Chick age compatibility question.

[Jdek]

I have a set of 11 chicks that are approximately 11 days old and a couple chicks that are just hatching from a second set of eggs in the bator. Can I put the newly hatched chicks in with the older ones or is there potential conflict here?

Appreciate the feedback.

 

[Julie08]

Try it and see. The general rule of thumb it to keep them within a week of each other in one pen/brooder whatever. but since my sweet sweet hens have managed to hatch 1 every couple of days for me but not take care of them I do have some that span 2 weeks in age different together they get along just fine, they are bantams if that makes any difference. Just try it and keep a GOOD eye on them for several hours and see how they do.

 

[ibpboo]

I would try it and see what happens. Pull out if necessary. Perhaps even make a little area inside of 11 day old cage that only the newer ones can fit through so they can get away if they need too.

 

[Julie08]

Yes, ALWAYS be ready to pull out if required!

 

[Jdek]

Thanks for the feedback here.... My wife put a couple of the newborns in with the rough and tumble older chicks. The older ones seemed overly aggressive so we took the smaller chicks out. I fashioned a piece of hardware cloth to separate the brooder box into two halves and put the lamp in the middle. This setup seems to work good to keep them apart. Although this morning, I found two of the older chicks hanging out in the small chick area. They must've jumped "the fence". Made me do a double take looking at the small chicks and thinking "wow how'd those two get so big ??".