Integrating young pullets with mature hens - what's the best age?

[QueenMisha]

 Something that has been on my mind is that we've never addressed where those chicks are coming from. No problem with days olds, but I'd worry about anything over 5 weeks being introduced. Shouldn't they be quarantined if they come from another flock or even a hatchery?

Yes, 100% always quarantine. You can get lucky 99 times out of 100 but it only takes once to introduce an infectious disease into your flock. I have had personal experience with this (MG and MS infections due to poor quarantine procedure) and believe me, it's heartbreak whether you choose to depopulate or keep the birds and treat whatever ones you can.

The only exception I ever have to quarantine is chicks >1 week old, originating from an NPIP hatchery. Any chicks who come from non-NPIP breeders and any juveniles/adults should ALWAYS be quarantined. You are so, so much better off safe than sorry.

 

[Beekissed]

That's one way to handle it. Another is to build such strong immune systems in your flock that you don't have to worry about disease being introduced...and that's not luck, it takes work and fortitude and it is successful, even more so than quarantines. I take the latter approach as it's more sustainable and much more effective for the life of your flock keeping years.

One thing I do take into considerations are carry on pests, so new birds get dusted and slathered with CO on legs, feet and combs. Other than that, I have no fears of disease happening here.

 

[unbaked pegga]

I just got this little Crele Orpington 3 days ago and it will be awhile she roams free. My other 3 docile (huge) orpingtons have decided they would like to have her as a snack

 

[QueenMisha]

I just got this little Crele Orpington 3 days ago and it will be awhile she roams free. My other 3 docile (huge) orpingtons have decided they would like to have her as a snack

You sure that's a pullet? There's a lot of red in those shoulders and that comb and wattle is pretty big. If it's a young bird I'd be surprised if that was female...

 

[bobbi-j]

I feel that quarantine is a personal choice - neither right nor wrong. The thing is, so many people don't have the room to do it properly and think that sticking a new chicken in a cage or pen next to the flock is "quarantine". When it's advised on here to "quarantine your birds" that advice should be followed with instructions on how to do so properly. I rarely bring new birds into my flock, and when I do, it's from trusted sources and I don't quarantine. When the time comes that I lose my flock to some sort of disease, I may rethink that. Again, I don't think it's a right or wrong decision - just one that we all have to make for our flocks.

 

[unbaked pegga]

I just got this little Crele Orpington 3 days ago and it will be awhile she roams free. My other 3 docile (huge) orpingtons have decided they would like to have her as a snack

You sure that's a pullet? There's a lot of red in those shoulders and that comb and wattle is pretty big. If it's a young bird I'd be surprised if that was female...

 

[unbaked pegga]

Oh now don't be saying that. I paid for a juvenile hen. (And paid more than I should have) the wing tips don't come up like they do on a rooster. I can't be having no rooster within the city limits. (Besides I don't want a rooster)

 

[bobbi-j]

Oh now don't be saying that. I paid for a juvenile hen. (And paid more than I should have) the wing tips don't come up like they do on a rooster. I can't be having no rooster within the city limits. (Besides I don't want a rooster)

How old is this bird? What do the feathers around the neck and lower back look like? Can you get close enough for good pics of them?

 

[Beekissed]

I feel that quarantine is a personal choice - neither right nor wrong. The thing is, so many people don't have the room to do it properly and think that sticking a new chicken in a cage or pen next to the flock is "quarantine". When it's advised on here to "quarantine your birds" that advice should be followed with instructions on how to do so properly. I rarely bring new birds into my flock, and when I do, it's from trusted sources and I don't quarantine. When the time comes that I lose my flock to some sort of disease, I may rethink that. Again, I don't think it's a right or wrong decision - just one that we all have to make for our flocks.

I so very much agree! So many diseases out there for poultry, many of which are transmitted in different ways~via mosquitoes even, some of which a bird can merely be a carrier but do not show signs or symptoms, etc., are a consideration. Proximity to the flock~distance, soil sharing, bedding, handling of feed and watering equipment of both pens of birds and how it can affect the outcome, even the shoes one wears from one coop to the next, cleaning out of the pens, ventilation and wind direction, runoff, etc. are all things to take precautions with in quarantining livestock but I seriously doubt that many backyard flock keepers are taking the necessary precautions to prevent disease transmission. Most don't even know how to prevent disease in their primary flocks, let alone how to quarantine an animal effectively or what to look for when they do so.

Even then, with all precautions taken, a bird can be a carrier without signs of illness and can carry that right into a flock that will be exposed to that disease for the very first time and be stricken with it all the same. If one is merely depending on quarantine to keep their flock safe, it's a very short sighted effort towards flock health, even if they have the facilities and know how to do it properly.

 

[chickenlady1150]

That's one way to handle it. Another is to build such strong immune systems in your flock that you don't have to worry about disease being introduced...and that's not luck, it takes work and fortitude and it is successful, even more so than quarantines. I take the latter approach as it's more sustainable and much more effective for the life of your flock keeping years.

One thing I do take into considerations are carry on pests, so new birds get dusted and slathered with CO on legs, feet and combs. Other than that, I have no fears of disease happening here.

What is CO and what do you dust them with? I have heard of dusting with DE and I have that but have never actually dusted a chicken, I just mixed it into their dust baths.

How do you build a strong immune system in your flock?