quarantine chicks that I've hatched, and how to integrate?

[mener6896]

Hi All,
I knew there would be some expert advice on here. I've recently hatched some of my own eggs, 2-three weeks ago, and I have 15 due to hatch this weekend. I realize I need to integrate when they are feathered out, but my questions are:

do I need to quarantine since they were my own eggs?

what age can I safely put them in with the others

do I need a separate pen until they mature?

what to do about different feeds; layer vs. grower

I realize I should have thought of this before I began hatching but I was too excited!

 

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

In the past, I have integrated newbies into the flock at about 12 weeks of age. They're going to be picked on while the pecking order is established, and somebody may even lose some tail feathers for a while, but they're big enough at that age to tough it out until everybody relaxes.

I put the newbies on the roost at night so everybody wakes up together.

I see no need to quarantine them, having come from your own eggs. The only new birds I'll introduce to my flock are day-old hatchery peeps and those that I've hatched myself. Coming from your own eggs, there's even less to worry about.

That's what has worked for me.

 

[mener6896]

what do you do about the differences in feed?

 

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

I forgot that one.

I just kept everybody on the organic peep starter/grower and offered oyster shell free-choice.

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

I have a small brooder house that I put two groups of chicks in, one separated from the other until I'm sure they are of a size and age ( sometimes a few weeks) before I take the wire divider out and all live side by side. I normally wait until they are 16-18 weeks before I add the new pullets to the Flock. Once they stop the baby crys and start talking more like a hen, they go into the flock.

Oh, babies all get Starter until the youngest is 6 weeks then I start grower.. When they go to join the flock they get the Hen food.
However, this spring I am going to try Purinas Flock raiser. I am really happy with the early growth from what I am using now though, so we'll see,
I want to try the Flock raiser because it would simplify who gets what when. We have Ducks also, to complicate things just a bit more.

And yes, when I'm low on Layer food or they are out, my hens get grower food and love the change, but it is more expensive here. They have access to grit and oyster shell at all times.

The chicks have grit added to their ground scratch. No I don't spoil my babies at all. Yes I do mix and grind them their own special scratch, just for the younguns once they are 3-4 weeks old.