Just curious - with all the posts on diseased birds being "rescued" or purchased, how many folks on here have a closed flock and won't let anything come in? I am almost to that point - other than buying chicks (hatchery) and hatching eggs (will be done with both by end of month, too), I'll be at the point this month where I have my birds for my breeding flocks, and then I can hatch out anything I need (once the chicks are old enough to lay, that is). btw - is it still considered an enclosed flock if you sell? just a terminology Q, cause I'l be selling, but not bringing anything new into the mix. I sort of can't wait til those chicks get here and I can be done with buying chickens. I'll sleep better at night Had a scare back this last summer, but it turned out ok - made me think, though, that I don't want to expose my flock (and all the money, time and love invested in them) to something nasty that would make me cull every one of them. Nothing like a few sleepless nights worrying about something like that to make ya want to close your farm off from the world. meri
This thread has some excellent info on closed flocks: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=130878 As soon as I finish hatching the eggs currently in my bator, my flock is officially closed. I have all the breeding stock I will need. I intended to close it from the start of this project last year. I also intend to get my NPIP certification.
Yes, mine is closed. I do sell chicks and occasionally, hatching eggs, but once a bird leaves this place, it cannot come back. Years ago, I bought one rooster. He went through proper quarantine and was declared healthy, other than lice and favus, both very fixable. Then a very trusted friend who had never had any illness in her flock gave me an EE pullet as a gift that she hatched from eggs from a breeder. No other birds except a few hatchery chicks have ever been brought here . We refuse to buy from flea markets, shows, auctions, etc. Almost every bird I own was hatched right here.
