Mixing little ones.

[lilchikadee]

We got some chicks in the mail from a hatchery and long story short most did not make it. We have 6 lone survivors out of 31. Very sad day. I talked to the hatchery and they are sending replacements but the 6 will be 2 weeks and a couple days at the time of their arrival. All are vaccinated. Do you think it will be safe to let them be in with the older ones and not have fighting issues. I wasn't sure if they would be like older chickens and need time to get use to them or not. Any advice would be great. Thank you.

 

[annav410]

I think it will likely be too much size difference. I would recommend splitting the brooder so they can still see each other but unable to harm. Depending on what type of brooder you are using, you can put some type of divider.

PS I am sorry to hear about your loss from the first batch.

 

[donrae]

I've mixed chicks not quite 4 weeks apart in age in a brooder and had no issues. Just make sure you have lots of space for the littles to get out of the way.

 

[Farmer Viola]

Hi, I don't think 2 weeks is too much of a difference.. I have mixed chicks up to 3-4 weeks in the same brooder. Introducing them through a safety barrier for a day or so is a great idea. They will want to work out the pecking order a little bit, but I don't think the size difference should pose a problem, chicks are really adaptable at this age.

 

[lilchikadee]

I have them in a huge brooder and have 2 back up areas...just in case. I will put up a barrier and after a week see how it goes. In a few months when they join the big birds I was going to separate them in the coop for a little while. Anyone have a suggestion of how long they should be separated from the bigger ones?

 

[TheChickInn]

Maybe you could put a separator in the brooder for a few days to make sure all of the babies are eating and drinking well, and have some time to get settled in before putting them in with the older ones? Good luck!

 

[debid]

I've also mixed chick ages up to three weeks and had no issues.

As for integration with adults, that's a different story. There is no predicting how rough your adults will be on them. I did a slow integration with side-by-side "see but don't touch" housing. They mingled during their ranging time. Weeks and weeks of getting used to each other. It still wasn't pretty but nobody was seriously injured or died (which was better results than I had with the "sneak 'em in at night" technique).