8 wk olds vs 4 wk olds

[Wegs813]

I have 14 8 wk old chicks in a grow out pen in our shed. I have 4 4 wk olds in a brooder in the house. Is there a chance that I could put them all together, or would I be asking for problems from the start? I was going to try it tonight and keep an eye on them to see what would happen, but decided I would post here first to see what the consensus would be.

 

[Fred's Hens]

You might not have a huge issue now, but as the older ones mature, they might get really bossy and pushy about the little ones. If a littler one is at the food, count on a larger one giving it one heck of a peck!!! It's not a fair fight. Chicken politics.

 

[Pequena Bandada]

Problems!!! Your 8 week olds are significantly larger than the 4 week olds, and since there are more of them, you run the risk that a few of the "teenagers" will gang up on the babies and hurt or even kill them. Wait until they're closer in size... perhaps when the babies are 8-10 weeks old themselves.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

I got away with an even larger age disparity with my daughter's Silkie chicks, but I'd be hesitant to do this with other breeds. At the very least watch them closely for a few days because chances are you'll want to separate them.

 

[chkinut]

i know this is a different situation, but i put day olds in with my 2 week olds and they did fine....only a couple pecks here and there from one of my 2 weeks olds......of course the 2 week olds were outnumbered....i only have 2 of them, and 7 little babies. i'll be getting more chicks in the mail March 3rd....then i'll be worried, cuz i'll have 7 week olds and 5 week olds...then i won't really know what to do!