Adding to my flock

[newchickgirl]

So I picked up 12 new chickens today from a local person who was getting rid of her flock. I talked with her for a long time and she takes really good care of her chickens so I don't think I'll have a problem, but I'm new and wanted to check. I got 11 various hens and 1 buttercup rooster varying in age from 1.5-4yrs. How long should I keep them separate from my 12 slw's and partridge rocks? 10 of mine are 12 weeks and 2 are 16 weeks. What is a good introduction strategy? Right now I just have mine in the coop which I will let out tomorrow and I have the "new" chickens in the run. Should I just let them meet outside?

 

[ChickenCop]

First and foremost your going to have a pecking order issue...Not so much an issue but they will mess with each other until everyone knows their place...I have always had the best luck putting them in at night...After the birds are up on roost and the lights out, I then put in the new birds. Come morning they will not be such a shock on your prior birds. Be sure to check for mites, and treat before you mix the two flocks together.

 

[annie3001]

Quote:
hello.
i would def let them meet outside.....thats what i did, it worked. there were no major worries about (who owns what) kinda thingy. (darn cant remember the right word) (okay its really too early for me).

oh i just thought of the word!~!!!! neutral area!!!!!

good luck!

 

[dawg53]

You must keep them completely quarantined 30 days from yours. I dont know how you're going to do it, but it's a small price to pay rather than introducing possible diseases/parasites to your current flock. Thirty days will give you time to visually inspect each of the new chickens and observe any abnormalties and treat accordingly. Practice biosecurity. Check out yesterdays posts from "Boring farm" and read what happened to their flock when they introduced new chickens to theirs without quaranting....a whole large scale operation has to be destroyed. At the end of 30 days and if there's no problems you can put the newbies in a run next to your chickens so they can get used to seeing each other for a week or two. This will make the introduction easier at your discretion afterwards.

 

[Mrs. K]

I understand about bio security. However, if you were able to physically and visually inspect the place where you got the chickens and see the whole flock, I would not worry so much as if you went to a sale barn or got something off craigslist, where you meet somewhere in town, and cannot see the premises where you got the chickens.

It is a risk, but if you can see the place, and it is clean and the birds are healthy, I would not go to the expense and hassel of keeping them seperate for 30 days. Now, if this was my income, and I had a huge amount of money invested in my birds, and I had a huge flock, THEN I would take the biosecurity much more serious and definitely quarantine for thirty days. But then I would have much larger facilities also.

Know that you will be taking a risk, but it would have to be pretty darn dramatic disease to lose both the flocks, and I can hardly believe that some of the flock would not look obviously sick now. Healthy birds look healthy. Sick birds look sick.

Mrs.K

 

[dawg53]

Mrs. K. I hear what you're saying. Chickens can be carriers of diseases (humans too) and you'd never know it, til your chickens start getting sick. Infectious bronchitis comes to mind, not to mention parasites like worms, the things you cant see. Fowl pox is a good example if a chicken was just bitten by an infected mosquito, and dry pox isnt life threatening. Thirty days is about the amount of time fowl pox disappears, quarantine time. Normally, big operations take extraordinary precautions that I wouldnt even think about lol. For my small flock, any new additions whether it be one or many newbies...30 days quarantine in a seperate part on my property away from the others. I've put alot of time and money into my current flock and would hate to see it all go down the tubes for a preventable mistake on my part. I have 3 hens in particular that are pets and I wouldnt want to hurt them in any way, nor the others as well. I wish everyone the best with their choices.

 

[Buff Hooligans]

I did exhaustive research on this subject and made this webpage for BYC. Please look at it>

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2593-adding-to-your-flock