Hi, Right now I have one lonely little chick in a brooder and I would like to get 2 or 3 more. Problem is I can't get them until the middle of June. My current chick will be 6 weeks old by then. Would I be able to put them together or will the older chick go after the young ones?
At six weeks your first chick will be ready to come out of the brooder and head to a grow out pen or coop, so they should not be brooding together. If you chose to leave it in the brooder, the other chicks will try to get under it as they prefer the real deal mommy thing as opposed to a red heat bulb to keep them warm...they don't know it's a baby too, they just instinctually climb under the larger bird. Keep them close to each other and in the 5 weeks it will take to brood the new ones, the older one should be used to them.
I cant speak from too much experience honestly but when I asked a similar question yesterday I was told to keep them separated or be VERY observant of their actions toward eachother. I have some Cornish X chicks that are 3+ times the size of my new babies and they seem to get along ok but they are separated most of the time due to the size difference, I dont want the babies trampled or smothered by the lil chunky Cornies lol
