Day old chicks + 2 week old chicks

[Toxic Chicken]

Can I put day old chicks in the brooder with 2 week old chicks?
If not, what age can they be combined ? I ordered some chicks
but then I decided I wanted some other breeds also and I can't
get them on the same date. I know I should just wait till the
first ones are out in the coop but I want them all now !

 

[Erica]

I wouldn't put them together. Day old are just too delicate.
It's going to be a little hard with 2 weeks difference whenever you do it, but later is best. Even when the newbies are 1 week old they'll be a lot smaller than the 3 week olds.
It can work, just be careful. A divider between the 2 broods will let them get used to each other in the first week, and then you could see how well the week olds are doing before deciding what to do.
I'd probably wait till the youngsters are 2 weeks old, myself.
cheers
Erica

 

[marlene]

I have combined my chicks together on quite a few occasions and it has turned out well. I would wait till the little ones are at least 1 week old though. Make sure the brooder is plenty big and supervise them to make sure they get on, if they don't get on you will have to keep them seperate.
The only way to find out is to try it and see what happens, that's what i did.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I'd do it after the youngest are a week old as the previous poster stated.
The important thing is that they have lots of space. Here's 2 ages together. There were only 2 of the eldest and 6 a week younger.
Eventually I added 10 more that were 4 weeks younger. Lots of space, 2 separate feeders, they're good friends now.

 

[blessedchick]

Thank you for the question and the tips! I have 3 little silkies hatched Dec 13 and one hatched Dec 26th. I have them all in a 50 gallon Rubbermaid "brooder" with a screen divider between the age groups. The 3 older babies were CRAZY curious about their younger housemate and would not leave the screen area...I think the youngster was better than cable TV for them! Now the olders sleep in a chickie ball (all piled on top of each other) next to the screen and the littlest cutie lies right up against them...PRICELESS! My hope is to put them in together when the babiest is around 2-3 weeks old...on a weekend...when I can camp next to their home...

 

[Christie Rhae]

I agree to wait a couple weeks. I combined two batches of chicks that were 2 weeks apart but waited till youngest were 3 weeks and oldest was 5 weeks. I think it helped us too that the youngest group was a larger batch than the older group. They never had a problem and are still a happy little group at 4 months old.