how long to wait before adding new chickens to flock

[clr1216]

I bought some new baby chicks and want to make sure they are healthy before adding them to my existing flock. They are only two weeks old now and since I have to wait till they are about six weeks of age before taking them out of the brooder, would I see any sign of sickness in 4 weeks? Would it be pretty safe to add them by then?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I bought some new baby chicks and want to make sure they are healthy before adding them to my existing flock. They are only two weeks old now and since I have to wait till they are about six weeks of age before taking them out of the brooder, would I see any sign of sickness in 4 weeks? Would it be pretty safe to add them by then?

How old are the other birds in your flock? How are you planning to integrate them?
Generally speaking 30 days is the minimum amount of time for a good quarantine to expose any illness and prevent spreading it to the other group (btw, this is 30 days symptom free so *if* one of them shows signs of illness you have to go 30 more days after the last day of symptoms, essentially resetting the quarantine clock).
The bigger concern, imo, is safety of the younger/smaller birds as far as what age would be optimal to introduce them to the existing group -- which goes back to what approach you are planning to use for the integration process.

 

[clr1216]

We are planning on adding them for short periods of time each day supervised and housing them separately in a smaller area until we feel they are safe. I just want to make sure they are healthy first.

 

[clr1216]

We are planning on adding them for short periods of time each day supervised and housing them separately in a smaller area until we feel they are safe. I just want to make sure they are healthy first.