Is an age gap a problem?

[justamomma]

I have 9 chickies total, 4 banties, 2 RIR, 2 barred rocks and an EE. One of my reds is 2 weeks older than the others and the EE is probably almost two weeks older as well so they are bigger than the rest, rir is almost six times the size of my smallest little runt bantam.
The past couple days the older ones are very flighty and aggressive in the brooder, getting bursts of energy and running and chasing each other. They keep stepping on the littler chicks and they cry out in pain. Should i separate them? I don't know what to do i got them all at the same time at TSC and the worker didn't say there would be any problems.
The older chicks still have at least 2 to 3 more weeks before they can move to the coop

 

[White Leghorn]

How old are the younger ones?

 

[JoeyOsborne]

i would closely monitor them and see if the injuries are major then seperate them but if there only minor and wont cause any harm then im sure it would be fine, any how if these chickens are starting to become like this then it may be time to bring them out of the brooder but it all depends on there age!

 

[justamomma]

The younger ones are 10 days old and the bantams just aren't growing very fast. The big RIR and EE are growing much faster than i expected. I am not exactly sure what the age is on them, they were both in separate bins at TSC

 

[justamomma]

I may be totally wrong about how far apart they are in age but it seems like a lot when i look at the size difference, i can post a pic

 

[White Leghorn]

A picture would be great! Bantams and big chickens may look like there is a large gap in between them even though there isn't really that much of one. Since RIRs are a larger breed anyhow, they may look like they are going to kill the smaller ones or at least hurt them. This may not be the case though. I would continue to monitor them and check for injuries. As long as they were injury free, leave them together and see what happens!

 

[justamomma]

Biggest with the smallest, how old do you think my rir is? Maybe not six times bigger than the little gal lol but still! She is a menace to the younger ones

 

[White Leghorn]

They should be fine together!

 

[justamomma]

Okay thank you for the replies!

 

[Eggcessive]

I combined 2 groups of chicks about 10 days apart in age once, and I just put a little divider screen between them for a while until the banties and younger ones became stronger. Then they were slowly put back together with caution. They all live together now a couple of years down the road.