I have a dog kennel that I turned into a brooder. I have four three week old chicks in it. Two BO and Two BR. Today or tomorrow I should be getting a call from the post office for my new chicks: 10 rare breed mix and 5 clean legged banties. I was planning on keeping all of the chicks in the same brooder, with a wire divider for a couple of weeks to keep the little ones separate from the older girls. But I think it might be a bit crowded, so I thought of putting the baby banties in a separate old antique brooder I have and put wire on the door and place it next to the larger kennel door so they can all see each other. Would that be all right? I'm a newbie and these are all my first chickens. Thanks for the help.
Last year I had chicks that were several weeks apart and the bigger ones picked on the new ones. I put them in a seperate cage next to the older chicks and put them together when they all went to their new coop at age 2 months. They got along fine then. Good luck!
You will not believe the size differences! I know I've looked at 3 week old chicks and how tiny, yet when you get the bantams- they will be the size of a ping pong ball! So good luck but I'd keep them socialized and separated for now.
Thanks for the advice. So much for that idea! My little peeps arrived yesterday and after carefully putting the new large chicks on their side of the fence, I realized that for some reason I couldn't get the temp in the small brooder over 80. So the banties went in with the others where the temp was 95ยบ. Also, the screen divider had a flaw in it, and within seconds of putting the big girls in there, the little ones came over to their side of the fence to say hi! Now the big girls are in the small brooder, while the little ones have run of the large kennel. I think the big girls were depressed last night with their new digs, and gave me very hurtful looks. Here is a picture of my new peeps. I ordered 15 and got 18, and they were all alive and well when I left for work this morning. If anyone knows what they are, tell me! I got the assorted bunch.
