Integrating Baby Chicks 5 Days Apart

[jped]

I picked up 4 day old chick marans last Thursday and was supposed to pick up 6. The pet and country store I ordered from ordered 2 of the wrong type of maran. I have 2 French Wheaton and 2 Midnight Majesty Marans. I am waiting for my French Black Cooper Marans to come in. They said they will be on here on Tuesday. They wil be five days apart in age. I have a big enough area to allow them space but should I be concerned with pecking with the difference in age? I have attached a picture of my brooder.

 

[rural mouse]

I have 5 and 4, a week apart. They went together as soon as the 2nd set came home. Currently 6-7 weeks old. And fully integrated with my flock too.

They went out to the coop (tote and all) at 2-3 weeks.

The tote has a large window in the side with hardware cloth. The babies quit using it about a week after they went into the coop. Their "mama hen pad" is in a nest box now and half the time they don't use it either. Overnight temps are still freezing and we got blanketed in snow a few days after they moved into the coop.

No pecking issues.

 

[WendyTestaburger]

I've always been told any chicks under 2 weeks old can be put together no problem and they shouldn't peck eachother. If any are older than 2 weeks you'd have to worry about integration.

For example when I pick up chicks from the hatchery she just pulls them and puts then together, even though they hatched a week apart as long as they're still super young they'll accept eachother.

 

[rosemarythyme]

You can just put them together, maybe supervise for the first few minutes to make sure they're all okay, but I wouldn't anticipate any issues from such young chicks.

 

[springvalley123]

If they are arriving at the feed store, straight from the post office, I'd put them aside for a few hours at least, to recover from shipping, but like the others said, if they have already been in the feed store and know what food is vs shavings, have warmed up from shipping etc the age difference itself is not an issue.