Mixing a few day old chicks w/ 5 week olds?

[AndersonFolk]

Question, can we put in a few day old chicks in the 'dog kennel' ( hahah ) with our 4 or 5 week old pullets? My lovely wife called LADDS today and was told they just received some new Dominique’s, EE, RI and some other kind and now she has it in her mind that she ‘needs’ one Dominique and one of something else to round our flock off to 10.

Is this ill advices or would you separate the two younger’s from the others until they get bigger?

 

[justtoni44]

HI, What fun.
Seperate for sure

Toni

 

[rhs7111]

No, that is far too great an age difference and dangerous for the young chicks to be put in with the older birds. The new chicks really do need a separate brooder, plus they need a heat lamp (250 watts) which would be too hot for the older chicks. We use a large Tupperware bin with metal screen placed over it as a lid, and we clamp the heat lamp to a chair placed next to the bin and put the heat lamp atop the screen. Works great and is safe for all.

 

[AndersonFolk]

Awesome, thank you both for the quick response!