Can I put any new chicks...

[Jencleg]

With my 6 week old silkies? I would love to add a couple babies but will they accept them..or eat them? I am 99% sure that at least 2 of them are roosters so I will be probably be re-homing them, and would be down 2 or more & I would like to have all the babies grow up together.. Thanks!

 

[Judy]

It might work. Usually they say you can mix ages freely up to 4 weeks.

 

[Nicole01]

You would need to keep them separated. I have two sets of chicks. I'm going to integrate them starting next weekend. I'm putting the brooder/wire dog kennel in the coop. I'm ready to have everyone outside.

 

[Mommysongbird]

I asked a similar question the other day, but never got any responses, so hopefully I will find out now.

We have 6 week old chicks as of today and I would like to maybe hatch a few more if I can get some more eggs, but was wondering if their ages would be too far apart for intergration during the summer??

Hope to see some more posts so I can figure out what to do.

I want to try to get a few more hens, seeing that at least 4, maybe 5 of our 10 chicks may be roos. The roos will have to leave unfortunately.

I would like to keep one, the one that shows me good 'manners', but I don't think our neighbors would enjoy that.

 

[Mommysongbird]

going to bump this.

I was hoping you would get some more answers since we both need some. LOL

 

[Jencleg]

Thanks.....I needed a bump! Too bad we still dont have any answers!

 

[haemony]

Oh. I'm having the same issues. I keep reading and researching but the bottom line seems to be "it could work" which I have translated to mean that you could have big crazy drama or you could have small scale drama. I am hoping for small scale drama, the kind without bloodshed.

Here is the method I plan to use. Can't vouch for it because it's still in progress.

I have 4 barred rocks who are close to 6 weeks old and a batch of chicks who range from 5 to 3 weeks old. I have tried to mix them before and the rocks always go after the 3 week old EEs and peck them violently on the head. They scream loudly and run around in distress. It freaks me out. Maybe I just have to become a tougher chicken lady but I am not there yet. I have been taking them out when it's nice and putting them in separate puppy runs that are closer and closer together. Now they can see other but there is cage between them.

Today I put the puppy runs up against other in an L shape so at one point they are touching but the babies can always run to the far end to be away from the big girls if they peck at them or yell at them through the cage...which they do. Their hen house is built and the run will be finished soon. When the big run is finished, I am going to let the babies out in the main run and keep the big girls in their puppy cage in side the run for a few days to see what happens. I'll let them out when I am watching and if anyone gets too aggressive, she goes back in the cage. It could be only one of two of the big girls who get too rowdy so I am hoping to rearrange their status a bit.

No idea if this will work. If anyone has suggestions on improving my plan, let me know. I am desperate to get these chickens integrated so I can put them in their hen house. I want them out of my bathroom. They live in the bathroom in two separate tubs that are too small for them and they are quite unhappy about it. None of us are happy about it. I am concerned about letting the big girls live in the hen house before the babies are ready because they might get territorial about it and make it harder to mix them.

What do you all think?

 

[Nicole01]

Why not just try it? I've tried putting my 5 week olds with my one week olds. It didn't work, I had to separate them. I still have them separated. It's 4 weeks later and I'm starting the integrating process this weekend.

Your 6 week olds will most likely peck the heck out of the newcomers. Be ready to have 2 brooders if this happens.

 

[haemony]

If there is no severe pecking going on when you mix them ~ as in blood drawn ~ try to be tough and keep them together. I wish I had been less squeamish and kept them all together earlier instead of keeping them in two separate brooders for this long. I think the earlier you mix them the better. When my second batch came I put them right in with the big girls but I panicked. They seemed so much bigger even though they were less then two weeks apart. The big girls (then two weeks and now six) kept to themselves on the far end but kept the babies from the water and food. I think I should have moved the food and water to the middle between the two groups and let them work it out because they were not actually pecking at each other or fighting. Now that they are older, a six week old group and a four and a half week old group that includes a few three week olds, they fight more aggressively when put together.


These are my first chicks since I was a kid. I'm certainly no expert but that is my experience so far.

 

[Jencleg]

Does breed have any impact on this? So babes are very gentle right now...