Some friends of ours have 4-6 hens and are going on vacation. They asked my parents to keep the 4-6 with their flock (about 30) while they are away. We always introduce new birds by keeping them close but seperate while they are getting used to each other, so my initial response was to advise my parents not to dump a few new hens into an existing flock. Is the introductory period necessary? I need some advice, we are new to chickens as of last year, and my parents even newer. My mom is wondering what to do??
You should never just dump new chickens into your flock. The new chickens should be quarantined for at least 3 wks. This is for the protection of both yours and the other person's flock. Your flock could have something they are immune to and then the new flock wouldn't be immune and would get sick, and vice-versa.
Personally, I'd suggest someone close to them go feed/water them. But I would never bring them into my flock without a quarantine period as has already been mentioned.
This is a bad idea. I also have a friend who wants me to babysit her chickens while she's on vacation. I have done it before, when I had more space and I could keep them separated, but this year, I had to say no because I've got more chickens and I don't have room.....first of all, there would be fighting, secondly, there is the quarentine rule anyhow. So, sometimes ya gotta say "No, sorry, I can't do that."
Thank you so much for your advice! My mom is bringing them to her place, but keeping them completely seperate from her flock -- glad we went with our "gut" and all your advice help solidify our initial thoughts.
