How soon can they go in with 1 year olds?

[JeninMN]

HI! I hope i'm posting to the right page here...

We are going to order more chicks this year and I will keep them in the brooder like we did last year but my question is when will they be old enough to go into the main coop with our soon to be 1 year olds? They went out to the coop at 5 weeks last year..but they were our first

I just want to make sure we don't put them in too early and also have to figure something else out for them if they have to wait a couple of months or more??

The ones we have now are buff orps...all very friendly

Thank you!

Jen

 

[WiseChicks]

Where in MN are you?

 

[morelcabin]

Do you mean in a different pen than the one year olds, or the same pen?
My chicks go out to the coop from day one, into t seperate pen with a heat lamp. Usually I order them for end of April. I mix them with the adults at about 12 weeks

 

[JeninMN]

Quote:
We live by Fergus Falls...


I would be putting them in the same coop as the 1 year olds...I am trying to figure out where to keep them from the time they outgrow the brooder till they can go in with the "big girls"...not really any way to split our coop in half or anything...I do have a friend that has a rabbit cage that we could use I'm sure but is that big enough for 10 - 15 of them after they reach 5 weeks??? I would think they would be cramped in there...

 

[tabatha_westcott]

I have a couple of 1 year olds and some about 4 weeks. They were separated by a chain-link fence for a few days. I put them together and my older hens pecked them a few times to show them who's boss and they learned pretty quick to stay out of the way. Now they have the pecking order down and they're fine.