?Mixing chicks of different ages?

[DrFood]

Hi everybody,

Well, I've been keeping hens for over ten years and I've raised chicks multiple times, but this will be my first time ordering chicks. I'm
ordering from McMurray Hatchery and I'm soliciting folks to join in with me to make the 25 chick minimum. One lady would like to order some of what I'm ordering, but she'd also like a couple of barred rocks, and since I'm already planning on ordering Black Australorps I told her I couldn't do that. (The chicks look exactly the same as far as I can see.)

She wrote me back because she's found another person who will have a couple of barred rocks for her on the 1st of March. I'm going to order my chicks for the 21st of March, so if she combines the two older barred rocks and then two younger chicks from my order, will it be huge trouble? Has anybody done this?

I'm in Waunakee, Wisconsin, which is near Madison Wisconsin. I'm going to make the order on Saturday. I'm currently planning to order Ameraucanas (more like Easter Egg Chickens), Black Australorps, Columbian Wyandottes, and Speckled Sussex. I've been told that I can get the folks at McMurray to mark the EE's, which will be helpful.

If you know someone near Madison Wisconsin who wants to start with chicks this spring, let me know. I'm ready to order up to 36 chicks depending on the commitments I get. I have a 4'x4' nice plywood box which should be big enough if most people come pick their chicks up in the first two weeks.

 

[gryeyes]

I mix different ages of chicks all the time. I do keep an eye on the older ones to see if they are baby-aggressive.... But mostly there's no problem.

Right now I have three newly hatched chicks (today!) with the following:
2 one-week-old chicks
1 two-week old chick
1 three-week old chick
4 four-week old chicks

Yes, the babiest get bowled over pretty frequently when an older chick takes off and charges across the brooder, but they pop right back up and do just fine.

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Oh, and the Rocks should have yellow legs, the Australorps have white skin and slate legs.

 

[Judy]

Quote:
Also, the rocks will have a white spot on their heads and female rocks will have a black "was" on the front of the legs. Barred Rocks can be sexed at birth by the size of the whit spot and the black wash and a couple of other characteristics.

 

[DrFood]

Thanks all!

After I posted this, I found McMurray Hatchery's YouTube page, and I found out about the barred rocks having the spot on their head. I love the videos of baby chicks! I wrote the other lady back and told her we could go ahead and add barred rocks to the order.

If I wanted to find people in Wisconsin looking for new chicks this spring, which part of the forum would that be?

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Maybe in the Where am I Where are You portion, there is probably a WI thread...

 

[DrFood]

Thanks!