What to do with all the chicks.......!!!

[The Littlest Chick]

ok, I am about to have three sets of chicks. I have 21 chicks that are 10 weeks old, 9 chicks and 5 ducks that are 2 weeks old, and in a couple of weeks I will have about 30 new chicks. So far I have kept them seperate because the older ones might pick on the little guys. So, my question is...how long do I have to wait until I put them all together. The two week olds seem too tiny to defend themselves.

 

[Guitartists]

When I introduced mine I kept them where they could see each other but not get to each other, then after a week I took the fencing down and made sure they had a place they could use to get away from the larger birds... an overturned box with holes cut in it worked great.

 

[jossanne]

The younger they all are when you introduce them, the better off you'll be.

I had 5 girls hatched in March, 4 hatched in June, and 26 hatched in July. I put the June babies in the coop with the big girls when they were about 6 weeks old. They were in a wire dog kennel, so all could see and get used to eachother. After about a week, I let them out, and with just a minor bit of bullying, they all got along pretty quickly.

When the July babies were about a month old, I put them in the wire dog kennel. After a couple of days, I tied the door so it would open just wide enough for the little ones to get in and out, and keep the big girls out of their feed. This gave the babies a safe place to get away from the bigger ones. No one even bothered them, and they all got along beautifully.

When I first let the new ones loose in the coop, I sat in there with them to keep an eye on things for a couple of hours. I checked them very frequently when I finally left the coop. You'll need to keep a close eye out for bullying, but that shouldn't last too long.

So I guess the oldest were about 16 weeks when I put the month-olds in with them. It worked out very well. I think that was mainly because the older girls were still pretty young.

Good luck to you!

 

[Kung Foo Chicken]

I do chicks the same way I do adults. I introduce the stronger/aggressive backwards one at a time to the vulnerable. Last summer I had three White Leghorns whom were 7 weeks old and 6 chicks that were 3 weeks old. I put one leghorn at a time in with the smaller chicks over several days and they all got along just fine. It was kinda cute seeing the little chicks crowded around the much larger leghorn roo and even hiding under his wings.

It leaves the larger chick at a disadvantage to have no companionship if it doesn't hang out with the smaller chicks.