Introducing 1 week old chick to 6 week old chicks

[sunlitmoonlight]

Hi all, I have 2 silkies and 2 pekin chicks all 6 weeks old. Have just rescued a 1 week old silkie today and placed her with the other chicks. The silkies welcomed her warmly but the pekin kept pecking her. I eventually removed her. This evening I have placed the chick with the 2 silkie chicks seperate from the 2 pekin chicks. Am I being over protective? Weather permitting (I live in Ireland

) I plan to put them all together in their outside run and keep an eye on them. Any other suggestsions? Thanks.

 

[Blue_Myst]

It's great that your other silkies are accepting the chick all ready. That's a good sign!

You're definitely not being overprotective. A one week old chick can be very vulnerable. You did the right thing by separating her.

Mingling them together in the run is a very good idea. It gives the chick plenty of space to get away if the others get too rowdy for her. What you may try to do is put the brooder with the silkies in it and the brooder with the ducks next to each other so they can see each other, if that's possible. After a few days they should be used to each other, and you can try putting them together again.

Good luck!

I have no doubt you'll have them together soon.