[COLOR=800080]Ok people-- I saw a listing on CL for young Bielefelder and Jubilee Orp pullets... before I commit to anything, I asked to see this person's flocks to make sure he is treating them well. I am planning on going this coming Wednesday (May 7th). [/COLOR]
[COLOR=800080]IF he is treating them well and they seem to be good stock, I might ask for one hen of each (depending on conditions). What kind of quarantine conditions do I need to prepare for? I want to build a small area on the other side of my yard for them to have a place to be but that means that my flock needs to stay away from that area right? How much can be passed through the air? I believe MS/MG can, from reading some of those threads in the illness/disease forum.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=800080]I'm also trying to figure out which clothes/shoes I can wear that won't be used in my own yard. As long as the clothes are washed right away, its okay to wear those in my backyard again? [/COLOR]
[COLOR=800080]Don't know if its even worth all the trouble...[/COLOR]
Oh, you know I had to chime in here as well! First of all, not only check out his operation, but check out the birds before you take them home as well! Look for signs of respiratory illness (runny noses or eyes, clicking while they breath, etc.), signs of parasites (scaly leg, lice, mites, etc.), and anything else that's just night right (deformed bones, tumors, signs of diarrhea, etc.). In the case of parasites, for the most part you can fix that, so it's your call whether you want to put that effort in or not. However, if there are any signs of deformations, tumors, or respiratory symptoms,
I absolutely would not bring those birds home.
Quarantine ideally is over the length of at least 4 weeks. CCCCCCCHICKENS was saying something about 6 weeks. I would go as long after 4 weeks as you can tolerate, but
no fewer than 4 weeks. The birds should be kept somewhere at least 100 feet from where your chickens roam. You are absolutely correct that some things can transmit through the air, such as Marek's transmitting through dander that can be carried on the wind, which is why 100 feet is recommended. That distance can be difficult to attain, though, so if nothing else, you can quarantine in a barn or garage that's completely closed off from your flock and your new birds will just have to live inside until they pass quarantine.
I highly recommend you take your least favorite bird from your flock and quarantine him or her with the new birds as well. I was just recently reading about someone who did the recommended quarantine of 4 weeks and then introduced the new birds into his flock only to find that they were asymptomatic carriers of MG.
The only way to find out if the new birds are asymptomatic carriers of something is to introduce one of your birds to them, cruel as it sounds. It could save the rest of your flock from devastation, though. This is a mutual exposure, too, because it gives the new birds some contact with your flock's flora (such as your native cocci, which is usually not a problem in older birds but you never know).
I assume you know what to look for during quarantine--anything respiratory, anything abnormal, anything that makes you suspicious--so I will leave that out of this post as I think it's getting lengthy enough. As far as clothes, I think if they are washed right away, they should be fine to wear out to your current flock. I would try to have a completely different pair of shoes to wear with the quarantine birds, though, as cleaning them could be difficult. Try to have a boot wash ready as well so that you can make sure you aren't tracking anything around. (I can look up a boot wash recipe for you if you need. I lost mine when my computer attempted suicide earlier this year.)
Whether it's worth it or not will have to be up to you. Best of luck, either way!
Yay, spring!
I'm almost there, just gotta survive this last week and I have a few months off for the summer! See y'all after my classes are finished for the semester!
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Thanks! This is my last Chemistry class for a while, I think, and thank goodness for that because it's been difficult! I'm a biology major and I've pretty much walked through my Bio classes thus far, but Chemistry makes my brain melt! 
I still have to take Biochem and Organic Chem, too, but maybe I won't have to take them for a while... 
