Maybe my 2'x 8' brooder box is too small.

 

[azygous]

I just got 18 baby chicks today all of them but two are 3 days old and the others are 2 weeks old. Should I keep them in the same brooder or separate?

As long as all of these chicks have been together from the start, it's best to keep them all together. But for that many chicks, you will need a very large brooder, indeed. Overcrowding during the first week doesn't produce serious consequences, but by the second week you will see a lot of problems begin to crop up in injuries and bad behavior.

The best thing to do is to brood outdoors in your coop or run where there is a lot of space. In fact, outdoor brooding has many more benefits than trying to brood in a box with limited space. Read my article linked below my post on outdoor brooding for all the reasons why this is best for chicks.