I am so excited - more chickens!

[pookiethebear]

My neighbor came over last night and asked me if I wanted more chickens. Seems her other friend got a bit overboard and bought too many chickens this spring and is in need of getting rid of 8- 10 of them. He is going to give them to me for free. They are the same age (give or take a week or so) as my chickies. My coop is big enough that I have plenty of room for more birds. of course I said I would take them, as out of my 13, 4 are roos...one is going to freezer this weekend.

See if this sounds good...

I plan on getting them tomorrow evening...like dusk when they are sleepy. I will put them in a box to get them to my house (not a far drive) then put them in the coop that evening when the home chickies are sleepy also. They will all wake up in the moring to one big happy family...right??!!

 

[SterlingAcres]

Ummm... you need to quarantine those birds for a few weeks. If your birds can see them, introduction should go a little smoother, but expect some hassles with pecking order and such.

Good luck.

 

[pookiethebear]

Quote:
Why quarentine them for a few weeks? He got them the same place I got mine. he lives out the road from me, same area.

I could set teh brooder back up against the run so they can see each other and do thier introductions.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

Quote:
There are many reasons. He could have visited someone elses farm and brought home a disease to his birds. He may care for his birds differently than you, and their vaccinations or worming etc may not have been done. Maybe he didn't change their litter often enough or allowed them to eat from food or water that had droppings in it.... There are a whole host of reasons for quarantining them.

BIOSECURITY!!!! Can't stress it enough!!!!

 

[JennsPeeps]

Definitely better to be safe than sorry!

Keep them separate for a month. Let them see/hear each other but don't throw them all in together.

Search for Gumpsgirl's thread "Sick dying chicks" about her own personal nightmare when she didn't quarantine. She lost quite a chunk of her flock.

ETA: Your birds, even though from the same place, have led a different life than the others. Not good/bad, different. They've been exposed to different diseases, bacteria, and other pathogens. Yours may have had medicated feed & the others not, or vice versa. One flock could be immune carriers of some disease. Be safe: quarantine.

Gumpsgirl's nightmare thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=69444

ETA (again): you might be protecting the new girls from pathogens your own flock might have, too!

 

[Chicabee19]

newbie question:

what good would separating them do if they are close enough for dust and stuff to fly around in the air between them?

also, what about going from one area to the other in the same clothing and shoes, maybe carrying the same feed bucket, egg basket, etc?

 

[JennsPeeps]

The purpose of biosecurity is to allow the birds time to get used to the new area, get over stress, and for any diseases they might carry to become evident. If everyone seems kosher after a month, time to start integrating.

Biosecurity extends beyond the chickens being directly exposed to each other. You should make sure that they don't eat from the same bucket, you don't wear the same shoes from one pen to the next... basically that you don't contaminate one group with the other. It's a lot of work, sure, but safest for your flock(s).

That said, it's up to you if you decide to just throw them in together tonight and hope for the best.