While I am not a complete newbie, I am still pretty novice and am trying to prepare for something ahead of time.
I know I can mix different ages in my brooder, but how does that work then when you put them outside in the big coop (not integration with the adult chickens)?
I have a brooder inside for the babies. When they get older, I move them to an outside intermediate coop next to the big coop so they can be outside (with night heat if necessary) and get used to the sounds and smells, and all the chickens can see each other. This gives them more ample chance to do any free ranging during the day if I so choose (they take turns with the big chickens free ranging, and they will free range together supervised). I am not too worried about integrating into the big chickens, I do that in stages and not necessarily all at once. It depends on how they all get a long.
If we have different ages in the brooder, my mind says they go outside at different times. For instance, my 2 week old EE's will be outside way before the new chicks I am getting next week will be outside. With 35 chicks, it will be hard for me to keep them all inside my brooder until the last one is ready.
How much of a problem is this re-integration going to be? Should I just keep them all in the brooder??
I know I can mix different ages in my brooder, but how does that work then when you put them outside in the big coop (not integration with the adult chickens)?
I have a brooder inside for the babies. When they get older, I move them to an outside intermediate coop next to the big coop so they can be outside (with night heat if necessary) and get used to the sounds and smells, and all the chickens can see each other. This gives them more ample chance to do any free ranging during the day if I so choose (they take turns with the big chickens free ranging, and they will free range together supervised). I am not too worried about integrating into the big chickens, I do that in stages and not necessarily all at once. It depends on how they all get a long.
If we have different ages in the brooder, my mind says they go outside at different times. For instance, my 2 week old EE's will be outside way before the new chicks I am getting next week will be outside. With 35 chicks, it will be hard for me to keep them all inside my brooder until the last one is ready.
How much of a problem is this re-integration going to be? Should I just keep them all in the brooder??
