Introducing 3, 6 week old chicks to 2, 5 week old chicks

[Crazychocolatedog]

Hi there,
I’m so new to all this, ...we HAD 5 chicks, but 2 turned out to be roosters. So now I have 2 EE, and 1 Rhode Island Red, they are 6 weeks old.
.... This week, I am going to pick up 2 , 5 week old welsummers(sp). The breeder said, since they are close in age, just put the 2 new ones in during the night when the chicks are sleeping.
Seriously? What is going to happen in the morning?! I hate to sound naive, I know nothing about chickens....but is this going to work?
Please advise ,<3

 

[ChickenCanoe]

IF you aren't worried about disease and bio-security, put them together now. If you have plenty of space, multiple water and food stations, they'll get along at that age.

 

[Crazychocolatedog]

IF you aren't worried about disease and bio-security, put them together now. If you have plenty of space, multiple water and food stations, they'll get along at that age.

Thank,you. The breeder looks reputable and his stock looks healthy and well kept. I might just go for it. I know what you mean about waiting for a period to do a health check. I had to do that with my large koi pond. They were pretty expensive too.
I feel comfortable that they are healthy....I’m just concerned about the fighting that may ensue. ....and whether the stealthy nighttime switcheroo in the brooder box, is the best approach vs. in the wide open large run, in the morning.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Even the most reputable careful breeder can have disease in their flock. The birds may be healthy but carriers of disease your birds haven't been exposed to.

 

[Crazychocolatedog]

Even the most reputable careful breeder can have disease in their flock. The birds may be healthy but carriers of disease your birds haven't been exposed to.

I have a dog crate I can use for observation for a while, till they seem healthy and disease free.
But then I still have introductions to make, ..and how?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If the dog crate is in the same space as your birds, they would already be infected with whatever the other birds have so any separation won't matter. Some diseases can spread through the air a quarter mile or more.
At that age, just put the birds together and watch them. It should go well.

 

[Crazychocolatedog]

If the dog crate is in the same space as your birds, they would already be infected with whatever the other birds have so any separation won't matter. Some diseases can spread through the air a quarter mile or more.
At that age, just put the birds together and watch them. It should go well.

Seriously...a quarter of a mile?! Geez. Thank you for telling me that, becuz separation at my house would never have that type of distance. I live in a big urban city. The furthest I could get them is 50 feet away.
(ThIs a shot of the run during construction. )
I’ll try putting them in the huge run (3 chicks already),...it’s 10 x 12, totally enclosed above , below, around, and on top ...worse case scenario...the new ones can go into the jumbo crate, and be seen and not touched.
Thanks for the info.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

In your case, if you choose to quarantine, just as far from your birds as possible. Things like highly pathogenic avian influenza virus can spread quite far on the wind and even farther than 1/4 mile.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3279517/
However, the younger the birds, the less likely it is they would have been exposed to anything.

 

[debid]

They are far less territorial at 5-6 weeks than they will be as adults. The "sneak them in at night" thing doesn't make any difference from a chicken's POV. It just means that a human is unlikely to slow the pecking order process down with unnecessary intervention. If you know that you'll sit back and watch them peck a little as long as it isn't violent, pinning behavior, then by all means put them in when you have the time to observe. I wouldn't expect much chaos at that age, anyway.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Since you can't really do a strict quarantine (which would also put them at an age where integration would be more difficult) I would not bother with quarantine at all. Just put them together during the day or whenever you're available to keep an eye on their behavior. At this age they shouldn't have too much trouble integrating.