Mixing ages

[Kittymomma]

Quote:
That usually works out pretty good. I'd still supervise and make sure the youngsters have plenty of room to run away from the older girls. I brought 15 youngsters in to a small flock of 6 hens and it went pretty well. The big girls still did some pecking and chasing, but they were so outnumberd they never got very serious about it.

 

[gsim]

Good posts on here and good advice too regarding integrating. If I have to do integrating of younger birds, I am going to make a lower roost for them to avoid all of the fighting that takes place about that. Another thing to watch for IMO is that the younger ones are sizable and nimble enough to avoid a bossy older hen. I would integrate at no earlier than 3 or 4 mo if I was doing it, and I would never integrate meaties with pullets/hens.

 

[earthfriendlyfarm]

We have 11 chickens ( 2 are RIR roosters) 9 months old. Recently a Cornish x from a local farm, fell off or escaped the truck going to slaughter. they joke how lucky he was to land at the farm where a vegetarian works, with nothing broken. But now problem is, he is about 9 weeks old, extremely docile and the only new comer. I started off with the quaratine period to make sure he was not diseased. Then slowly have been putting him in with the others, i let them free range and he can explore their pen and roost/nest room. Then I let him free range with them, but he stays by the pen, and they will run after him and peck him. he will hide his head around bales of hay, and they would ignore him, and he would sleep in the roost area with them on the low rung, but then after about a week they started pecking his wing until it bled. So I took him out, fixed him up and even put a "feather bandaid" over his raw area using a low temp glue gun. Which seemed to work for about another week while it healed. And then the second time, they pecked him all bloody. I have him seperated again until he heals. Should I just keep trying a little bit of exposure at a time? Poor baby boy.

 

[magentamomma]

I had a cornish x rescue chicken that i just butchered because my chickens NEVER left him alone. Also, he converted food to meat so well his legs were buckling under him. Plus he was so pecked on he was bald and very cold. I don't think they are well suited to life as a chicken.

 

[outinthegarden]

It really depends on what type of meat bird you get. If you get the standard Cornish Cross, then yes, they must be separate. These meat birds have different protein requirements than your layers because their bodies are focusing on putting on 'meat' rather than producing eggs. There are heritage breeds though that can be in the same flock because they were not bred for as rapid of growth as the Cornish Cross. We have raised Cornish but this year we are switching to a couple heritage breeds (Delawares and Red Rangers). They take a few more weeks to mature but I find the Cornish cross disgusting birds. They were bred for such rapid growth that no matter how well you care for them some end up with crippled legs and they eat SO MUCH FOOD especially the last few weeks...if you don't remove their feed at night they will over eat and die. They also do not live much longer than 50 days; they begin having heart attacks. That's what you get when you tamper with Gods creation. The Delawares are also good layers so we plan to keep a few for that purpose as well. There is also conservation value...they are not hybrids like the Cornish Cross. They can be bred so you could sustain your own flock by breeding them.
I am excited to try some breeds that were once common on the homestead rather than in the commercial chicken factories. Hope this helps!