How long do I Quarentine or do do I not worry about it?

[PineBurrowPeeps]

I currently have 14, 5 week old chicks.

My neighbor down the road has had some major problems with his hens getting eaten by foxes lately (his flock went from around 30 to 3 in a matter of weeks, they were picking them off two and three at a time)... Anyway, he ordered some ready to lay pullets from a place in CT, 15 for him and 5 for another neighbor who has since changed his mind. Since he knew that my chicks won't be laying for quite some time he came over and offered to sell me the extra 5 birds that his neighbor turned down. It's a win-win because I have been buying eggs from him and it'll give us some of our own eggs alot sooner, plus it gets a home for these 5 birds he's ordered...
Soooo, do I quarentine these new girls when they come? How long?
Thankies!

 

[morelcabin]

If the birds are coming from a reputable hatchery I wouldn't worry too much about quaranteen, really...and you can't put them in the same pen as your chicks yet anyway...so being in a different pen in the same shed should be fine

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

An entirely different question I know but; How old do my 5 week olds have to be to put with the older pullets I have coming?

I hadn't thought of this.... I only have one chicken coop and the 5 week olds are already in it, now I have to figure out where to put them all.
DUH

 

[cluckychick]

The chicks should all be relative in size. I would not put a full size bird in with 5 week old chicks. After seeing your signature, is it RIR your getting?

 

[SpottedCrow]

I would still quarantine for at least 4 weeks...

 

[Wildsky]

I recently added my babies to the coop with big girls - the babies were 8 weeks old.... I did take a chance, but its going really well - I have bantams as well which have been with the big girls for ever - so they're used to seeing the little chickens.

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

Yes, it's RIR's I'm getting. What type of Rhode Island Farmer would I be without some, right? lol