Bringing new birds home...

[emorems0]

Question about bringing new birds into the flock... I have my 4 new (adult) hens in the chicken tractor for quarantine, two of them are kind of dirty (looks to me like they may have been in a muddy run with a rooster iykwim, lol) and one of them has a dirty butt. I'm going to give them a bath tonight and check out their butts, especially the one with a dirty butt. I was planning to add cayenne to their food since it's supposed to help with cocci (in case that's the cause of the dirty butt and also just because the bacteria on my yard is different from what they are used to). Anything else I should check for or special herbs or anything I should feed them?

Typical quarantine is 2 weeks, right? Romeo already broke out of his run today to try to meet the new girls, lol.

 

[aart]

I don't believe cayenne will do anything to treat cocci or generate immunity.
Bathing the bird will only stress it out more, stress can bring out latent disease.

BYC Medical Quarantine Article
Poultry Biosecurity
BYC 'medical quarantine' search

 

[donrae]

How is cayenne supposed to help with cocci?

 

[emorems0]

When I had my turkeys and chicks brooding together I was told that adding cayenne to the food would help prevent blackhead in the turkeys... It was my understanding that blackhead was caused by coccidia parasites so I assumed that meant cayenne was not a friend to cocci. Maybe I remembered wrong about the cocci-blackhead, but I'm sure I'm not mistaken about cayenne fighting parasites.
http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-benefits-of-garlic-cayenne-and.html?m=1

http://www.irishfowl.com/talk/topic-28471.html?c=6

Can anyone offer any advice on ensuring and improving new, adult chickens' health while they are in quarantine? Things to watch for, etc?

 

[aart]

Blackhead and cocci are caused by different protozoa.

Garlic, cayenne and other condiments might help as a preventative,
and many folks would swear to the death that those supplements perform miracles,
but I sure wouldn't count on it.

Best things to ensure healthy birds is provide them with plenty of fresh clean water everyday, simple balanced feed and a clean stress free environment.
Observation over time of their behaviors, intakes/outputs and close, careful inspection of their bodies for external pests and condition.
If after some time of observation, then explore supplements/treatments to apply (one a time with more observation of results in between) that they might need.

JM2C