Putting 6ish weeks old chicks wuth 4 week old.

[Chickenhappy8708]

Hi, About 6 weeks ago, we brought 4 chicks from TSC and 2 more from a different feed store, we wanted 6 hens, but we got a surprise!!! Were going to keep him unless he turns aggressive. But we still want 6 hens, so were toying around with the idea of bringing home a 4 week old Pullet. Were about to move the existing chick flock into they're coop! Do you have any suggestions on putting a new chick in the flock? Thanks!

 

[swamphiker]

The smaller chick will probably be okay since the older chicks are only a couple of weeks older, however you'll need to keep a really close eye on them since things could get ugly quickly. The safest thing to do would be to keep them separated by some wire in their run so that they can see each other but not really interact too much until they get used to one another. Another thing that could help is getting at least two chicks rather than one.

This spring we ended up in a similar position as you, we had four 8-week-old chicks and then introduced two 4-week-old chicks. The smallest chick got picked on for awhile, but it seemed like it helped that it had a "buddy" in the other new chick and we kept a really close eye on them for the first week or so. You can always sell the extra chick if you don't end up wanting it. Started pullets are always in high demand where I live.

 

[Chickenhappy8708]

Thanks, we would probably get 3 then, as we need an odd to even ratio, lol.