Quarantine Questions?!

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EggresiveAli

EggresiveAli

Chirping
6 Years
Sep 3, 2013
294
7
83
Scotland
Hi guys,
One of my hens seems to be quickly deteoriating, and not getting any better. I feel it's just a matter of time before she passes on.
So, it's my mums birthday on Monday, and she wants to get two new chickens from the same supplier we bought the previous three from. ( only 2/3 remain but I fear one is on the way the out )
SO, I have a few questions about the quarantine,

-Do you have to quarantine a hen from the supplier?
-Space may be a bit of an issue, so can they share a coop at night, no?
-How long should the quarantine last?

Cheers in advance.
 
Are you getting hens or day old chicks? My upstanding is any grown hen should be quarantined for a month- housed and kept completely separate just in case they're carrying some disease. Day old chicks do not need to be separated:
 
You don't HAVE to do anything.

Do I quarantine? OH YES! All of my birds are from one supplier and even they go through quarantine when I get them. Coops are as far apart as I can get them. I change clothes between caring for each flock. NOTHING crosses that imaginary line between coops; food, supplies, shoes..NOTHING!

I do this for at LEAST one month.

My last batch of birds I had one of the new ones just drop dead. It turns out she had had salmonella at the breeder, but, while no longer contagious, was still suffering from side effects and died from them. Had she still been contagious, she would have killed my whole flock in one fell swoop had I not quarantined.
 
You could and should quarantine, but as they are from the same breeder they should have similar immune systems. On the other hand your sick hen could have something that she may pass on to the others. I personally would try to resolve the issue of the sick hen before I brought new birds in.
The breeder may have health issues in his flock.
 
Quarantining as described above needs to be 300 feet apart. This is nearly impossible for most backyards. If you don't do quarantine correctly, you may as well not do it at all. Kind of , sorta just does not count.

Quarantine rules were set up for serious flock people. People who have a great deal invested in the flock. Large number of birds, where as introducing a disease can wipe out a flock, and there are people on here that has happened to.

If losing your flock would wipe you out financially or emotionally, then you need to quarantine and do it properly. In real serious cases, I have heard of after 3 week, you pick a sacrificail bird from the original flock to do a final test.

However, for most of us, this is a hoby and while it would not be fun to lose the works, it is not going to ruin things. I often have introduced birds without quarantine, but not willynilly. Healthy birds look healthy, it is not 100%, but still. If you can see where they are coming from, getting them from reputible businesses, things should be reasonably safe.

However, I do belong to another forum, and they make my blood run cold. I do not buy birds from auctions or swaps. And I do not buy rescue birds, or any birds I feel sorry for. I only add what appears to be healthy.

It is a risk, but it works for my set up.

Mrs K
 
Quarantine is a little more involved than a few hundred feet . Mosquitoes , rodents and native birds are capable of carrying a multitude of diseases from one flock to another. The northern red fowl mite is capable of carrying mareks, mycoplasma, coryza and infectious laryngitis , to name a few.
Quarantine is a personal choice , some people bluff their way through and some seem totally unaware of the dangers. I only have a small holding of 50 birds but I don't allow other chicken owners near my coops and any sick birds are kept 500 meters away , inside a completely vermon proof cage , with double fly wire around it.
if I had a dollar for every story I've heard about people taking new birds into their flock and ultimately ended up with sick and dying birds, I'd be a very rich lady.
Call me ' cautious ' , but I've seen seemingly healthy birds diagnosed with mareks.
 
I agree with fancychookslady, and fully respect her closed flock. But she has a great deal more to loose, 50 birds is a financial investment, in birds, coop and fencing.

The op, only has a couple of birds, not nearly the risk. With 50 birds, raising chicks is part of the set up. With two or three hens, not always the case.

It is a risk any time you add birds, however it is not the same risk for each flock.
 
Last edited:
UPDATE:-

Today we collected one ISA Brown, and a bluebell. I gave both a fairly thorough check, and they both seem healthy, and energetic. They are beautiful birds, but are a LOT smaller than my others. Therefore, they share the enclosure, but I have put two fences to separate the girls. They are still very nervous in the garden :)
One thing I did notice, the ISA's bottom beak is a tiny bit larger than the top, but I seriously doubt it is cross-beak. Any suggestions on what it is? :)
 

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