Bio-quarantine and integrating old ladies questions

[snailpenguin]

How quarantine-y do you get when quarantining new chickens before bringing them into your existing flock? We're in the process of setting up a new mini-coop (12 sq ft, run underneath, moderately mobile), to hold newcomers before they join the main flock in the big coop (56 sq ft, walk-in, stationery, attached run, etc.)

We are planning to adopt some unwanted adult hens this time around, so I feel like precautionary measures are more important than if we were dealing with day old chicks.

1. How far apart should the new chickens be while under quarantine? We could put the mini-coop on the opposite side of our property. Very low risk of them contaminating our main flock by air, etc. But this is a hassle for chicken chores (hauling feed, cleaning equipment etc. to two sides of the property). Putting them on the same side of the yard would be much preferable. I could separate them by like 30 feet?

2. I plan to keep separate food, water, gloves, litter tools for the month long quarantine.--What am I forgetting?

3. Can I let them supervised-free-range in the same locations during separate times? Or should I throw up some temporary fencing to make sure they are staying on their own turf until the newbies get the all-clear?

About a month in and we're confident of health, we'll plan to move the mini-coop closer, to start "see-don't-touch" introductions.

Side questions:
A) Are coop swaps, where the old flock gets the new flock's coop and vice versa beneficial for integration or reducing territorial-ness problems?
B) Any unusual experiences when the "old flock" are pullets but the "new flock" are hens?

 

[Mrs. K]

This depends entirely on your ability to take the risk. If you loose your entire flock, will you go into a state of decline? Some people are very attached to their flock. Adding older birds, raised in different circumstances make this a very real possibility.

It is incredibly difficult to do a proper quarantine in a typical backyard, but there is no cheating at quarantine - if you cheat - you may as well as not do it. They cannot share the space or the air. Many disease travel on the air, on caretakers shoes or clothes. Clothing and shoes should be changed in between working with each group.

Now to be honest, if I am getting hens (and I have numerous times) from someone local, who has a flock like me. I figure that IS the quarantine. It is NOT 100% safe, but it is a pretty low risk. However, I have read on another group, where people attend swaps and auctions, and that rather makes my blood run cold. The chance of birds in those circumstances picking up disease sky rockets.

It is noble idea of taking in rescue birds, but the older the bird is, the more likely they may have picked something up. Stresed birds tend to get sick. New surroundings even in better circumstances can be quite stressful.

Personally I would NEVER take a bird I feel sorry for. I just do not want to risk my own birds. I will take local birds, birds that are raised like mine, I would not take factory birds, or spent birds, IMO too much risk. If I did take those in, it would be a very stringent quarantine.

Mrs K

 

[snailpenguin]

This depends entirely on your ability to take the risk. If you loose your entire flock, will you go into a state of decline? Some people are very attached to their flock. Adding older birds, raised in different circumstances make this a very real possibility.

It is incredibly difficult to do a proper quarantine in a typical backyard, but there is no cheating at quarantine - if you cheat - you may as well as not do it. They cannot share the space or the air. Many disease travel on the air, on caretakers shoes or clothes. Clothing and shoes should be changed in between working with each group.

Now to be honest, if I am getting hens (and I have numerous times) from someone local, who has a flock like me. I figure that IS the quarantine. It is NOT 100% safe, but it is a pretty low risk. However, I have read on another group, where people attend swaps and auctions, and that rather makes my blood run cold. The chance of birds in those circumstances picking up disease sky rockets.

It is noble idea of taking in rescue birds, but the older the bird is, the more likely they may have picked something up. Stresed birds tend to get sick. New surroundings even in better circumstances can be quite stressful.

Personally I would NEVER take a bird I feel sorry for. I just do not want to risk my own birds. I will take local birds, birds that are raised like mine, I would not take factory birds, or spent birds, IMO too much risk. If I did take those in, it would be a very stringent quarantine.

Mrs K

Thanks, this is all good food for thought. We are considering hens from very local, where the woman just doesn't want to be dealing with chickens anymore. But I will definitely put more thought into the questions about their age and "upbringing" thus far to see if I can gauge risk.

