Mixed Flock. Rehomed Chickens.

[pearlygirly]

Hi there! Love being apart of this wonderful group. I currently have 2 month old chicks on medicated starter feed and they're doing wonderful. I have them in their own pen. Someone was rehoming their 3 month old chicks so I said I could take them. But they were feeding them game bird feed and they gave me the half bag that they had left. I'm not sure if I should keep them on separate feeds right now or if I could get a feed for them all to enjoy. Any advice would be helpful. Also, I have these new chicks in their own separate pen near my original chicks. How long do I need to keep them separated before fully incorporating them together in the chicken coop?

 

[BoundlessLove]

Welcome to BYC!
You can switch them all to the chick starter feed.

I recommend keeping the new chicks in a dog cage in the other chicks brooder so they can see but them but not touch yet.
As for how long to keep them separate depends.
I would wait a week and then see how they do together. And if they aren’t ready, you can wait another week.

 

[pearlygirly]

Thank you! Is it okay if the starter feed is medicated or should it be unmedicated at this point for all of them?

So I currently have them each in a dog crate next to one another. I plan on putting them in a coop this upcoming week and keeping the new chicks in the dog crate for a little bit longer in the coop so they're still exposed.

 

[BoundlessLove]

It’s a preference.
I use non medicated feed throughout.

 

[nuthatched]

Please quarantine any new birds as far as possible for a whole month from yours to make sure they're healthy.
You can mix the feeds together.

 

[NatJ]

I'm not sure if I should keep them on separate feeds right now or if I could get a feed for them all to enjoy.

When you have them separated, they can each keep eating the feed they have been eating.

When you have to buy new feed, I would buy chick starter to feed to all of them. I would probably get unmedicated starter at that point. If chick starter is not available, any chicken feed with a similar protein and calcium level would work (check the label on the bag you already have.) You might find a product labeled "grower" or "all flock" or even "gamebird" feed like the one group of chicks were eating. Since the chicks are not yet old enough to lay, you want the feed to have a calcium level around 1% in the feed. Feed for adult laying hens will often have three times that much (too much for chicks.)

If you combine the chicks before the current bags of feed run empty, you could put each kind of feed in a separate feeder and let all the chicks eat whichever they wish, or feed one kind and then the other kind, or mix the feeds and use the mixture until it's gone. Any of those should be fine.

 

[pearlygirly]

When you have them separated, they can each keep eating the feed they have been eating.

When you have to buy new feed, I would buy chick starter to feed to all of them. I would probably get unmedicated starter at that point. If chick starter is not available, any chicken feed with a similar protein and calcium level would work (check the label on the bag you already have.) You might find a product labeled "grower" or "all flock" or even "gamebird" feed like the one group of chicks were eating. Since the chicks are not yet old enough to lay, you want the feed to have a calcium level around 1% in the feed. Feed for adult laying hens will often have three times that much (too much for chicks.)

If you combine the chicks before the current bags of feed run empty, you could put each kind of feed in a separate feeder and let all the chicks eat whichever they wish, or feed one kind and then the other kind, or mix the feeds and use the mixture until it's gone. Any of those should be fine.

Thanks so much for the info!

 

[pearlygirly]

Please quarantine any new birds as far as possible for a whole month from yours to make sure they're healthy.
You can mix the feeds together.

Oh, an entire month?? I didn't realize they'd have to be separated for this long. Thanks for the info.

 

[nuthatched]

Oh, an entire month?? I didn't realize they'd have to be separated for this long. Thanks for the info.

They can't even share the same air, you want to make sure the bird is healthy

 

[NatJ]

Oh, an entire month?? I didn't realize they'd have to be separated for this long. Thanks for the info.

If the new birds do not have any diseases or parasites, it does not matter how soon you put them with your current birds. They cannot spread problems that they do not have.

But it is common for chickens to have diseases or parasites that are not making obvious symptoms yet, and will transfer to your other chickens. If you keep them separate for a while, this gives a chance for the new ones to show symptoms of any problems they have, so you can treat the problem without exposing your other chickens to it. Some problems show up sooner than others, with a month being long enough to spot most of the common ones.

Some people never try to keep new chickens separate. They accept that any problems will probably affect the whole flock by the time the problem is noticed. Some people refuse to add any new chickens to their flock (no new chickens, no diseases or parasites coming with new chickens). I think most people are somewhere in the middle, where they try to avoid bringing home problems, separate the new birds for a while in hopes of catching problems before they spread, and recognize that sometimes problems do happen despite anyone's best efforts.