Getting 2 sets of chicks one week apart??

[G8rHens]

Hi!

I'm brand new here, but have learned so much already!

My local feed & seed gets 3 types of chicks each week (from Ideal) starting next week. I'm planning to get 6 chicks total, and if they all survive I'll have to give 2 away because I only have room for 4 hens. I could just get 6 chicks on the one week, but I'd like to have a little more of an assortment.

I'm thinking about getting 2 chicks one week, then 4 chicks the next week. Is this a bad idea? Would the 2 week-older chicks pick on the younger ones? Would the temp in the brooder be a problem for chicks at different ages?

In case you're wondering, I'm definitely set on getting RIRs and Black Australorps. The extra two would be a black and a gold sex link.

Thanks!

Stephanie

 

[sherrydeanne]

You wouldn't want to put 2 day old chicks with week olds. But, by the time they're 2 and 3 weeks, I think you'd be fine. The chicks are just soooo fragile the first week that I'd be worried they'd get squished. If your brooder is big enough you can put a divider in and put the light near the middle

 

[Nodaksnakelover]

the amount of growth that goes on in just that first week is unbelievable! But yes, if you can, as already suggested. Raise the new ones up for a week and then they'll have gotten their start and be mixed in just fine with the others. Good luck!

 

[noitulover]

i wouldn't suggest it or recommend it, but if you have to, then it is possible with certain breeds.

i incorporated a week old golden sebright bantam with a three or four day old RIR... it worked alright, a tiny bit of pecking from the sebright (they can be fiesty!), but they turned out to be very protective of each other, the sebright sleeping underneath the wing of the RIR every night.

i did it again when a hatchery sent me 3 chicks of my order of 6, and sent the other 3 a week later. the first shipment was Black Australorps, who are a gentle breed and didn't even give one peck to the new cochins and easter egger.

i did wait until the young chicks were about 4 days old before mixing them.

good luck!

 

[jaboo81]

I did the same thing last year. I keep them seperate until they were 2 and 3 weeks old then put them together, and they were fine. I would not put them together the first week.

 

[G8rHens]

Thanks so much for the tips!

Gives me something to think about to keep my brain occupied while I wait impatiently for another few weeks. LOL.

 

[felidaet]

Last year I got chicks over a period of three weeks. When I got the chicks on the second week I put the new chicks in one end of the brooder with a divider separating them from the 1 week olds. The new chicks were in the warmer end. I only waited a couple of days before integrating them. No problems. I did the same thing the third week. I kept the new ones separated a couple of days and then integrated. I kept a close eye on the younger ones for awhile after integrating them and did not see any problems.

I will be getting 10 chicks April 3rd from one feed store. I will also be getting 11 from a local breeder sometime in early April but I don't know exactly when. And I will be getting 3 or 4 other chicks from a second feed store sometime during the first couple of weeks of April but I don't know exactly when because they have not published their schedule yet. They did tell me they will have what I am looking for either the 1st or 2nd week of April.

 

[pat3494]

I got 25 Buff Orp chicks and one had a twisted beak and didn't survive. The feed store replaced the defective chick the next week. I added the new chick right away and watched them. The one week older chicks did not bother the new chick at all but they were noticeably larger so I worried they might trample the smaller chick. One week later the smaller younger chick is holding her own. She seems pretty feisty! You would be safer keeping the younger chick apart for a few days at least but it worked out fine in this case. Use your best judgment. I just started with chickens so I didn't know to separate the younger one.

 

[gryeyes]

I added chicks 3 times over a month, each a week apart. No problems on my part, BUT I made a point of picking out the chicks I felt were older than the others in the same bin. I figger, the older they are, the further away from that early "failure to thrive" thing they'll be....

So, while I bought them a week apart, then another week apart, then another week apart, the last batch added weren't 2-day olds, but about a week old when I selected them from those in the feed store bins. I just looked for the most feathered of the little fuzzy butts. ;-)

The feed store employee was impressed; he said most customers just want the smallest and cutest, but the older chicks have already shown they can survive.

Anyway, a week apart shouldn't be that much of a problem. You'll be watching the chicks all the time anyway, because you can't NOT watch them, they're so cute... just make sure the youngest ones can get to water and feed, amongst the slightly older chicks.

 

[G8rHens]

Well, my little chickies are now 4 and 5 weeks old! I'm using a big Sterilite tote as a brooder and I just stuck a cardboard divider in it for about 4 days when I got the second batch a week after the first. They mixed together really well and really easily. I don't think they had really established pecking order yet - or else it changed as they grew. Some of my more dominant girls were very shy for the first few weeks.

I'm starting to put them out in the run during the day. They're fun to watch!!