When to allow age gap chicks to mix?

[MasterofNone]

I have 19 mixed breed chicks at 2+ wks old, and 3 buff orps at 6 wks old. We moved the youngins into the coop in a separate brooder a few days ago. Nights are still chilly, so we have a heat lamp for them.

They are thriving. Growing super fast, flying really well, and just have a total 180° behavior change since the move. They never stopped piling up on the other side of the indoor brooder anytime anyone came into the room, and now in the coop brooder they run TO me happily and treat me like a jungle jim.

The older chicks seem like they are doing great too, and I often see them snuggled up next to the little chicks (all around the brooder, not just by the heat lamp, like they just want to be near the other birds.) They are clearly curious, but I haven't seen any aggressive behavior, except getting excited when the chicks are playing.

So I am wondering if I can allow them to mingle next week (7 wks & 3 wks)? Or we could perhaps make a teeny chick door in the brooder so the chicks can exit/enter the brooder at will without the orps being able to chase them? What do you guys think? When should we let chicks with a month age gap intermingle?

 

[_-Captain BRM-_]

I would just put them together ASAP and see how they do.

 

[NatJ]

I would just put them together ASAP and see how they do.

I agree.

With a few older chicks (but not all that old), and plenty of smaller chicks, they will probably do fine in a large space together.

And if it really does not work well, just grab the 3 older chicks and separate them again, then try the idea of little chick doors in the brooder.

 

[YellowRoseFarm]

I was just about to post on this exact topic. I have six 5-week-old pullets and four 3-week-olds. I added a partition to the grow-out coop, and they were all in there for about a week. The older chicks weren't all that interested in the littles, except for one, who would snuggle up to them through the poultry fencing.

When the chicks were four weeks, and two weeks, I decided that an outdoor field trip was an excellent time to mix them. I thought it was new territory for all of them, and they'd be on a level playing field. Ugh, not so much.

First, all the big girls dug themselves a nice little dust bath hole and piled on top of each other. One of the littles, Ruby Sue, kept walking across the pile of pancake chickens - not even trying to get in the heap, just walking on them. One of the older chicks, Elsa, kept putting her in her place with little pecks. No big deal. Ruby Sue was being a pain in the butt.

After that, things went downhill. The other littles all stayed away from the older girls. Still, Elsa started chasing them down and pecking at them, which led to a couple of the other older chicks following suit. Soon, the poor littles were huddled in the corner, unable to defend themselves against Regina George and her brood.

I put them all back on their respective sides of the grow-out coop, and there've been no issues since. I didn't think 2-weeks was that big of an age difference, but my older chicks have already established some variation of the pecking order with Elsa at the top (it makes sense, she is a queen, after all).

I'm not sure what the right thing to do is: let them all sort it out on their own, regardless of whether the big ones are picking on the littles. Or, in another couple of weeks, maybe the littles will be big enough and the older ones won't see them as babies anymore. If I wait too long, I'm worried I'll be trying to integrate two different full-on flocks with their respective pecking orders.

I'm such a noob here, so I'm following this thread to see what sage wisdom is imparted.

 

[NatJ]

I was just about to post on this exact topic. I have six 5-week-old pullets and four 3-week-olds. I added a partition to the grow-out coop, and they were all in there for about a week. The older chicks weren't all that interested in the littles, except for one, who would snuggle up to them through the poultry fencing.

When the chicks were four weeks, and two weeks, I decided that an outdoor field trip was an excellent time to mix them. I thought it was new territory for all of them, and they'd be on a level playing field. Ugh, not so much.

First, all the big girls dug themselves a nice little dust bath hole and piled on top of each other. One of the littles, Ruby Sue, kept walking across the pile of pancake chickens - not even trying to get in the heap, just walking on them. One of the older chicks, Elsa, kept putting her in her place with little pecks. No big deal. Ruby Sue was being a pain in the butt.

After that, things went downhill. The other littles all stayed away from the older girls. Still, Elsa started chasing them down and pecking at them, which led to a couple of the other older chicks following suit. Soon, the poor littles were huddled in the corner, unable to defend themselves against Regina George and her brood.

I put them all back on their respective sides of the grow-out coop, and there've been no issues since. I didn't think 2-weeks was that big of an age difference, but my older chicks have already established some variation of the pecking order with Elsa at the top (it makes sense, she is a queen, after all).

I'm not sure what the right thing to do is: let them all sort it out on their own, regardless of whether the big ones are picking on the littles. Or, in another couple of weeks, maybe the littles will be big enough and the older ones won't see them as babies anymore. If I wait too long, I'm worried I'll be trying to integrate two different full-on flocks with their respective pecking orders.

I'm such a noob here, so I'm following this thread to see what sage wisdom is imparted.

So you tried to mix them, it didn't work, and they've been living in adjacent pens for another week?

If the little ones seem comfortable next to the big ones again, I would lift just one big one over the divider into the pen with the little ones, and watch what happens. If that goes well, wait several days and move one more big one in with the littles.

If those two go well, you will have a group of 5 (little + big) and only 2 big ones left (probably the two that are most likely to have problems.) Give them a week or so like that, then try taking out the divider (or opening a door, or whatever works for your setup) and let them all mix. Supervise them of course, and if that does not go well, re-separate and come back for more advice.

Sometimes neutral territory is good, but since that didn't work, it might be worth trying it on familar territory. Each group has their "own" area, but can then wander across to visit the others. That's why I suggested something that uses the current territories.

It also helps if they have some places to hide, and multiple food/water stations.
For the hiding places, it's best if they have at least two ways in or out, so a chick doesn't get trapped in them. So a box with several doors cut in it, or a cinder block or bale of hay they can run on all sides of, or even a board leaned against a wall so they can ran in and out of both ends, might be good options.

