Lone six week old chick

[Amyh]

I have a six week old chick that I need to figure out what to do with...

I am getting about 20 chicks in a week or so that will range from day old to two weeks old.

I also have four pullets that are about 4 - 5 months old.

Can I put my lone chick with either of these groups safely?

 

[paddock36]

I would put the chick in with the ones you are getting in a week. It should be fine and they will too.

 

[Cavendish Chickens]

I was told with mine to keep them in a brooder next to each other so they can see, smell, and hear each other until they get used to each other. Then put them together. I hatched a lone chick, and bought a "friend" for him. The friend was a month older. We thought they were getting along fine, even the night we put them in the run together. Then the next day the older one kept the younger one in a corner, not letting him out to eat or drink. I think we may have waited too long to put them together, and they both turned out to be boys. We had to give up the older one, and brought in some females. They are a month younger than the one we hatched, and he is picking on them a little bit. But not as bad as the other one did him. I think he's just trying to be dominant over them. When they are of breeding age, I think he'll lighten up quite a bit. lol Good luck with your six week old.

 

[Backyard Hencam]

Better to put with younger chicks, but I agree, separate with wire if you have the space for a week or so. It is hard to integrate chicks of different ages. I was told that the difference should be no more than two weeks. Best of luck. I hope it works out.

 

[azygous]

Your six-week old may or may not bully the new babies. I had six six-week olds when I got three new chicks. Half of the six-week olds were perfectly tolerant of the babies, while the other three were bullies, chasing the babies around the brooder and pinning them into a corner and pecking them. ( I only just put them together for a bit to observe what would happen. )

Since there's just the one older chick, my guess is it will be perfectly accepting of the small ones after a few days of getting acquainted with a screen partition in between them.

It's been my experience, though, that when older chicks are accepting of the younger ones, they leave themselves vulnerable to getting their eyes pecked by inquisitive babies. You'll need to be very observant for a few days after you take down the partition that no one gets hurt, including your older chick.