Another question about mixed ages....sorry....

[apetelo]

I have (5) 6 wk old NH Reds that will be moving out into the coop this weekend. They ran out of food this week, so I went to the feed store and they recommended Grower Cal Mash (close enough to 8wks? right?) But, here is the thing.. next week, we will be getting 3-4 laying hens. I did buy some oyster shell to put on the side for them. Will this feed set-up work for the laying hens or should I try and offer them some layer pellets in a location away from the chicks? Have you been successful at seperating feed without seperating chickens? If so, how did you do it? Thank you so much. I am a chicken newbie with lots of questions. I'm also trying not to overthink this, if you know what I mean?

 

[Katy]

My first thought is that you shouldn't be putting the new adult chickens in with your 6 week olds without isolating them for at least a month to make sure they're healthy. In the nest month your chicks will grow quite a bit, but I don't ever put 6 week olds in with my own adult birds...there is just too much size difference.

 

[beckysuzp]

Okay speaking of size difference, I'm another newbie with a question. I got 6 4-day old White Leghorns on 5/21 - so they're about a month old. They're outside in the coop now. AND I just got on Monday 27 more day-old chicks. Seeing as they're really only a month apart, it will be okay to put the new 27 in with the older 6 in about a month, right?

 

[PulletSurprise]

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I'm right there with you! I'm getting 26 babies next Tuesday and I have 10 5wk old standards and bantys. I planned on putting them all together in about 1 month.

 

[apetelo]

Quote:
Really?? This makes things a bit more difficult. I am just not quite sure how I will make it happen. I've got to get these 6wk old NH Reds out of my house, they are starting to stink! When you say seperate, do you mean, not even in the same coop, but in seperate sections? Also, I don't know what other 6wkers look like, but these NH Red are quite big for 6weeks and I know that they are known for maturing quickly. Thank you for the eye opening advice. I still have so much left to learn.

 

[ginasmarans]

I normally don't put my young birds in with the older ones until they are at least 4 months old. Your chicks are at a real growing stage and will be eating alot more food during the next few months. If you put them with the big chickens,they will just not get enough. I have let hens raise their chicks in the same coop as the adults out of necessity but you have make some kind of creep feeder that will allow access only to the chicks. They just don't seem to grow as well either.

 

[Barnyard Dawg]

We have adult chickens and now some that are 2 months old (8 weeks) we also have some 2 week old chicks so we evicted the 8 week old chickens out of the chick house & pen at around 6 weeks old. They adapted very nicely to the mix there was some imtimindation by the adults mostly at feeding time. We don't bring our chickens into our home at anytime that is why we have a chick house and pen so they get aclimated very fast to living outside and have had contact with the adults since around 4 weeks old they would venture out of their home but always come home to roost at night. Another thing is our chickens free range and we never lock the hen house but lock the chick house so they can go anywhere they please a lot of them sleep on top of the pen while some sleep on the roost. As far as food we feed them adult food once they go outside with the others, they always have plenty of food to eat along with grass, bugs etc..

 

[Katy]

Quote:
Really?? This makes things a bit more difficult. I am just not quite sure how I will make it happen. I've got to get these 6wk old NH Reds out of my house, they are starting to stink! When you say seperate, do you mean, not even in the same coop, but in seperate sections? Also, I don't know what other 6wkers look like, but these NH Red are quite big for 6weeks and I know that they are known for maturing quickly. Thank you for the eye opening advice. I still have so much left to learn.

It's always advised to keep them completely seperated in case they're carrying sickness.

I usually don't combine different ages of chickens until they're about the same size. Gives the younger ones a chance to defend themselves against the older ones.

 

[Barnyard Dawg]

Quote:
Really?? This makes things a bit more difficult. I am just not quite sure how I will make it happen. I've got to get these 6wk old NH Reds out of my house, they are starting to stink! When you say seperate, do you mean, not even in the same coop, but in seperate sections? Also, I don't know what other 6wkers look like, but these NH Red are quite big for 6weeks and I know that they are known for maturing quickly. Thank you for the eye opening advice. I still have so much left to learn.

It's always advised to keep them completely seperated in case they're carrying sickness.

I usually don't combine different ages of chickens until they're about the same size. Gives the younger ones a chance to defend themselves against the older ones.

Ours mix together very well, no fighting, we have enough property that there is plenty of food, grass etc, and like I said the adults and younger chickens actualy mix together as they graze. It is probally due to their close association with the adults since the age of 4 weeks. We will always keep food on top of the pen so that they all get plenty to eat. Sorry to hear your chickens are fighting and you can't put them together sooner. Never had a sick chicken, knock on wood, we do take precautions, DE, raw apple cider vinegar, and medicated feed for their first 4 weeks.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
It's always advised to keep them completely seperated in case they're carrying sickness.

I usually don't combine different ages of chickens until they're about the same size. Gives the younger ones a chance to defend themselves against the older ones.

Ours mix together very well, no fighting, we have enough property that there is plenty of food, grass etc, and like I said the adults and younger chickens actualy mix together as they graze. It is probally due to their close association with the adults since the age of 4 weeks. We will always keep food on top of the pen so that they all get plenty to eat. Sorry to hear your chickens are fighting and you can't put them together sooner. Never had a sick chicken, knock on wood, we do take precautions, DE, raw apple cider vinegar, and medicated feed for their first 4 weeks.

Mine aren't fighting, but I prefer to keep them seperate until the young ones are close to the same size.