 

[YellowRoseFarm]

So you tried to mix them, it didn't work, and they've been living in adjacent pens for another week?

If the little ones seem comfortable next to the big ones again, I would lift just one big one over the divider into the pen with the little ones, and watch what happens. If that goes well, wait several days and move one more big one in with the littles.

If those two go well, you will have a group of 5 (little + big) and only 2 big ones left (probably the two that are most likely to have problems.) Give them a week or so like that, then try taking out the divider (or opening a door, or whatever works for your setup) and let them all mix. Supervise them of course, and if that does not go well, re-separate and come back for more advice.

Sometimes neutral territory is good, but since that didn't work, it might be worth trying it on familar territory. Each group has their "own" area, but can then wander across to visit the others. That's why I suggested something that uses the current territories.

It also helps if they have some places to hide, and multiple food/water stations.
For the hiding places, it's best if they have at least two ways in or out, so a chick doesn't get trapped in them. So a box with several doors cut in it, or a cinder block or bale of hay they can run on all sides of, or even a board leaned against a wall so they can ran in and out of both ends, might be good options.

Thanks so much! I'll give that a shot and report back.

 

[MasterofNone]

So I let the chicks mingle this morning by propping up a corner of their brooder on a crock. The little chicks were like "Field Day!"and mostlythe orps ignored them. Until (cue forboding music) ... One of the Orps (Lucky, who I think may be a roo) started running at each one and pecking them each once on the head. Pie, our little Auatralorp with the piebald head, got pecked more than once, panicked, and couldn't figure out how to get back to safety. All HE-double-hockey-sticks broke out then, so I gathered all the little ones back in the brood pen to nap it off.

But for about 15 min, everyone was doing ok. I know there will be plenty of pecking order dramatics in the future, but I figured for now thats enuf comingling. (Plus, I am not convinced that the little chicks couldn't escape the chicken run if they went out there, and we have a kitten that stalks the perimeter with murder in her eyes)

So, for now, we will just have overseen explorations, I think. At least for a few days.

 

[YellowRoseFarm]

Update from our integration:

I've successfully integrated the 2 groups and they're one big happy flock now. One day I set them out for a field trip. With 2 sets of food and water dishes, I had all 4 littles in the outdoor pen and I introduced 1 of the older birds every 30 mins or so until I got to Elsa. I placed a cinder block on its side to allow the littles a place to hide without being cornered. Elsa cried in the grow-out coop as she spent 30 min. alone. Meanwhile, the rest of the birds were getting along just fine! The Welbars were totally accepting, especially Hazel, who is a mother hen in training. The 2 Sapphire Blue Plymouth Rocks weren't nasty to the littles either without their ringleader.

Then came Elsa.

And all was fine.

She pecked a little at them when they got in her way but Hazel consistently put herself between the littles and Elsa without challenging her. There were definitely some dicey moments and some heated squabbles with the littles huddled, hiding from the big bad Elsa but as long as there was no blood drawn, I let them just work it out.

After a couple of hours, I placed them all back in the grow-out coop together, without the partition. I also added some enrichment - a beaded rope bridge, a larger dust bath with herbs, and a new baby cake. They've been great! At bedtime, the littles went over to their old side of where the partition used to be, and Hazel the Welbar roosted on the chicknick table between them and watched over them while they slept. That was so cool to see!

 

[MasterofNone]

As for our flock, I pulled up a comfy chair and lifted one corner of the grow out pen for the littles to explore/escape as each wanted. There was a bit of chasing and pecking each time for a few days, but I only shut the littles in when they all started panicking. That only happened a few times until they figured out how to reliably escape the bigs.

Last Sat I lifted the corner of the pen 'permanently' and just kept a close eye on them thru the day. The big Orps were too excited to enjoy beautiful weather outdoors, so it gave the littles a chance to fully explore the coop. Course anytime they tried to explore the run, the Orps chased them back in. It was quite the game for a few days.

Finally after a week of having an escape and safe haven for the littles, they were all getting along fairly well. The littles had learned to pay due respect to the bigs and the bigs are letting the littles hang out with them without unwarranted harassment. There are a few cliches within the flock, but I figure that's to be expected and harmless so long as there isn't any major bullying occuring.

We pulled the grow-out pen yesterday, and again, checked often that there isn't any panicked pile-ups, but all seem to be quite happy with their new arrangements. The littles line up on the top roost bar like little kids trying on dad's boots, occasionally bumbling off or missing their jumps, which is too cute. But all seem happy, healthy, active, and unafraid, so...yay! Our flock is integrated.

 

[luckycluk]

As for our flock, I pulled up a comfy chair and lifted one corner of the grow out pen for the littles to explore/escape as each wanted. There was a bit of chasing and pecking each time for a few days, but I only shut the littles in when they all started panicking. That only happened a few times until they figured out how to reliably escape the bigs.

Last Sat I lifted the corner of the pen 'permanently' and just kept a close eye on them thru the day. The big Orps were too excited to enjoy beautiful weather outdoors, so it gave the littles a chance to fully explore the coop. Course anytime they tried to explore the run, the Orps chased them back in. It was quite the game for a few days.

Finally after a week of having an escape and safe haven for the littles, they were all getting along fairly well. The littles had learned to pay due respect to the bigs and the bigs are letting the littles hang out with them without unwarranted harassment. There are a few cliches within the flock, but I figure that's to be expected and harmless so long as there isn't any major bullying occuring.

We pulled the grow-out pen yesterday, and again, checked often that there isn't any panicked pile-ups, but all seem to be quite happy with their new arrangements. The littles line up on the top roost bar like little kids trying on dad's boots, occasionally bumbling off or missing their jumps, which is too cute. But all seem happy, healthy, active, and unafraid, so...yay! Our flock is integrated.

Great job!! Congrats