Biosecurity and integrating new birds with existing flock.

[Reurra]

So I had a thought. When I move my babies into the main coop with the adult birds, should I be concerned about the babies getting sick from the older birds? Im dividing part of the internal coop into a sub-coop to keep the youngsters in. Shavings and poo might pass between the enclosures. Should i be worried about this? Or should I have an actual dividing wall. I want the babies to be able to see the older birds so that when they are ready to be mixed we wont ahve an issue.

 

[Ridgerunner]

They are going to be exposed to anything the adults have at some point if you integrate them. I purposely take dirt (with adult poop in it) from the run and give it to the chicks in the brooder around Day 3. This gets any probiotics the adults have into them plus it exposes them to whatever the adults have.

Some things they will develop an immunity to better if they are really young, like coccidiosis. They may be able to resist some things better when they are older. But they are going to be exposed at some point. It's your choice when.

 

[Reurra]

Well, tomorrow I am going to build the sub coop, but I can either do it inside the existing one or put it just outside. I was wondering if using the same shavings as the other birds would be safe or if I should put in fresh. I keep my coop very clean and the only dirty shavings is the tiny poos that break apart. I just did a fesh whole clean about 2 weeks ago. there are bits of grass and feather mixed with the shavings now. Again, I keep a very clean coop.

Also, i was wondering, would standard chicken wire work on the divider, or would the adults tear through it and hurt the babies? My chicks are 5 weeks old.

Im pretty sure its warm enough outside for them. The temp has not drop below 40 on the coldest days and most days the nights are in the low 50s. 4 of them are fully feathered now, Stumpy will remain inside for a while longer.