Let's Talk Quarantine!

[littlecritters]

I have permission to quote this post from another thread:
Originally Posted by magsrags

With ..... look for respitory illness, strange looking or runny poops, pests on their skin, sneezing, coughing, shaking their head or any discharge coming from any place it shouldn't. Stay strickt to the 2 weeks though..... as stress alone can make a pre-existing disease they live with suddenly rear it's ugly head when their immune system is vulnerable.

I can't tell you how many times in the 4 years or more I am here that I've read posts about a seemingly healthy and great bird brought mayhem into a flock because it wasn't quarentined properly first.You really don't want to go there.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

 

[littlecritters]

I have permission to cross post this quote also:
Quote:
Originally Posted by JerseyHen

I have kept them in quarantine in a dog crate for 2 weeks in the house. I just take them out and carry them around with me and we have a nice walk in the yard every day (or in the playpen in the yard, think small fenced in area while I garden), then into the crate for an hour or two here and there to eat/poo/drink then in again at night to sleep. I find it really helps them to get used to you and lets them be in a relatively low stress environment for a time (since they have just been taken out of one flock, before sticking them in with another).

For instance, the most incredibly adorable and sweet silkies that Vera was kind enough to bring this direction for me are chirping softly at the side of my desk as I type this. Have I mentioned how much I love them? I LOVE them!!!! So does everyone else. They are getting a lot of lap time.

 

[littlecritters]

What happened?
I put sevin dust in the dust baths, and if the young ones who are taken care of by a broody hen, decide to dust bath then they do. Never had any issues what-so-ever with sicknesses due to sevin dust being used too early.
I just don't bring in adult birds from someone that I don't know, and even then, I rarely do. I only do chicks, and don't buy from someone that doesn't vaccinate their flock for ILT, as it is a disease that has wiped out a few flocks in my province a few years back. It is a reportable disease, and they will come and exterminate your entire flock.
Know who you are buying from. Visit their farm with proper shoes like mentioned above. I also change all my clothes and shower after visiting a farm and going back out to my flock. My rubber boots I wear 100% of the time on my land, never leave the back step.

I'm going to PM you...

 

[littlecritters]

Here is a link to a BYC member page with good info on parasite control and infection --->
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/bairos-member-page

 

[aoxa]

Here is a link to a BYC member page with good info on parasite control and infection --->
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/bairos-member-page

 

[aoxa]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/699874/local-man-selling-infected-poultry-knowingly
Check out what happens when you don't quarantine.

Lots of tips to add from that thread on what to do when you purchase new birds.

Quite honestly, I avoid these chicken swaps and auctions like the plague, for the plague is pretty much that which I fear.

I would never bring anything home from them. I showered after the June sale that we went to in which he was in attendance. My shoes were my regular outdoor shoes, and not my barn boots that I wear every time I go down to my own barn, but I washed them in the washing machine anyway. Speckledhen's thread really had me properly trained I just wish I could have told my friend about this before she went ahead and bought the birds.
If it is ILT, my birds will be safe from it when I bring them to show, as they have all been vaccinated. I wouldn't even bring any birds in if I had a suitable quarantine place. They would HAVE to be ILT vaccinated and from someone I know practices proper biosecurity, and even then, I'd be iffy.

I am not NPIP nor do I ever plan to become so. I practice reasonable and common sense biosecurity to keep disease out of my flock and wish to keep the gov't out of my day-to-day business as much as possible. If I decide to become some big time breeder and make a practice of mailing out hatching eggs regularly, then I may change my mind in order to do that legally, but I don't see that happening.

 

 

[NYREDS]

It amazes me to read about the extremes people go to-changing shoes & cloths, not visiting other flocks or allowing anyone to visit theirs, quarantining birds for a month after a show, etc. I've kept birds for over 50 years & have never done anything like that. I've never quarantined a new bird, when returning from a show other than some louse powder birds go right back where they were & I often have other people with chickens visit & I always show them my birds. In spite of this I've never suffered major losses & frankly can't remember the last time I had a sick bird. I don't vaccinate& never have. I never medicated any sick bird I did have, I simply culled it as I saw no reason to preserve a bird that was prone to illness. My chicken medicine cabinet consists of a coccidiostat, louse powder & a hatchet.
As someone who shows I also often visit other breeders & have never had anyone not allow me through their barns because I have birds of my own. Most of the show breeders I know use an approach similar to mine.
It's ironic that I often read here about someone who reports taking all the extreme recommended measures to protect their flock & they lose all their birds to disease anyway. I remember reading about someone who cleaned their coop every week & part of the cleaning process included bleaching the interior of the coop. They couldn't understand why their birds got sick when they kept things so clean. I use the deep litter method & clean my coops once a year.
Part of the reason I don't have health problems is that I breed for disease resistance. Any time I have ever had a bird that got sick I culled that bird. The theory behind this is that birds who are prone to disease are likely to produce offspring that are also prone to disease while healthy birds are likely to produce healthy offspring. I also believe that an imune system needs something to do. if it's never challenged it doesn't stay strong.
I think everyone should care for their birds in whatever manner they are most comfortable with but I firmly believe my way is better & it's certainly less work.

 

[7L Farm]

I rarely introduce new birds to my flocks I hatch all mine from my birds. But I have intro two different Roos & one pullet. I didn't quarantine.I was worried but guess I got lucky. I don't show chickens & I'm not real concerned about breeds. People ask me all the time what kind of birds do you have I hatched them all so I call them Texas Reds. I guess quarantine is something to consider. Especially, now for me I'm up to around 60 birds I would hate to loose that many birds. The only bird I would intro would be another roo if need be. So, yes I would quarantine him. I hate integrating new birds I just hatch more & build another coop.

 

[Suzierd]

With horrible diseases like Mareks out there that if brought home will stay in your soil for seven plus years. Even if your bird that got exposed was very healthy with a strong immune system and does manage to stay alive it will be a carrier and shed the diease to all birds it comes in contact with and by the time you know it all your birds have it. And even healthy birds are dieing.
I think quarantine is a must. My other birds deserve to be protected. A little precaution can go along way.

 

[NYREDS]

Not sure where you got the "seven years" info about Marek's but you're mistaken. Marek's is already in your environment, it's everywhere a wild bird has ever flown. Marek's is a very common disease of growing birds, especially large fowl. I think you missed a critical point & that is the culling of any bird that becomes ill. Marek's is never, to my knowledge, asymptomatic so you would know if a bird was infected & that bird would be culled, You are correct that some birds may recover & become carriers but since I would have culled those birds it's not an issue.

There is ample scientific evidence that a high degree of resistance to Marek's can be achieved through selective breeding: [CHICKEN DISEASES by F. P. Jeffrey [Pub: American Bantam Association]