Thinking of picking up three new pullets this weekend. Found some Speckled Sussex on craigslist that I'm interested in and am wondering what kind of special stuff we'll have to do to introduce them to our current flock. These birds are a little over 4 months old and our birds (all pullets) are about 3.5 months old, so size should be very similar between the new and existing birds. Should I expect any major difficulties introducing these new ladies into the pecking order? I hope not, because I sure would like to have them....
I have always known where I have gotten my chickens from, as in neighboring ranches, where I can see their set up, so I have always taken a risk with the disease factor. I just put them in the house after dark, and the next morning, every one was pretty cool. However, from Craigslist, you really should keep them seperate for a couple of weeks and make sure there are no diseases, to infect your other flock. Mrs.K
i picked up 3 speckled sussex this morning. they're two weeks older than our 6 other girls and appear to be in great health. they're gentle to be around also. i put them straight into the coop/run with the other girls to see what would happen. so far they've gotten along alright, but the new ladies want to stay in the coop. a little afraid of their new territory i suppose.
When ever you get new birds you should quarantine them for at least 30 days. Even a healthy bird could be carrying something. I would make sure to put them in quarantine them, there was a sticky on here about just this topic. There have been some BYC member's who have lost a lot of their birds from not quarantine the new birds.
I am glad they are fitting in! I really wish you would quarantine though. My neighbor once lost 147 birds to a disease from 5 birds from CRAIGSLIST.