introducing new chicks to an existing brooder

[NatJ]

I recently had to do exactly this. I got 4 chicks (3 weeks old now) and then a week later got 3 more (2 weeks old now). The younger ones outgrew my small brooder so I had to move them to the larger tub with the old chicks. One of the older chicks will sometimes run over and peck at the younger ones for no reason. The little chicks do screech when this happens. Is this something that will work itself out or am I going to need to come up with a different plan? I don’t really have the ability to set up another 125 gallon tub as the one I have now is currently in my dining room. I live in the suburbs so I don’t have a ton of space.

If the pecking is only occasional, and there are no injuries, then it should work out in time. Just watch and see.

If it seems like a bigger problem, maybe put the big ones in the smaller brooder for a few hours, so the little ones can explore the big brooder and get comfortable there. Then put just one big chick back in the big brooder, and a few hours later put the other two back. This spreads out the new things for the little chicks: new place, new companion, other new companions. And it interferes with the big chicks thinking "invaders in my space!"

If the big chicks were very aggressive, you might have to divide the brooder with wire mesh, so the chicks can see each other but not peck, and give them several days to get used to each other, then try again to combine them.

Body language is important for chickens, so letting the little chicks get comfortable in the space means they act differently, and the bigger chicks may respond differently to comfortable chicks vs. uncertain chicks.

But from what you said, I think they will most likely be fine if you just leave them alone. The other ideas are just in case it doesn't work out well.

 

[azygous]

Try rigging a screen to divide the brooder. I bet you can come up with something.

All of your chicks actually do enjoy being a flock together, but the older chicks are at the age now where pecking order is ruling their social order. A screen will help level the playing field until they're all the same size.

 

[NatJ]

Try rigging a screen to divide the brooder. I bet you can come up with something.

All of your chicks actually do enjoy being a flock together, but the older chicks are at the age now where pecking order is ruling their social order. A screen will help level the playing field until they're all the same size.

Is this for the OP's question (2-day-olds with 3-week-olds) or the recent question from a different poster (2 weeks with 3 weeks)?

The size difference is much more of an issue in one case than the other, and I'm not sure which one you are addressing.

 

[azygous]

The later poster has chicks at the outer limit of compatibility, but I failed to make that distinction.

Combining baby chicks of different ages works splendidly until age four weeks. After that, chicks are beginning to be governed by the pecking order. But the brooder divider can work at any age to curb aggressive behavior while still keeping the disparate ages together.

 

[rehsanipoor]

I am no expert but I can tell you my experience. Your experience is very similar to mine with the exception of age. I was dealing with 2 day olds and 3 week olds. I was told that at this age they should blend without issue. I think your girls are older than mine were at the time of the issue. One of the older chicks would occasionally seem to be a little aggressive. It wasn't over the top but it made me worry about leaving them unsupervised.

For a couple of days I put a screen in the middle of the brooder thereby separating the older and younger groups. At that point my new girls were only a few days old and I wanted to give them some time to grow and learn the ropes. I had to come up with some creative solutions for feeders and heaters. Although I'm pretty sure the older girls didn't "need" a heater, they just like it.

When I put them back together later, I rearranged the whole brooder and tried to give more places where the older girls could go to get more space. I tacked together a little platform from some scrap wood.

I also "poked" her when I caught her being aggressive, but I certainly wasn't able to be consistent as I wasn't watching her all the time. I actually think she caught on pretty quickly and only pecked the little girls when I wasn't near the brooder. So I'm not sure how effective it was.

As the little girls got bigger (just within a week or so) it just stopped happening. She did occasionally go over and give a hard peck for no reason I could see, but I wasn't worried that she was going to seriously hurt anyone. I figured this was the "pecking order" being established. Now there doesn't seem to be any issue at all. I think she just got used to them.

 

[Aocskasy]

Thanks to everyone for the advice and thanks to the OP. It seemed silly to ask almost the same question in a new thread when it was already being discussed here.

 

[NatJ]

Thanks to everyone for the advice and thanks to the OP. It seemed silly to ask almost the same question in a new thread when it was already being discussed here.

It worked this time, but we usually encourage people to start a new thread even for questions that look quite similar. That is because sometimes a situation looks almost the same but has details that are enough different to matter, and also because it is less confusing (is a particular answer meant for the original poster, or for the person with the new question?)