Different chick ages. When is it safe to put them together?

[frogkt]

Hi all,
I just got some chicks. I am very new at this! Two are buff orphingtons and they are about 6 weeks old. My other 6 are a mix of rhode island reds and white leghorns. These 6 are all brand new. There is quite a size difference in the two groups. I thought it would not be a good idea to put them together so they are in separate bins right now. When is it safe to put the chicks all together? I just had the feeling that bad things would happen to the little bitty babies if I put them near the big ones.

 

[BantamoftheOpera]

If you can wait until they are close in size. If you can't wait very long at least wait until the babies are feathered out and introduce them slowly with plenty of places for the babies to hide.

 

[SkyeSchazade]

I try to wait until my chicks are close in size. If you can put them in the same brooder with a divider. I like hardware cloth since they can see and interact with each other through it, but with no risk of the bigger ones picking on the little ones. Makes the introduction process a lot smoother!