Do you isolate new chickens before introducing them to your flock?

[auntbea67]

Do you isolate new chickens? Do you build a "holding pen" in the coop or away from the coop? How long do you keep them apart?

 

[Mahonri]

Most folks suggest isolation for at least 2-3 weeks to be certain that the birds are not sick.

There are lots of horror stories for those who didn't isolate.

 

[pixie74943]

away from the coop

and since I'm currently watching everything my newbies do with an eagle eye to work out whether they are sick or just confused about going from a 50chicken farm, to a 2 chicken pen... I'm glad I have them seperate, otherwise I would be stressing about the newbies, AND the girls I have grown attached to.


Although, I'm currently in trouble with the original girls, they havent been kept inside the run for more than 3 days since.. ever. And they are quite vocal in their displeasure at being restrained

 

[spottedtail]

It's best for chickens to go through life with their original flock mates only.

Introductions just cause stress for all the birds involved plus the owner too.
And it can go very bad.

spot

 

[greenthumbmama]

Hi! I am doing this right now. We adopted two 6 week old chicks from a family who bought them for a school project and were just going to dump them somewhere. My nephew was distraught about this and called me to see if we would adopt them. My husband built a chicken tractor for the new chicks and for now, they are in a different section of our little urban farm. They will remain "quarantined" for another few weeks. This also gives them time to grow more before we begin introducing them into our already established flock.