Neighbor wants to give me her Blue Orpington layers--have Scaly Leg Mites

[penella22]

So I am fairly new to chickens, having just gotten my first chicks in late May this year. I have eight 4 week old chicks. They are fairly healthy and happy although one does seem stunted in growth after having a prolapsed vent.

I went to a yard sale today where one of the things for sale was the family's chickens! She bought a bunch of Orpingtons from a heritage breeder two years ago. There are are blacks, and 2 blues. I told her I was interested in the 2 blues.

Then she told me they have Scaly Leg Mites. And now I'm thinking that I shouldn't get them. They're really beautiful birds though, and laying eggs right now whereas mine won't start for months to come. And she's willing to give them to me for free because of the mites. She's in the middle of building a new house and hasn't started treating the birds yet, but has bought some special oil to treat them with. She said she will start treating them today.

We don't quite have our coop finished--still need to put down linoleum and build brooder boxes etc. But if we got that done asap then I would have a way to isolate the birds with leg mites from my healthy chicks in their brooder, who don't need to go out in the coop for another 2-4 weeks.

What do more experienced people think? Good opportunity to get breeding hens, or something I shouldn't do?

I've also heard it's not good to mix birds of different ages together because of how bacteria cycle through the flock...does anyone know anything about this?

 

[Mrs. K]

ohhhhh my mouth is drooling, I would dearly love the whole works. I like BO's, and never have had either a black or lavendar....

However, I would not do it if I was you, you are borrowing trouble. Really, as much as I would like them.... I wouldn't do it either. There is no sense in adding a parasite to your property, especially when you have young birds there, and those mites are tricky, they would be invading those chicks unless you were super careful. Also, I have a full coop right now, and as is I will have to cull some before winter when they are confined more closely.

You are just getting started and I would imagine not a lot of experience. When you first get started, you are testing your coop/run to see how it works out for what number of birds. The thing is, what seems like a lot of space for the chicks you have now, those chicks still have a lot of growing to do and by October-November, a lot of the space will be "gone" due to the size of your adult birds. Another problem, that I have, is that going into December, the days are short, and my birds are spending 14+ hours on the roost and often staying in the run all day.

This time of year, they are roosting less than 7-8 hours, and I open the gate and let them free range down in the crick. They have a lot more space, so I can cheat on the numbers. I have a broody hen raising 13 chicks. Some of those will be roosters, so I will have roosters that need to be culled, I also have a couple older hens that will need to be culled, so that the rest will fit comfortably in the set up. Through trial and experience, I have found that 10-12 head fit best, over that and the flock starts stressing. I have had up to 18 in there, but that was way too many. Too many birds in a tight area = problems.

Everyone suffers from chicken math, and the ohhhhh I would love that kind of chicken, try hard to keep it in check, or you can be in a real wreck. And really, oh would I love to try a couple lavender birds.

Mrs K

 

[Mrs. K]

Also, the whole integration of the two flocks...... in 4 weeks, your chicks will still only be 8 weeks old, people do mix them in with the full grown birds, but it is stressful, and a lot of a time a real wreck, where sometimes the babies get killed by the attacking older birds. It is often suggested that it is better to wait until the young birds are closer to 16 weeks old.

At 8-16 weeks, they probably will be too big for your booder, and where are you going to put them?

However, by keeping them separated to get over the mite problem, you would have time to make sure they were not carrying a disease.

Mrs K

 

[penella22]

Thanks Mrs. K. for that very sound advice. I needed to hear it from someone else.

I truly appreciate your words of wisdom.

 

[lazy gardener]

An other thing for you to consider. These birds are already 2 years old. When you buy an older bird, you are at the mercy of the honesty of the breeder. Are they only 2 years old???? HMMM... this breeder sold birds that were obviously infested with scaly leg mites. This is an easy problem to detect just by looking at the bird. What else might you be bringing into your flock that can't be seen on casual inspection? Scaly leg mites are an easy problem to treat... much easier than other kinds of mites or lice... So, why was this breeder selling infected birds?????????????????????????

IMO, for myself, I keep a closed flock. That means that i don't allow any adult birds to enter my flock. I have brought in hatchery chicks. But I won't bring an adult bird, or even older chick into my flock. I told a friend that i would take back a rooster, but won't take it back until i'm set up with the butcher block handy, and will then take him straight from pet carrier to my freezer. And, even with a closed flock, i still have to deal with red mites.