A question about quarantining.

[Sylviaanne]

I was just given a white silkie boy about 4 months old. The man couldn't have roosters. He bought several chicks from a feed store that got them from a hatchery and has had them ever since. Since hatcheries have to be NPIPed and do inoculations would I need to do a full 4 week quarantine?

 

[lazy gardener]

It would be best. Even chickens in a closed flock, which means that other birds are not added... can get sick, and pass on illness. Even if the new bird appears perfectly healthy, it's possible that it has a latent disease, or is a carrier and can pass illness on to your flock.

 

[Den in Penn]

It depends on how safe you think the environment he was in and how much risk you want to take with your flock. If this was his first flock and his place didn't have chickens before it might be a very low risk of a disease or parasites. Not all hatchery chicks and vaccinated. Some just do it at request and charge for it.

 

[Sylviaanne]

It depends on how safe you think the environment he was in and how much risk you want to take with your flock. If this was his first flock and his place didn't have chickens before it might be a very low risk of a disease or parasites. Not all hatchery chicks and vaccinated. Some just do it at request and charge for it.

He said this is his first time but I also don't know how long he has lived where he is. I do believe they might be safe. What do I do about a friend for him, until quarantine is over? After 4 weeks alone, will he have a hard time integrating into my flock?

 

[Den in Penn]

At four months going into a quarantine he would be five months coming out. At the beginning he would be coming into his maturity. Give him a few wees of through the wire introduction and he would be raring to be in there. Of course the hens would want to teach him manners. If he has room to retreat to try again another day to win em over, all will be good. There is a protocol in quarantine that calls for putting a bird from your flock in with him about half way through the four weeks. That allows for you to see if the new bird is carrying anything infectious to your flock. That would mean you have to decide which one is to be the sacrificial lamb. However, they can take the four weeks alone.

 

[Sylviaanne]

At four months going into a quarantine he would be five months coming out. At the beginning he would be coming into his maturity. Give him a few wees of through the wire introduction and he would be raring to be in there. Of course the hens would want to teach him manners. If he has room to retreat to try again another day to win em over, all will be good. There is a protocol in quarantine that calls for putting a bird from your flock in with him about half way through the four weeks. That allows for you to see if the new bird is carrying anything infectious to your flock. That would mean you have to decide which one is to be the sacrificial lamb. However, they can take the four weeks alone.

Thank you. I realize that the quarantine goes both ways and that walking on any ground could pick up bacteria and stuff on the bottoms of our shoes but I don't think I'm going to have a problem with this little guy.

Why is the quarantine 4 weeks long? What would incubate that long before showing up?

 

[Den in Penn]

I know two weeks is what the majority of the diseases take to show symptoms. The last two weeks are jut to be sure that there really isn't anything. So I would say that it is four weeks out of caution. Or to do the added flock member to see if it is a carrier.

 

[Sylviaanne]

At four months going into a quarantine he would be five months coming out. At the beginning he would be coming into his maturity. Give him a few wees of through the wire introduction and he would be raring to be in there. Of course the hens would want to teach him manners. If he has room to retreat to try again another day to win em over, all will be good. There is a protocol in quarantine that calls for putting a bird from your flock in with him about half way through the four weeks. That allows for you to see if the new bird is carrying anything infectious to your flock. That would mean you have to decide which one is to be the sacrificial lamb. However, they can take the four weeks alone.

Ok, yesterday I tried to bring in a 12 week old chick, it's been 2 weeks since I got Sam, the Silkie. Prince could be a cockerel and Sam attacked him. Prince is a VERY tame, VERY sweet bird and he hid under a planter. He did not realize that Sam could have gotten him anyways if I hadn't stepped in. I put Sam back in his cage and he had a fit trying to get out and get Prince. Prince just stood where he was looking at Sam in the cage. I picked Prince up and let Sam out of the cage and I sat in a chair with Prince. Sam paced back and forth around my chair either waiting for Prince to get down or daring him to get down. I figure it has something to do with the pecking order or worst case scenario Sam protecting "his" home.

I put Prince back outside and brought in a hen. She is over a year old but when she saw him coming at her from the other end of the hall, feathers all up in the air, she didn't give him a chance to see she was a hen. She is still in the house but hiding.

Now, I am worried about putting Sam outside when the time comes. If he acts like this out there my Welsummer and Crested Polish might try to kill him. Will caging him with them (them on the outside) work to settle his aggression? Or their aggression toward him? My Welsummer and Elvis are the only 2 roosters I have had for over a year. All the other roosters I have are cockerels that are their babies and they seem to know their places in the pecking order.

Sam seems very aggressive to me. Do you think it is just because he has been alone in the house? That he will calm down when put outside? Separated for a while, of course. I would say that Sam is smaller than the Welsummer but built heavier than the Crested Polish although not as tall.