Biosecurity

[PsychoChickenLady]

I shared the following to my social media accounts and haven't really gotten an answer. I'm hoping somebody here will be able to share some insight. (THANKS)!

September 11, 2021 ~ "the best laid plans," "the road to hell is paved with good intentions," "out of the frying pan, into the fire," "no good deed goes unpunished," ~ we've all heard those sayings.

They all basically mean that something didn't quite turn out the way it was supposed to.

So here's the thing. Great lengths were taken to properly prepare a seperate coop and run for these annoying (adorable), little, four and five week old chicks we suddenly find ourselves surrounded by.

An old dog house was renovated and repurposed, a 6'Lx3'Wx3'H enclosed/elevated, predator-proof run, was built and attached to the dog house, and then the whole thing was butted up (too) close to our main run. They even got all the amenities, (observation deck, swing, foot spa, sandbox, indoor/outdoor perches, etc.).

All of these steps were taken to adhere to strict bio-security measures.

And then the minute our huMom turned her back for two seconds, (ok, it was closer to five minutes, but she had to chase after a wayward hen, Mellie has been on the run a lot lately), the little 's ran into the main run, OUR run. Our huMom chased them out almost as quickly as they scampered in.

Our question is, have all the bio-security efforts been for naught??

Is there anything that should or could be done?? They have only been cohabitating, beside us for just over one week.

[Cover photo credit: babcock-poultry.com].

#NewChicks #Littles #BabyChickens #MentalHealth #AntiDepressants #TheBestMedicine #BioSecurity

#Nankin #Bantams, #BarnyardMix #Wyandotte #GreenEgger #Ameraycana #OliveEgger #SorryNotSorry
#ChickenCoop #MyChickenCoop #ChickenRun #BackyardChickens #MyFunnyChickens #RedSexLink #ChickAntics #ChickenTherapy #CrazyChickenLady #CrazyChickenLadyOfTheGower #PsychoChickenLady

 

[nuthatched]

I'm not even sure what you're asking. You have two coops that are close ish to each other and you're trying to quarantine new additions? Unless the two coops are quite a distance away from each other (like acres) and you completely wash and change between them, I don't think you can have "biosecurity" between coops. If the young ones can live with the older ones, they can probably be mixed in.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Your biosecurity measures were for naught from the start. Quarantine involves a physical separation of substantial distance - there should be no opportunity for close contact whatsoever.

Maybe you've glanced at some of the other forums, say the disease forum, of late?? Rash of posters with pictures of infected birds, appears to be avian (fowl) pox - the nation has had a lot of heat, and about 1/3 of it just got real wet.

Fowl pox can be spread by contact. Fowl pox can be spread by sharing the same area (run) at different times. Fowl pox can be spread by mosquitoess carrying a blood meal (remember, hot and wet - mosquito outbreaks all over right now). Depending on your preferred info source, mosquitoes can help spread the disease between flocks separated by between several hundred feet and perhaps a quarter mile. Yours are separated by... 18 ga wire? (1/20th of an inch).

Fowl pox, of course, just one reason of many for biosecurity. Your quarantine box should be located as physically distant as is possible on your property from your main pen, with no static water source between them - pool, pond, etc.

I understand that you meant well. You will know better next time.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Ya I'm a bit confused myself.
But as stated above putting the coops next to each other isn't practicing biosecurity.

 

[PsychoChickenLady]

I'm not even sure what you're asking. You have two coops that are close ish to each other and you're trying to quarantine new additions? Unless the two coops are quite a distance away from each other (like acres) and you completely wash and change between them, I don't think you can have "biosecurity" between coops. If the young ones can live with the older ones, they can probably be mixed in.

I think I confused/combined biosecurity with introducing new flock members.

 

[PsychoChickenLady]

Your biosecurity measures were for naught from the start. Quarantine involves a physical separation of substantial distance - there should be no opportunity for close contact whatsoever.

Maybe you've glanced at some of the other forums, say the disease forum, of late?? Rash of posters with pictures of infected birds, appears to be avian (fowl) pox - the nation has had a lot of heat, and about 1/3 of it just got real wet.

Fowl pox can be spread by contact. Fowl pox can be spread by sharing the same area (run) at different times. Fowl pox can be spread by mosquitoess carrying a blood meal (remember, hot and wet - mosquito outbreaks all over right now). Depending on your preferred info source, mosquitoes can help spread the disease between flocks separated by between several hundred feet and perhaps a quarter mile. Yours are separated by... 18 ga wire? (1/20th of an inch).

Fowl pox, of course, just one reason of many for biosecurity. Your quarantine box should be located as physically distant as is possible on your property from your main pen, with no static water source between them - pool, pond, etc.

I understand that you meant well. You will know better next time.

Thank you. After reading these replies, I've realized that I confused/combined biosecurity with introducing new flock members.

And I have seen a lot of posts about strange rashes/bumps in several groups on Facebook. I know a couple were still looking for answers so I hope I can find those posts again.

Thank you!!

[I'm going to take my bio-stupidity lesson and definitely do better next time]!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

"See and be Seen" is an excellent method of integration - I routinely recommend. Unfortunately, after a substantial quarantine, then starting a SBS process, you are often looking at buying birds as hatchlings, and not completing introductions until they are late juveniles.

One of the reasons I started hatching my own. That, and even on many acres - a situation most aren't so fortunate to enjoy - I'm hard pressed to put my quarantine pen more than a couple hundred feet from my main flock. For most, I suspect 60, maybe 70 feet is all they can reasonably hope for.

 

[PsychoChickenLady]

Ya I'm a bit confused myself.
But as stated above putting the coops next to each other isn't practicing biosecurity.

Who knew that biosecurity and introducing new flock members were two different things?

Do they revoke, "crazy chicken lady" status due to stupidity??

(Asking for a friend).

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Who knew that biosecurity and introducing new flock members were two different things?

Do they revoke, "crazy chicken lady" status due to stupidity??

(Asking for a friend).

Not a chance!!!

We all learn by doing - its human nature. If the species learned from the mistakes of others, we might have made more than technological progress in all of recorded history - but our social successes are far less evident. Tribalism remains rampant, and we've still few good answers to the problem of scarcity.

 

[Folly's place]

There are excellent articles here about both doing new flock introductions, and biosecurity.
It's almost impossible to manage actual separation at home!
Having new chicks next to the flock for a while is an excellent way to ease their way into the resident birds, so that's good.
Bringing in birds from other flocks is always chancy from a disease standpoint, and if you do it, having quarantine involves TOTAL isolation, hospital grade isolation, not very practical at home.
Here we either raise our own, or buy chicks from good hatcheries, vaccinate there against Marek's disease and isolated from our coop for two weeks so they can develop immunity.
We were lucky when we started with chickens, and avoided disasters, but have gotten more careful (paranoia is good!) since then.
Mary