need answer on meat chicks please!!

[onecent]

i have (4) 4 or 5 week old meat chicks, they are in a smaller separate pen, i also have (5) reg 1year old chickens , now these meat chicks are about the same size as the reg chickens, can i put them in the same larger pen as my reg chickens?? is this safe??they have been quarantined, because, i need the smaller pen for my silkies to go into, thanks!! oh, we are not going to eat the meat chicks!! they were given to me.

 

[FutureChickenMan]

You probably could put them together, but the meat birds are going to horde the food and make it difficult for the others to feed.

I wouldn't try to keep the meat birds as pets. They're systems (heart, lungs, legs, etc) will start to fail starting around week 9 and you'll come in one day and see them having trouble just trying to live or you'll find them dead. That is of course unless you ration their food. Which some here have had success with. But that does not mean they will thrive; they're systems have been in high gear from birth and frankly, they just burn out and fall over dead.

I'd butcher them starting around week 8 and no later than week 10.

 

[msrma7670]

I have always kept my meat birds with my others just b/c of space however after the third week you will either have to put extra food out so your non meat chicks get some or the other chick will start to fight over the feed. after the third week i open the pen and free graze them meat chickens stay behind while the others forge for food thus you can lower the food in the cages for the meat birds. either way you will learn very quickly how expensive meat birds for pets can be.