Different age groups

[mochicken]

I know I probably already know the answer to this but do you guys put different age groups of birds together in a brooder? I have some that are around a week and a half old, some born yesterday and I have 2 different hatches in the incubator now.

I thought about trying to combine the last hatch with the one from yesterday and then combining the next two, what are your thoughts?

 

[mochicken]

So I went ahead and did it, they are 12 days difference but pretty big size difference, I am going to give them a chance to see if they will all get along and everyone is eating and drinking ok and if there are any issues I will separate them.

 

[TheRealTimShady]

main problem you need to watch for is trampling of the little guys in there, keep an eye on them when they sleep, the big ones might lay on the small ones and kill them.

 

[The Critter Place]

I haven't mixed ages but have mixed sizes by brooding Button and Coturnix together with no problem!

The first few days they all get the powder I sift out of their food. Then as the Coturnix grow I put in 2 piles of food. Some a little chunkier for them and still a little powder for the buttons.

I've done this twice now with no problems.

Just watch the little ones don't get squished, and if they are warm enough shouldn't be a problem.

 

[bfrancis]

You are braver than me....I would be afraid the larger/older ones would see the babies as food and get pecked to death. Being squished by trampling and also laying together as a covey could also pose problems if the babies end up on bottom. Make sure the babies are getting food too and not being pushed out...young quail are all piglets.

Just my thoughts...good luck

 

[sixshooter60]

Well i am new to quail so i dont know if its right or wrong but here is what im doing . I build a brooder that is in my shop its 4 x8 and can be divided into three sections . i was getting eggs from a friend who was bringing them every week i was hatching every week for 6 weeks so as you can see i was running out of sections in the brooder..lol i brood them in a tote in the house for the first week to watch them closer then they go to the big brooder.. As of now i have removed one section and have the first three hatches in the bigger section which there are some that are six weeks old some five and some four and the three week olds and the 2 week olds in in the other section . now with the 82 that hatched this week i am moving the three week old in with the others and will move the week olds where they were . As you can see i have bitten off more than i can chew i think ..lol..i had to tell him to stop bringing eggs as i have nowhere to put them..So far they all seem to get along with the different ages .. they grow so fast its getting hard to pick the six week olds from the five week olds..So to answer your question it seems to be working for me...

 

[mochicken]

I think it will be ok, if I see ANY signs of trouble they will be separated for a couple weeks

 

[mochicken]

Its been hours now with no issues yet, I do peek in on them once in a while and rather than the bigger babies sleeping on the younger babies its the opposite lol when you peek in on them the babies are sleeping on the bigger birds backs lol

 

[Stellar]

I wouldn't put chicks with juveniles BUT with age groups, if the birds are the same size they can go together. I worry about the juveniles getting all the nutrition those chicks aren't fast enough to get (looking at your photo). Also trampling wouldn't be another concern.

 

[mochicken]

Yeah it was kind of a temporary fix until I get the other brooder fixed up, I was intending to take the two week old chicks out to the quail shed and put a heat light on them but I got worried after seeing another members post about a power failure and losing their chicks to it so I chickened out lol. Now I'm stuck setting up yet another brooder to do it lol