New poults and when to mix them

[Nagogx]

Hi. So our 2 hens have become mothers. One with 3 and the other with 10! The 10 were born yesterday, 2 weeks after the first lot. They have been seperated from each other. At what point could they be allowed to all be together?

Also, I made the mistake of feeding dried meal worms to the first 3 poults but now that I've run out they don't seem interested in the starter we were also giving them. Will they eat the starter again if they get hungry enough? Thanks.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

I only raise chickens, but they are integrated from day 1 even with more than 1 broody. The broody doesn't bring them out until she is ready and confident that she knows their peeps or whatever sound poults make. The ducklings had a whistle sound.

Yes, they will eat the starter... just quit with the treats.

 

[R2elk]

Hi. So our 2 hens have become mothers. One with 3 and the other with 10! The 10 were born yesterday, 2 weeks after the first lot. They have been separated from each other. At what point could they be allowed to all be together?

Also, I made the mistake of feeding dried meal worms to the first 3 poults but now that I've run out they don't seem interested in the starter we were also giving them. Will they eat the starter again if they get hungry enough? Thanks.

When they can be together depends on the hens involved. Some hens will accept any poults whether they are or are not hers. Some hens will kill any poults that are not hers.

When you have time to supervise, open both pens and allow the hens to bring out the poults at their own pace. Watch closely for signs of aggression between the hens. Some hens get along great together and will co-parent their poults while others will have fierce fights. If you are lucky they will be fine together, if not then wait until the youngest are at least two weeks old. Newly hatched poults are quite fragile and don't do well getting out of the way of domestic violence.

Good luck.