Chicks: Young with old?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anonymous
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Anonymous

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So we have 35 chicks, soon to be chickens. They're about 3 or 4 weeks old now. They're active and fun, real cute. We're getting another 20 chicks in on Friday. Can we put them in with the older ones, or should we keep them separated? My guess is separated, but maybe not....
 
Yes, you are right, they should be kept separate. They will bully the smaller chicks and can stand on them crush them.

Another reason not to mix the age groups is from a disease point of view - the youngsters will need time to build up immunity.

I have moved your post from Health to General too.

Tim
 
Thanks. We separated them fairly well. A few of the older chicks have learned to fly over, but nothing has gone wrong so far.
 
I tend to work on size = when they can fend for themselves, they can usually be mixed.

Chickens get something called acquired immunity as they grow up - basically they are exposed little bit by little bit and build up a tolerance to disease. If you mix them with older chickens, they can catch disease as they don't have the level of immunity that the older birds have.

Something to keep in mind. Although it is more work keeping them separate until they are a bit older, it can save you on a lot of problems.

I hope this helps
 
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