How likely is cross contamination?

[wrldlygrrl]

I bought a straight run of chicks six weeks ago. All are healthy, now 16 weeks old.. A week ago, I brought in a healthy 8 week old pullet. I want to give all (3) cockerels to a friend who has 200 free rangers in his yard (big yard), but he is afraid that my birds might contaminate his. Is this likely, if my birds are all well, kept in a cleaner than they may deserve coop, and are well kept in general, fed organic food only?

 

[BooBear]

He is being reasonable. If he takes the birds he will have to quarenteen them for 30 days to make sure they are not carring anything.
Unless your chickens live in a bubble they can be exposed to illness.

My chickens free range when I am home or another family member is home that can watch them. They are exposed to wild birds, squirrels, bugs, etc. I have neighbors around me that have chickens that also free range. Some insects are known for being disease transmitters; example the mosquito. So there is no 100% way to full proof your flock unless you can afford to keep them inside a bubble.

Your friend is not trying to be mean, he probably knows from experience the importance of biosecurity and being cautious.

 

[spish]

if i had a flock of 200 id be wary of bringing in new chickens too......he's not being mean, just sensible. tell him to quarantine the roo's for 4 weeks somewhere away from his flock, im pretty sure with so many chickens he knows about bio security and such

even the most healthiest looking chicken can be a carrier of disease

 

[Tala]

Quote:
Yup. Tis true.

I'm pretty lax with bio security myself, but I only have 20 birds to loose if something went way south and they are not part of a serious breeding program or a source of income. I could start over fairly easily if I HAD to.

Really serious people don't even wear the same shoes to the feed store or anywhere they might step in other farm critter's poop around their birds so they don't bring any diseases home. I bought some chicks off Craig's list and we met at a park to exchange them. He said he didn't want another chicken keeper coming to his farm for bio security reasons, which I can understand. Guess he wasn't your average back yard chicken keeper. Wish I hadn't lost his number coz I really like the birds I got from him. Call me unorganized I guess

 

[Katydid2011]

Because birds develop immunity according to environmental exposure, your birds may have developed immunity to something that his birds have never been exposed to and vice-versa. I doubt your friend is questioning how well you keep your birds. Well cared for, healthy birds from different flocks can still transmit disease, that's why it's important to have a quarantine period whenever introducing new birds into an existing flock.

 

[dawg53]

Additionally, there is no time limit on quarantining ie... 30 days seems to be the norm. However, there are poultry diseases that have long incubation periods as well as the course time involved that exceed the "30 days" quarantine period. Here's a link with some examples:
http://www.amerpoultryassn.com/respiratory_disease.htm

 

[wrldlygrrl]

Thanks, everyone. Actually, they do live in a bubble, as I have yet to build a run from them and the floor of the coop is plywood! I suppose a mosquito would get in there, but the chicks just jump around and eat them! Looks like freezer camp for the roos!

 

[speckledhen]

Anything is possible. Yours may be perfectly healthy and may not have anything to pass to his, but since we cannot see germs, you can't be too careful. He's being a good flock keeper and very sensible-everyone should be that responsible! It's not an insult to you at all. I do want everyone who takes birds from me to quarantine them before introducing them to their flocks--I know some do not and none have ever transmitted anything to my knowledge, but still, it's always good practice to quarantine at least 30 days, six weeks is better and yet, still, not perfect, as dawg pointed out.

 

[wrldlygrrl]

Thanks for your explanations---and I will heed your advice when adding to my flock!

 

[Paul1980]

I agree with the comments about certain flocks being resistant to some things while others are not. I bought two game hens from a very healthy looking flock. No visible disease, no anything. I brought them home, quarantined for 30 days. Put them in with my heavy breed (Plymouth rock) hens and 4 weeks later my hens started having bubbly eyes, sneezing, coughing. The game hens looked perfectly normal and never showed one sign of disease. I'm guessing they were carriers (yet resistent) to a disease. I've also noticed game chickens seem a lot more resistant to disease than other breeds. Has anyone ever experienced that? Many chickens getting sick except the games?