Mixing meat birds with layers

[deegee68]

Hi,

I have raised chickens in the past, but it was just layers. I am getting 40 chicks in March and 26 will be cornish cross and 14 layers. The layers will be 4 Rhode Islands, 4 Black Australorps and 6 White Leghorns. My question is 1. Can I put them all in the same brooder, I was thinking 6x6 or possibly 8x8? 2. If I put them together, will it be easy to tell them apart, so I can separate the layers from the meat birds when the time comes?

Thanks for the help.

DeeGee

 

[U_Stormcrow]

You can ABSOLUTELY tell them apart. Even if they look the same initially - and they shouldn't - the meat birds will gain wieght so much faster than the layers that by week two you will wonder how there was ever any confusion. Behaviors are different too.

I did so successfully, not knowing any better, and not having choice over which chicks I bought (start of pandemic, so long long ago). I would NOT recommend it. Yes, if you have a large enough brooder, the best thing would be a partition "wall" between the two. I believe I used some plastic stakes and some scrap hardware cloth. May have been a chunk of plywood involved, too.

I stopped raising meat birds after the first time.

 

[SheaLoner]

I only have 1 brooder, a 4x4. When I have an overlap of meaties and layers I always try to have the layers 2-3 weeks old before the meaties join them. CX will bully and out eat layer chicks at the feeder. On the plus side you wont need as much suplemental heat, beacuse after a week the cx are producing ALOT of heat.