How do you know quarantine works

[Ole rooster]

I read about folks putting new hens in quarantine. And I understand why. But how do you know if they are ok or something is wrong. I you don't have medical test run how do you know? I just don't understand how it's know 30 days or ever how many is right.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Look for sneezing, discharge from eyes, beak, lethargy. Also look in droppings for worms. Look at feathers for mites.

After 2-3 weeks of quarantine a huge worm showed up in the poo of the last chickens I got from a swap. Turns out they had mites, too. Now any new addition to the flock gets dewormed and treated for mites upon arrival and still gets quarantined for 4 weeks.

 

[ThePamperedPullet]

Many poultry diseases have a 7 - 14 day incubation period to them. Then it may take even longer to notice the symptoms. You can never be 100% sure as stress is the leading factor to bringing out many dormant diseases in fowl. People just use the 30 day rule as a guide. This gives you plenty of time to observe any new birds and see what might be ailing them if anything. It also gives you time to worm them and also clear them of parasites.

 

[Ridgerunner]

About all quarantine will do the way most people do it is tell you if the newcomers are already sick with an obvious disease and the person keeping them did not recognize it or that they have been exposed to something recently. You have to look for symptoms, whether those are trouble breathing, coughing, mucous or some discharge, really strange poop, or they are scrunched up, lethargic and not eating or drinking. Some symptom that something is not right. It is also a good time to treat for worms and check them for mites and lice.

It is not a guarantee at all. It is still possible that they carrying a disease but they have developed an immunity to it. No matter how long you quarantine them, they won't show symptoms. It is also possible youir chickens are carrying something but have an immunity to it and will give it to the newcomers. There is one side bar to this. Occasionally a chicken has a disease but will not show any symptoms. But since relocation and quarantine can be stressful, sometimes the stress will weaken the chicken enough so the symptoms show up.

Bottom line is that it does not guarantee anything but it is another one of those things that improves your odds of success. Quarantine will catch some things. But part of it working is that you recognize a sick chicken when you see it.

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
There is no guarantee birds will be healthy even if they made it through the 30 day quarantine. Something could show up afterwards and infect your whole flock...it's a risk that a person takes. Medical tests are great if you have the time and money to spend on your birds, but is it worth it if you bought only a few birds? Fortunately, most diseases and problems show up within the 30 day quarantine, allowing you time to treat the problems or cull.

 

[Ksane]

The reason *I quarantine is to deworm them, then do the follow-up deworming 10 days later. To bathe them and treat them for mites/lice if they've got them. Then to give them some time to come down with any potential disease they're incubating. It doesn't cover all the bases (as I've found) but all you can do is the best you can do. Or just don't bring in other birds, hatch your own.

 

[flowerchild59]

After the first two weeks of observation, you can take the weak link of the flock, the token sacrificial lamb, and add it to the newcombers pen. After two weeks, if it isn't sick, then you are probably good to go.
There is good advice on the other posters too.

 

[Ole rooster]

Wow. Fantastic replys. This has been so much help so it means I have to start on a "new comers" pen. I've found some hens I really would like to have but I'm but I see now I'm not ready to undertake the process.

Thanks a ton.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Quote:
Thankfully you asked first. It's sad but we see a lot of posts on here from people who got birds from swaps and have no where to put them or didn't consider quarantine. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't.

Not sure if anyone else mentioned this but a good quarantine pen can also be used as a broody box (to either have them sit/hatch protected, or to break them) or to protect a sick/hurt chicken from the rest of the flock without fully removing him or her from the flock. I'm very glad I have a couple of boxes built and cages of different sizes/types for all the various reasons.

You may want to check out:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=585527&p=1

 

[babyrnlc]

I quarantined the last pullets I got, but I made the mistake of letting my chickens free range and of course they all went to the new cage and checked out the new girls, did not work at all.