I said NO to chickens!

[SIMPleChick]

We're moving into a new house! WooHoo! It is on an acre and backs up to a creek and has a nice BIG chicken coop under a big, beautiful tree. It is dreamy...... so when the sellers of the house asked me If I wanted to keep their current flock, I said.....NO..... and here are my reasons for it. Tell me what you think and if you would have done the same!

1. When we close, we will be painting and fixing up the house 1 weekend, then coming back the next to move in and we have NO one to care for the flock for that week. P.s. it is 2.5hrs away and not somewhere I can drive to every day...LOL...

2. We have 2 High drive German Shepherds who are young and have not been raised around chickens. I felt raising a new flock from babies, with the dogs, would be the best way to introduce a flock to them.

3. I don't know their flock.... I don't know what I will be taking on... mites, medical issues, etc...and I worry about that.

 

[Isadora]

We're moving into a new house! WooHoo! It is on an acre and backs up to a creek and has a nice BIG chicken coop under a big, beautiful tree. It is dreamy...... so when the sellers of the house asked me If I wanted to keep their current flock, I said.....NO..... and here are my reasons for it. Tell me what you think and if you would have done the same!

1. When we close, we will be painting and fixing up the house 1 weekend, then coming back the next to move in and we have NO one to care for the flock for that week. P.s. it is 2.5hrs away and not somewhere I can drive to every day...LOL...

2. We have 2 High drive German Shepherds who are young and have not been raised around chickens. I felt raising a new flock from babies, with the dogs, would be the best way to introduce a flock to them.

3. I don't know their flock.... I don't know what I will be taking on... mites, medical issues, etc...and I worry about that.

I think the drive time in and of itself is a good reason not to take their current flock.

 

[WIchickMama]

I think the drive time in and of itself is a good reason not to take their current flock.

I agree, but I would have probably said yes only bc I am CRAZY, lol

 

[3KillerBs]

3. I don't know their flock.... I don't know what I will be taking on... mites, medical issues, etc...and I worry about that.

This is wise.

 

[Sally PB]

3 very good reasons! You did the right thing.

 

[Folly's place]

To avoid any problems if the previous flock had Mycoplasma, no birds there for three weeks will do it. Marek's disease is another story; plan to buy vaccinated chicks and have them totally isolated from that area for two to three weeks.
Any amount of cleaning/ sanitizing that you can do at the coop will be good, and waiting until a spring chick order will keep your sanity and give you time to arrange things better.
Moving is a total pain! This is one thing you don't need to deal with right now.
Mary

 

[aart]

Stands up and cheers ...Great Decision!!!

 

[Brooks_]

I would have said yes. Though if I were bringing my own flock, my answer would have been a firm maybe.

 

[Tclloyd0812]

Great choice, in my opinion. You're right about the drive plus not knowing the health of the flock. While it sounds tempting, diseases in a flock big or small can be devastating and not fun to deal with. You'd have to have a closed flock forever until those chickens passed. My suggestion would be (once you're on the property) to deep clean the coop at least once if not twice and let it air out for anywhere between 4 and 6 weeks before introducing new birds. Like others mentioned, things like mycoplasma and mareks are hard to get rid of, and I have a personal experience with these diseases and definitely recommend waiting on chicks until you know for sure the coop is cleaned and aired out.
And yes, definitely a good idea to raise the future chickens from chicks so your dogs get used to them.

 

[K0k0shka]

I would’ve said no, too. Fresh, clean new start.