Rearranging chicks in brooders

[RedTailRanch]

Hey everyone! We have two brooder boxes going at the moment. The first one has four 4 week old chicks. They include one each Easter Egger, Wyandotte, Speckled Sussex, and a Barred Rock. The other brooder has two 2 week old Salmon Faverolles.

The problem we are having is that in the mixed brooder, the EE is larger than all the other chicks, especially the Barred Rock. The EE is definitely at the top of the pecking order and the Barred Rock is at the bottom. Also, the Barred Rock is very tiny, barely bigger than the two week old Faverolles.

I'm considering moving the Barred Rock in with the Faverolles, but I know mixing the girls up disrupts the pecking order. Also, they will all need to be mixed together eventually when the move outside, so not sure if rearranging the living arrangements now will do more harm than good. I can try and take some pics if it helps with advice.

Thanks!

 

[MeepBeep]

There is no real pecking order to worry about at that age, they will adjust fine... Also what you may observe as 'picking on' is perfectly normal behavior, as long at it's not causing obvious physical injury or so bad one chick is hiding alone in the corner...

 

[Jensownzoo]

If the BR is the same size as the faverolles, no harm in moving her now if you want. I had six chicks that failed to grow their first week due to complications from shipping stress. I separated them out for two weeks so I could monitor them separately, them recombined the flock without incident.