# Mixing chicks of different ages



## Guest (Mar 22, 2011)

We have 23 2-week-old chicks. My husband found some Cuckoo Murans on craigslist that are 4 days old. He's going to go pick some up tonight. We don't plan on putting them with the older chicks....yet. At what point can we house the 2 ages together?


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## laughaha (Mar 4, 2008)

What breeds are the two week olds? How many Cuckoo Marans chicks are ya getting?


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## MrsSurplus (Mar 10, 2011)

JEALOUS! How awesome for you! I don't know enough to actually comment, but that never stops me. I think that if you give them a week or two you should be able to introduce. We have our's (16 of them - some as old as 3 weeks, some as young as a 5 days) in a metal trough next to our woodstove. If I needed to introduce some young ones I would see if I couldn't find a see-through barrier and separate them in the trough where they could still see each other and acclimate. (Some day I will have a real brooder and I will remember to build it with slots to slide some kind of wire barrier down for that very purpose!) Congrats on the Marans!


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## Guest (Mar 23, 2011)

Our older chicks are mixed Cornish Rocks, Buff Orpingtons, Black Australorps, and Dominiques. We got 8 Cuckoo Murans and currently set them up in a plastic container in the house. We are hoping that after a week or 2 they'll have some size on them and can put them in with the others. I'm excited to have a "rare" breed now.


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## laughaha (Mar 4, 2008)

Your older birds are larger breeds, I'd wait at least two weeks then test it out with putting the smallest of the older birds in with the younger birds. Watch closely to make sure the younger chicks aren't getting picked on too badly. If the younger birds handle themselves fairly well, then I'd start introducing the next batch of smallest older birds.


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

I wouldn't put them together until they are close to the same size or else the younger ones are old enough to be really fast.

They are going to work out their pecking order,and the older ones will have a huge size advantage. Chickens don't stop the pecking as soon as they win, and your little birds will be in for a difficult time.

However, I would raise them where they can see each other, so you will not be putting two strange flocks together.


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## Sanza (Sep 8, 2008)

Put them in together and watch to see what the bigger chicks do. If they pick on them then put the smaller ones in their own brooder. But if you have 8 new ones they should be ok.
I've had good luck with mixing the different sized chicks, without any picking by the bigger ones. I did it last year and I'm doing it this year with my leftover chicks that I don't sell as "dayolds". Last year I had cuckoos, australorps, ameraucanas and silkies all together, with the ages ranging 6 weeks from youngest to oldest. Right now I have some day olds in with some 2 week olds that are twice their size and there's no problem.


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## suelandress (May 10, 2002)

I've put 2 week olds in with 5 week olds, BUT they had been raised in cages right next to each other up to that point. I combined them all in a third cage that was new to everyone, adn introduced a lovely clump of grass to keep them all occupied. There was still some pecking, but mostly the clump of grass, bugs and all kept them amused. The 2 week olds spent more time under the heat lamp, where the 5 week olds didn't want to go....


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