When can I put them together?

[a123andpoof]

Okay, we have 20 5 week olds and 2 2 weeks olds. I would like to put them together as soon as possible. And I am getting 2 silkies on the 29th. I know these are some big age diffrences so I was wondering can I put the 2 weeks in with the 5 weeks or should I wait and try putting the silkies in with the 2 weeks once I get them and then put all 4 in with the other 20? The 2 week old are EEs and will be almost 4 weeks. Or should I put them in soon and then when the silkies get older put them in? I will of course moniter and was thinking of letting them meet first through wire when I bring the older girls outside once it gets a little warmer? And then still keep them seperate at night? Oh and the other 20 are all also big birds bsl and rirs.
Any thoughts on how I should do this would be much appreciated.

 

[a123andpoof]

Any suggestions?

 

[catchthewind]

You could try putting your 2 week olds with your older ones and see how it goes. I put in chicks that were about that far apart with no problems. There was one pecker and I took her out and put her by herself for a little while while the rest all got used to each other. I put her back in again later and she was fine with the new ones after that. Are you saying the EE's will be 4 weeks old by the time you get your Silkies? I'm not sure I would put day old Silkies in with 4 weeks olds. I put 3 day old Silkies in with 10-14 day old chicks and there was a huge difference in size. I'd probably wait until the Silkies are a little bigger and more sure on their feet.

 

[a123andpoof]

Yeah the EEs would be about 4 weeks when I get the silkies. I know there will be a huge size diffrence in them. So I will try putting the EEs in with the older ones and see how it goes. Then when I get the silkies put them in when they are a couple weeks. Does this sound good?

 

[dsqard]

I would go with your idea of putting the younger ones you have now in with the older ones. As far as when you should mix in the silkies, I would wait until they get to be a "good size" before putting them in with any older chicks.

 

[a123andpoof]

Okay so the younger ones are in with the older ones, now for my problem. The young girls are still in there, and I check every hour sometimes more. There was one heat lamp and I went out there and some of the older girls had pushed the young ones to the other side of the coop. So I hung up the other heat lamp. If this is continues to be a problem should I seperate the young girls again and try again in a couple days?