day old chicks with 3.5 week old chick???

[Mk_lanch]

hi,
3.5 weeks ago only 1 of my appenzeller eggs hatched . i didn't want the chick to be lonely so i called round everywhere local in the hope of buying some chicks for her.
unfortunately i couldn't get any so my only option was to buy some more eBay eggs and hatch them out. so 5 out of the 6 eggs hatched and i have 3 silkies and 2 polands . they are almost 2 days old.
i have them in a brooder separated by some mesh for now.
i have let the chicks run around the floor with the older chick supervised. there has been a bit of pecking but very similar to what the chicks are doing to each other (pecking toes,beak and feathers on the wing)
the main concern i have is these chicks are tiny compared to my 3.5 week old one.
i was thinking of keeping them separate for around a week and then try and put them in together

does anyone have any experience with this?
any advise

 

[emrya]

I don't with that young, but you should be able to integrate once the new babies are about a week old. I would keep them mesh separated until then and then do some supervised playdates until you are sure the bigger one won't get aggressive. I successfully integrated 2 4 week olds with 15 1 week olds this way.

 

[lazy gardener]

I have done slow, gradual integration with a 3 week age difference. Your biggest issue with this age span is that the babies need heat, while the other chick (if in your home) should be completely off heat. If you can use a MHP set up, it should work out fine. I'd wait till the babies are moving and eating well, then introduce them with supervision. Don't leave them alone together until you are sure there are no pecking issues. One thing you can do is make an enclosure in the brooder where the littles can escape from the bigger if needed.

 

[Mk_lanch]

thanks for all the advise.
today we have let them out together on the floor a few times and now the older one seems ok with them. the new chicks are beginning to follow her....also a silkie managed to somehow get into the older ones side of the brooder and must have been in there for at least 20 minutes before i noticed...she wasn't harmed so im thinking in a week they should be ok to try and put together.
the new ones were even having a go at pecking her!