will my new chicks get on

[kaylakian]

i want to get some silkie chicks can i put them with my welsummers:/

 

[chicmom]

It depends on the age of the chicks. Are the Welsummers chicks too?

 

[kaylakian]

they are 5 weeks old at the moment should i get chicks same age or older

 

[chicmom]

Well, it would be a good thing if the chicks were very close in size before putting them together. Because the big ones will just beat the crap outta the little ones....they may even kill them. It's just the nature of chickens........

There are alot of things you can do to make the transition easier for them, like at first, let them see eachother but have a little fencing between them (or other barrier) so they can see but not touch eachother. Then let them loose after they're used to looking at eachother.

If you've got room, give the newbies a place where they can go to hide, eat and drink, where the bigger ones can't get to them.....no matter what, there will probably be some skirmishes....until they work out their pecking order......

 

[kaylakian]

thanks 4 the advice i may think again about gettin new ones

 

[chicmom]

Kay, I didn't realize, when I got my second batch of chicks that they wouldn't get along......SOOOO UPSETTING! I don't blame you if you pass on getting more, but if you're careful, you can add to your flock......it can be a pain though. Good luck whatever you decide.

Sharon

 

[kaylakian]

thanks sharon would be heart broken if the chicks were to die because i did something wrong

 

[kaylakian]

can anyone else tell me how to introduce 2 different aged chicks 2 gether with out any deaths are there any types that get on better or are all chickens the same

 

[dawnchick]

I've gotten away with just throwing them together, sometimes. Safer is to have a fence between them and let them see and hear each other til they are the same size, or at least for a week or two. And this is ignoring the practice of isolation for a month in case some have a disease. A search on here should produce much info on the subject.

 

[SkyWarrior]

I think it depends. I have several chicks of various ages together (3 weeks to 10 weeks) and they all get along okay, but the oldest chicks were raised with younger ones originally.