mixing chicks

hey102974

Chirping
8 Years
Aug 26, 2011
16
11
82
I have some eggs in the incubator that are due to hatch on the 24th. It is my birthday on the 29th and my fiance wanted to surprise me with some chicks (as I had a bad run this year with incubator failures, weak chicks, and the two I did get and had survive were gotten by predators while I was out of town in August--my mom was checking on the critters,but the quiet few days (dog inside, no kids running around outside, etc..) seems to attract predators). So my fiance ordered me some baby chicks (15 of them), which I got notification that they will be shipped out on the 23rd to arrive the 24th or 25th. So they will be a couple of days older than my hatch-lings. Can I put the two groups together (assuming I get a few chicks from the 10 eggs I have incubating, 6 of which are definitely good so far) in a single brooder or should I do separate brooders? Is there risk of disease at such a young age? Will the slightly older ones beat up on the ones hatched here if they are a couple of days younger? If I do separate brooders initially, when should I put them together?

Sorry for all the questions, I just don't want to lose any more feathered babies this year.
 
You'll probably be fine mixing the chicks at that age. People have successfully integrated day old chicks with chicks as old as three weeks or so before. There is a risk of disease, so many people would recommend quarantining or isolating the two batches.
 
Thank you, I think i will try to keep them isolated and then put them together after 2 weeks to reduce the chance of disease.
 
You shouldn't have any problems but you should mix them as soon as reasonably possibly because they will be nearing the age where although they will mingle peacefully, they will form 2 seperate groups instead of bonding into 1 large group.
 
I agree with Chickenlegs, actually. If he got them from a mass-producing hatchery (such as Meyer Hatchery, McMurray, My Pet Chiciken, etc.), then they probably aren't going to arrive with diseases. Despite what many people claim, hatcheries have to eradicate contagious diseases, because one wrong turn could wipe them completely out. They produce thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of chicks at a time. And their chicks and chickens live in VERY close proximity to each other, often in very cramped quarters. A single contagious disease or illness would EASILY put the hatchery out of business.

And with you hatching your own, especially for the first time, I'm sure you probably haven't got much to worry about with diseases either.

So it might be best to go ahead and mix them now and keep them from separating flocks.
 

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