Help- Mixing Ages With Chicks

[ChickenChick46]

I've got 3 groups of bantam chicks. One is 6 weeks, one is 3 weeks, and one is 1 week. There are 4 chicks in each group. I would like to combine my 3 week olds and my 1 week olds. Is this possible?

Both these groups came from the same Rural King location, thus the same hatchery. Neither group has ever been outside nor shown any signs of illness or concern (other than brief pasty butt with my silkie that resolved once he was home).

I did put them together for about 10 minutes this morning. There was no serious aggression, but there was some pecking. It went both directions- the older ones pecking the younger ones and vice versa. No one pulled feathers or dominated/chased any particular chick. It was just general pecking at each other. There was also a little pecking between chicks in the same age groups.

Is all of that normal when new chicks are meeting? I read that you can usually successfully integrate groups of chicks in the same brooder as long as both groups are 4 weeks or less. I do have a separate space for each group, but the 3 week olds are in a much larger space and I would like the youngest babies to have more room too. I'm also hoping to have these 2 groups integrated so when they move into the coop with the oldest birds, there's that much less introducing to do.

The 3 week old group includes a silkie (currently the largest in that group), 2 buff brahmas, and a d'Uccle. The 1 week old group includes 2 cochins, an Easter Egger, and a d'Uccle. If that matters at all.

I'm attaching pictures of the silkie and one of the smallest in the younger group for a size comparison. Any thoughts are appreciated. Thank you!

 

[thecatumbrella]

So I'm pretty spoiled with my brooder. It's a 3x8 stock tank, and we built removable walls for exactly this sort of scenario. Two groups of chicks would be able to cohabit the space with a see-no-touch wall between them, and that would allow both groups to work out all their pecking introductions without worrying about injuries. Of course, this requires 2 heat plates, 2 feeders, and 2 waterers.

I know you have a pretty big playpen. Is it possible to set up something like this? Maybe you can fit a small crate or rabbit cage inside for the 1 week olds. Just spitballing ideas. You shouldn't need to do it for very long; just enough to get everyone used to each other and minding their own business. Then you could open the door and see what happens.

Another option is to bring everyone to a neutral location, like a new brooder. This has the "shock value" benefit, and everyone will hopefully be too busy checking out the new digs to bother each other. Playpen can be used for those Orpingtons that will be on route soon.

3 weeks old are definitely more mobile than 1 week olds, so it doesn't hurt to have them "together but separated" for another week until the littles catch up a bit. I'd like to think they would accept each other at this age, but I've also heard some pretty wild stories on BYC with chicks killing each other, so... yeah. Some caution is still advised.

 

[ChickenChick46]

So I'm pretty spoiled with my brooder. It's a 3x8 stock tank, and we built removable walls for exactly this sort of scenario. Two groups of chicks would be able to cohabit the space with a see-no-touch wall between them, and that would allow both groups to work out all their pecking introductions without worrying about injuries. Of course, this requires 2 heat plates, 2 feeders, and 2 waterers.

I know you have a pretty big playpen. Is it possible to set up something like this? Maybe you can fit a small crate or rabbit cage inside for the 1 week olds. Just spitballing ideas. You shouldn't need to do it for very long; just enough to get everyone used to each other and minding their own business. Then you could open the door and see what happens.

Another option is to bring everyone to a neutral location, like a new brooder. This has the "shock value" benefit, and everyone will hopefully be too busy checking out the new digs to bother each other. Playpen can be used for those Orpingtons that will be on route soon.

3 weeks old are definitely more mobile than 1 week olds, so it doesn't hurt to have them "together but separated" for another week until the littles catch up a bit. I'd like to think they would accept each other at this age, but I've also heard some pretty wild stories on BYC with chicks killing each other, so... yeah. Some caution is still advised.

I definitely thought about using a smaller pen inside the bigger pen to let them see each other. I'll need to find something that they can't squeeze through or get stuck in. They're just so dang little!

 

[thecatumbrella]

I'll need to find something that they can't squeeze through or get stuck in. They're just so dang little!

This is one of my top 10 bantam complaints: Everything is teensy tiny, and that's not always a good thing! You might have seen the video of Dandelion ramming her upper body through a dog crate... had to switch our broody breaker to a "Wabbitat" with tighter bars. If you guys are handy at all, it pays to build whatever you need with furring strips and hardware cloth. Maybe 1/4-inch hardware cloth in this case.

 

[ChickenChick46]

This is one of my top 10 bantam complaints: Everything is teensy tiny, and that's not always a good thing! You might have seen the video of Dandelion ramming her upper body through a dog crate... had to switch our broody breaker to a "Wabbitat" with tighter bars. If you guys are handy at all, it pays to build whatever you need with furring strips and hardware cloth. Maybe 1/4-inch hardware cloth in this case.

Yeah I may see of my husband can put something together. He can build pretty much anything. We've got a brand new roll of chicken wire, but I honestly think the smallest ones would squeeze through it, lol. But we've also got some hardware cloth still.