Can 4 week olds and 8 week olds go together?

[bigoakhunter]

I am getting some 4 week old chicks and currently have a flock of 8 birds in a big coop with a 8x16 run. Could I integrate them?

If they would work it out, then fine, but I don't want to cause harm to any of them....

 

[abanjaf]

Some folks on here have put theirs together without any problems. My integration wasn't as smooth. I added 8 bantam four week olds to 11 standard 8 week olds. The bantam babies were TINY in comparison! I placed a partition in the coop (wire mesh) so they could all see each other and interact. Left the partition up for two weeks. There were some initial pecking order issues that went on, but it wasn't bad at all. They all get along great now and pile up together at bedtime

 

[harleyjo]

I have just put my 3 week olds with some 7 week olds. There was just a little picking, I think it is a pecking order thing. So far it is going ok. My 3 little ones sleep together and the older ones sleep together. I hope in a few more weeks they will all be one happy family!

 

[gryeyes]

My experience is that a month is as far as you can push the merging of chicks. There will be some pecking order stuff (but that would happen even if you added chicks the same age) that you should watch to see if it gets nasty. (Nasty to ME is any pecking, but I have learned to deal with the pecking order process. Just make sure nobody gets bloodied, and if so, you put BluKote on it right away.

I put 4 wk old chicks with 5, 6 and 8 week old chicks without any problem. Other than my own frazzled nerves....