Mixing 1 week old Silkies with regular baby chicks

[Jenhenjlm]

I have six baby Silkie chicks that will be one week old tomorrow. They are currently separated in another brooder box from the rest of the flock. My other chicks are close to two weeks old… those breeds are ISA Browns, Leghorns, Barred Rock, Wyandottes, Rhode Island Red, Sapphire Gems and Easter Eggers. I was told that Silkies are fragile birds and they wouldn’t do well with the rest of my baby chicks until they got a little older. My question is when would you mix Silkie chicks with regular chicks? I obviously would love to do it as soon as possible so they can get used to one another. Especially since they will be sharing a coop outside. But I do not want to harm the Silkies in any way! Thank you.

 

[Lor]

I don't know anything about silkies but wondered if the chicks can see each other?
Have you read about the "see but don't touch" method? That might work for introducing the chicks without worry of the silkies getting injured.

 

[Battlepants]

So, in the past, I have raised a mix flock of silkie and full sized together. And 1 week in age variance is close enough in that they will be about the same size. I expect no issues there.

HOWEVER, with the avian flu going around, I would strongly suggest keeping the two groups separated, especially if they came from different places. At least doing this for a couple weeks to see if anyone is showing symptoms. And making sure you are washing your hands between dealing with each group to reduce exposure.

 

[Jenhenjlm]

I don't know anything about silkies but wondered if the chicks can see each other?
Have you read about the "see but don't touch" method? That might work for introducing the chicks without worry of the silkies getting injured.

Yes that’s a good idea. I will just have to get creative on how to do that within the brooder boxes, lol. Right now I’m just using those big plastic totes as brooders.

 

[Jenhenjlm]

So, in the past, I have raised a mix flock of silkie and full sized together. And 1 week in age variance is close enough in that they will be about the same size. I expect no issues there.

HOWEVER, with the avian flu going around, I would strongly suggest keeping the two groups separated, especially if they came from different places. At least doing this for a couple weeks to see if anyone is showing symptoms. And making sure you are washing your hands between dealing with each group to reduce exposure.

Oh my! I didn’t even think about that. Thank you.

 

[Pmmmmc]

I would separate the bantams from the bigger chickens, the bigger chicken can be a little rough sometimes.