New chicks

[Mike26726]

I curently have 6 4 week old EE chicks in a brooder. Last night I added 2 red sex links that are 6 weeks old in to a seperate border. How would I go about integrating them together with out issues?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Are either of the brooders of a size that they can be easily divided and leave enough room for each group? When you are ready to integrate (timing will depend on whether you plan to do a proper quarantine or not), the easiest thing to do is to house them so they can see each other but not have physical contact. A wire barrier works wonderfully - as does a cage of sorts set inside a larger area. Let them get used to seeing each other over a period of days and then remove the barrier and allow them to mingle. Monitor for signs of trouble, but remember there will be squabbles - intervention should only take place if serious physical injury is occurring.
The good news is that 2 weeks age difference is not significant enough to cause concern about size difference, etc and both groups are of an age where there are not huge gaps between their environmental needs.

 

[aart]

Ditto on the let them see each other.

I integrated chicks by putting them in a large day pen outside for a few hours a day, then back to their respective brooders inside. They fought at first, I would remove the antagonist if things got out of hand, but they got over it soon after about a week or so.

 

[Mike26726]

I'll give that a try

 

[Mike26726]

Well I took all my chicks out side together and there were no issues at all. I was expecting them to not get to well. Hopefully since they are so close together in age that there will be no real issues

 

[aart]

Letting them meet in a space that neither have been in before helps alot, removes the territoriality aspect...and they are all scared of the new place EEK!...lol.
Could be different tomorrow tho, keep going for a couple hours each day.

 

[Mike26726]

My plan is to get them used to each other this week and they should be able to move into their coop this weekend