I am asking here because I have poured over countless threads and am not finding answers to my specific situation. I am hoping someone much more experienced than I can assist! Thank you in advance. I have a two part question;
1) I just successfully hatched 2 chicks in an incubator from eggs of one of my bantam hens. The flock is a year old, and were all purchased at the same time from TSC. Am I safe to introduce my newly hatched (unvaxxed) chicks to the flock in a few months? I was told to buy medicated feed for them… is this the safest plan? How long do they need it?
2) I have 16 chicks coming from McMurrays in 2 weeks. I chose to have them vaccinated for Mareks and Coccidiosis, as my flock at the time of purchase consisted of only vaccinated birds. When can I add the chicks, both vaxxed and unvaxxed, together (if at all) before/with the older birds?
All of my chickens are healthy. I haven’t seen any “sick” birds. I have seen too many conflicting threads. I know people hatch their own chickens and keep expanding their flocks- what are the tricks to this? How do I do this safely?
1) I just successfully hatched 2 chicks in an incubator from eggs of one of my bantam hens. The flock is a year old, and were all purchased at the same time from TSC. Am I safe to introduce my newly hatched (unvaxxed) chicks to the flock in a few months? I was told to buy medicated feed for them… is this the safest plan? How long do they need it?
2) I have 16 chicks coming from McMurrays in 2 weeks. I chose to have them vaccinated for Mareks and Coccidiosis, as my flock at the time of purchase consisted of only vaccinated birds. When can I add the chicks, both vaxxed and unvaxxed, together (if at all) before/with the older birds?
All of my chickens are healthy. I haven’t seen any “sick” birds. I have seen too many conflicting threads. I know people hatch their own chickens and keep expanding their flocks- what are the tricks to this? How do I do this safely?