Mixing Same Age Chicks of Different Sizes

[Aunt Angus]

I got a shipment of chicks 2 weeks ago. Two of them were weak, so I kept them inside and put the rest outside with my broodies.

Well, one of the weaker chicks died. The other, a Polish, recovered and has been by herself for over a week.

I wanted to get her flockmates, so I called around until I found a store that had the same age chicks. However, when I got them (EEs) home, they are MUCH bigger than my lone chick. Like, 2x her size.

So... can I still integrate them? Same age, very different sizes.

 

[My Bagurks]

If you have some spare deer fencing or chicken wire or something, I’d try and make a partition. The single chick won’t need too much space, but you probably can, but to be safe give them a chance at being separated.
Other than size, is there a big feather difference?
Are they definitely the same age. And if so, big babies are still babies so they should integrate well.

 

[Aunt Angus]

If you have some spare deer fencing or chicken wire or something, I’d try and make a partition. The single chick won’t need too much space, but you probably can, but to be safe give them a chance at being separated.
Other than size, is there a big feather difference?
Are they definitely the same age. And if so, big babies are still babies so they should integrate well.

The shipment date was one day earlier than mine. But they DWARF her. I will put in a little partition. No prob.

How long until I can put them together?

 

[Aunt Angus]

But they are def more feathered. I think maybe the singleton is a little stunted from her rough start. And she's a smaller breed anyway.

ETA: Actually, they are feathered about the same. My Polish looks like a bantam next to these new girls.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I have them in separate brooders for now. They can see each other, though. The new girls seem to REALLY want to be with the lone chick. My husband says she looks like a snack to them.

 

[Aunt Angus]

This shows the size difference:

 

[rosemarythyme]

I'd give it a day or two, then, when you have time to supervise, remove the barrier and see what happens.