Curious how far you consider "local" for your own standards. Do you stick within your own town or a certain miles?

 

[Mrs. K]

Well, in western SD anything under 60 miles is local. And 90 miles is a just a small ways to go. We are ranchers. Mostly these are friends that I have met up with because we all keep chickens.

Mrs K

 

[snailpenguin]

Well, in western SD anything under 60 miles is local. And 90 miles is a just a small ways to go. We are ranchers. Mostly these are friends that I have met up with because we all keep chickens.

Mrs K

We're in a very different boat here in the Philadelphia suburbs. I'm looking at local chickens from 2 miles away now but trying to decide if I'd consider a few towns over and 40 min away (where it's more rural and there are more farms) local still.

 

[rosemarythyme]

A good read on quarantine: https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...nderestimated-part-of-raising-chickens.67097/ Like this article recommends 100' separation, which can be pretty difficult to pull off in a smaller yard, as well as changing shoes and clothes each time you switch to the other set up. The birds cannot share free ranging space as that would expose them to bacteria, viruses, etc. the other side is carrying.

 

[snailpenguin]

A good read on quarantine: https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...nderestimated-part-of-raising-chickens.67097/ Like this article recommends 100' separation, which can be pretty difficult to pull off in a smaller yard, as well as changing shoes and clothes each time you switch to the other set up. The birds cannot share free ranging space as that would expose them to bacteria, viruses, etc. the other side is carrying.

Thank you! This article is just what I needed! I'm fortunate in that I should be able to manage this set fairly well outside, aside from the fact that our permanent coop is already the most downwind part of our property...but I think I should be able to manage this pretty strictly and safely. Never would have thought to try the canary in the coal mine without this! (Now to think about who my least favorite chicken is...)

 

[aart]

main flock in the big coop (56 sq ft, walk-in, stationery, attached run, etc.)

That's not very big...how many new and old birds?
How big is run, in feet by feet, and is it weather/predator proof?
Pics would help here.
Integration gets tougher the smaller the space, especially the coop.

Even 'local' birds aren't going to make a difference,
unless both keepers have been communing and 'cross-contaminating' their flocks already but visiting one another.

 

[snailpenguin]

That's not very big...how many new and old birds?
How big is run, in feet by feet, and is it weather/predator proof?
Pics would help here.
Integration gets tougher the smaller the space, especially the coop.

Even 'local' birds aren't going to make a difference,
unless both keepers have been communing and 'cross-contaminating' their flocks already but visiting one another.

Hmm, I'll see if I can attach pics...(all my coop pics are the in progress ones from our build process...I'll have to get updated ones at some point soon now that it's got windows and whatnot...)

Right now, we have 5 12 week old birds, with the plan to eventually house a maximum of 12, introducing 3-5 newbies at a time.

I have a 7x7 ft ultra-predator & weather-proof run built into the side of the coop (fully roofed, heavy gauge hardware cloth underground all the way up through the rafters, attached by auto chicken door (this is where their food, water, etc lives.) I realize 49 sq ft is tiny, but it's really just their morning screen porch or super-foul weather hangout.

Daily, we let the chickens out to either free range on our half an acre (under loose supervision and fenced by 6 ft, but this is how we lost 1 to a hawk already...) or into a series of modular pvc pens covered with garden mesh (not predator proof, but so far so good as a hawk deterrent). So far, I have two 4x4s and one 5x5 of the modular system (57 sq ft total, which works for our 5 birds, and I figured I'd build more for our quarantined flock and then integrate them into the full modular system for a more complete chicken chunnel-engagement system.

We also have plans for a predator-deterrent (I am not burying more hw cloth!) 10x15ish run off the far side of the coop, but first I need to put some finishing touches on the main coop still, like the fascia and trim...

 

[Mrs. K]

You know, I think I would stick with your original plan of adding chicks next spring. There is a lot of disadvantages to adding older birds. It would give you time to get things built.