Separate brooders?

[Dcherie13]

Hi fellow chicken lovers,

My husband and I will be getting our first shipment of chicks in a few weeks. We already have nine chicks that we have raised from about a week old but they were given to us with their mother so they have always been in the coop and she pretty much did all of the work.

We are getting 11 chicks and my question is, as they outgrow the brooder would it be detrimental to separate them into two groups in separate brooders and then put them back together when they are ready to go into the big coop? We would still take our chicks to the brooder to handle them away from their mama and I know that by three or four weeks they were pretty large and able to fly/hop right out of the brooder.

 

[Poultry parent]

Do you mean just not putting the new chicks with the ones your hen has?
It is better to keep them separate, the hen won't like different chicks

 

[Dcherie13]

Do you mean just not putting the new chicks with the ones your hen has?
It is better to keep them separate, the hen won't like different chicks

They will definitely be separate from the others already in the coop, I mean that as the 11 outgrow the brooder if I separated them into two groups in two separate brooders until they are ready to be intergrated into the coop with the others. If I do that, will I be able to put the 11 together in one small pen as I introduce them to the flock or will they have to continue to be separated then as well?

 

[Poultry parent]

It's just like adding new birds to a flock. You won't have to separate them in the coop. They'll just have to get used to each other

 

[chickens really]

They will definitely be separate from the others already in the coop, I mean that as the 11 outgrow the brooder if I separated them into two groups in two separate brooders until they are ready to be intergrated into the coop with the others. If I do that, will I be able to put the 11 together in one small pen as I introduce them to the flock or will they have to continue to be separated then as well?

What will happen if you separate the 11 is then you will have three separate flocks to try to integrate .....Brood all the new ones together.....

 

[Dcherie13]

What will happen if you separate the 11 is then you will have three separate flocks to try to integrate .....Brood all the new ones together.....

Thanks, that's what I thought! Do you have any suggestions then for how to maintain them in the brooder while 11 chicks grow and get crowded?

 

[chickens really]

Move to the Coop and have them in a look no touch pen and that way as they grow..They can already know each other....Brood in the coop if possible....

 

[chickens really]

You already have Chicks reared by a Broody...That is a bonus for you...The Birds are used to Chicks so releasing them once a bit bigger from the look no touch pen should not be an issue at all..They will pal up with the older Chicks and all will be fine....

 

[Dcherie13]

At what age do you all recommend doing this? I have always read not to move them to the coop before eight weeks of age. Our coop is too far from the house to run the heat lamp out there. I am in North Carolina though so it is definitely warm 24 hours a day at this point

 

[azygous]

I agree with the above poster.

By not simply brooding your eleven new chicks in a brooding pen in the coop or run, you are passing up a golden opportunity to integrate easily and simply from the very start. And it solves your space concerns as the chicks grow in size.

Many of us brood right in our coops or runs in proximity to the existing flock. This makes it possible to begin mingling the two groups when the new chicks are as young as two weeks.

See my article linked below in my signature line on outdoor brooding for more details on why this works to everyone's advantage.