Do you quarantine new hatchery chicks from established flock?

[lori43069]

I am fairly new to raising chickens, I bought my first chicks from tsc this april and they are all healthy and already laying. I have enjoyed my girls so much that I decided to order 6 more from a hatchery, my queation is, do they need to be quarantined from my existing flock or can they be in the same proximity until they are old enough to join the older girls? They will be vaccinated for Mareks before being shipped to me..

 

[4 the Birds]

You will want to keep them inside in a brooder until they are at least 6 weeks old (so you can monitor the temps). After that they can go to the coop. Ideally if you can make a separation area in the coop then they can spend a week or two getting acquainted before they join the flock. If you don't have a separation area then put them with the flock slowly and hope for the best.

A few days old in the Brooder


6 weeks old in a separation area in the coop

 

[Nambroth]

Even though hatcheries are not usually a disease vector when considering day-old chicks, there have been a few salmonella outbreaks over the years, though they are uncommon. I would actually be more concerned about the TSC birds transferring something to the new chicks before their immune system has a chance to get really started. Arguably, chicks hatched by a broody would undergo the same exposure, but the difference is that that hen is more likely to help kickstart immunities in the chicks that are specific to the flora in your environment. If that makes sense?
I always quarantine, but it is a personal choice.
I don't know where you are at but if it's anything like here, with super wet and warm weather, that is a breeding grounds for things that chicks can succumb to such as cocci, and so I'd use extra precaution to very gradually expose them to the soil and flora of your environment after they are a few weeks old.

 

[lori43069]

It's been over 90 here for a while...do they need a regular incandescent light? My first chicks were under a heat lamp because it was april and quite cold.. I have a 4x8 coop being delivered next week for my older girls, so when the chicks are old enough the they will be in the small coop temporarily separated from the rest of the flock so they can get used to each other on opposite sides if the fence.

 

[Den in Penn]

Straight from the hatchery, no. Having them in a separate brooder away from the flock does serve that purpose however. When I was thinking on how to set up a brooder I thought of putting it in the barn near the chickens pen. I built a tractor coop instead to serve as a brooder. I'm glad I did now. The last batch I got was in the feed store for a couple of weeks and who knows what contacts they made. They turned out to be in good health. If they hadn't been and I used a brooder in the barn...

 

[lori43069]

I got lucky with my Tsc chicks, they all seemed to be healthy however that doesn't mean their not carriers of something... we will see what the hatchery sends me, hopeful they are all healthy,

 

[lori43069]

Thank you all for the advice, it is greatly appreciated!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Straight from a major well-established hatchery, no I don’t worry about them bringing in something new. You’re dealing with living animals so I guess anything is possible, but the hatcheries are really big on biosecurity. The adult chickens don’t come close to the hatching end of the business. If diseases were anywhere common, they’d be out of business.

I keep my brooder in the coop. One reason is to expose the chicks to anything the adults have so they can start working on flock immunities and get the probiotics the adults have. They can develop immunities to things like Cocci much easier when they are young rather than when older. I go so far as to take some dirt from the run and give that to them on the second or third day they are in that brooder to make sure they get exposed.

I think they are healthier by exposing them young instead of raising them in a sterile bubble. They are going to be exposed to anything that is there any way when they hit the ground or join the flock. I think they stand a much better chance if they have had a chance to prepare.