help please :-(

[LarissaBuffMom]

i have 30 buff's and they are 6 weeks old, my problem is theres not much about introducing such young chicks to even younger chicks. i bought a 3 day old rooster and a 3 day old easter layer and i plan to put the little ones with the little bigger ones but i dont want them to get hurt. do the same rules apply for young hens as it dose for the bigger ones?

 

[DelDels]

I would not put very young chicks in with 6 week old chicks. For one thing the babies need the brooder lights and the big chicks don't. The babies would need to be at least 3 months old and carefully introduced even then. You will have 30 older ones verses 2 much younger ones. Odds of them being badly bullied are great.

 

[LarissaBuffMom]

i didnt think of introducing the younger ones until they had reached the point that they could be without the exstra heat . but i am so worried that i might make a mistake and move to fast, i raised the older ones from day one and now i feel like im all thumbs.. i fell in love with my little birds and i need help making sure they get a fighting chance so to speak ... thank you for helping me..

 

[allieloveschickens]

Is there any way that you can put a mesh/wire divider between them in their space so that the older birds could see the younger ones, but not reach them or get to them until the little chicks are big enough to join the rest? Then they would not be completely new to the older birds, and would likely not be picked on as much when the time does come to combine the flocks. Good luck!

 

[SierraView]

I have a 4ft x 4ft brooder box. And I have a small little box made of plywood that's like 18" x 20" x 12" tall. The little box has one side with cage wire and I have a wire lid on it. I put the small box inside the big box, with the heat lamp over the small box. They can see each other and after a couple weeks I let the babies out and they all get along fine.

 

[LarissaBuffMom]

you guys are amazing really .. i am so happy that you have taken time to help me with my problem and i do think i have exstra chicken fencing and some meshing...