Moving to New Home - Did I Take on TOO Much - HELP

[MaggieRose2001]

Hi.

We just purchased a new home and we close in 2 weeks. Our 10 chickens are currently in a Coop we built for them a year ago. But we have finally found a home to buy and are moving. Here is my concern:

The house has an existing barn that had all kinds of animals in it - it has a chicken section as well as pens for other animals. I believe they had goats, cows and sheep as well as the chickens in their barn; but they got rid of them about 6 months ago. Do I need to worry about diseases or quarantining? I need to put the chickens in the barn while we are breaking down and moving their coop - plus I want it to be their new home. Can I take my chickens and just put them in a new barn?

I close on the 15th and I thought I would spend a week cleaning out the barn - bringing it back to square one - before moving my chickens to their new home. Is that good enough? Also, I have 20 baby chicks plus a mama chick with 5 chicks that I need to move as well. I thought I would keep the baby chicks and mama with chicks in my home in brooders and then put them in my new home for a few days before taking them to the barn.

I feel like I have all of sudden gone from backyard chickens to a farm and I have no clue what I am doing. But I have jumped off the diving board into the deep end there is nothing left but to learn how to swim. Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

 

[cavemanrich]

Here are my thoughts,,
There may or may not be any trace of diseases in that barn. Another thing,,, since it was vacant for a while,, the things that were potentially there,, may have died off. (diseases that need a live host)
The other possible bad cooties that may still be present,,,,, Well there is not very much you can do aside from Total Commercial Style Disinfecting,, $$$$$$$$ or second option,,, Destroying barn down to the ground. I don't suggest second option at all.
Do reasonable routine cleanup, and practice good animal husbandry,, and things should work out well for you.
When I clean out my coop,,(super-clean style) 2 x per year. I spray inside with laundry bleach . I use generous amount,,, and when dry,,, coop is quite sanitary. I of course keep chickens out for that portion,, until coop TOTALLY DRY and ventilated out.
If you choose to do such,, use precautions to not get bleach on yourself, and avoid breathing of vapors as much as possible. Then close barn doors, and let the disinfecting do its job. I would call this "poor mans commercial disinfecting"
You may consider doing such inside your barn areas, before you move your flock in there.
Also keep in mind,, that some diseases come on the wind,, so no way to prevent everything unless we are living in a bubble. Of course that is not realistic.

WISHING YOU BEST ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,in your new home

 

[NatJ]

Can I take my chickens and just put them in a new barn?

Check to make sure it is predator-proof and escape-proof.
I agree with what @cavemanrich says about cleaning.

 

[MaggieRose2001]

Here are my thoughts,,
There may or may not be any trace of diseases in that barn. Another thing,,, since it was vacant for a while,, the things that were potentially there,, may have died off. (diseases that need a live host)
The other possible bad cooties that may still be present,,,,, Well there is not very much you can do aside from Total Commercial Style Disinfecting,, $$$$$$$$ or second option,,, Destroying barn down to the ground. I don't suggest second option at all.
Do reasonable routine cleanup, and practice good animal husbandry,, and things should work out well for you.
When I clean out my coop,,(super-clean style) 2 x per year. I spray inside with laundry bleach . I use generous amount,,, and when dry,,, coop is quite sanitary. I of course keep chickens out for that portion,, until coop TOTALLY DRY and ventilated out.
If you choose to do such,, use precautions to not get bleach on yourself, and avoid breathing of vapors as much as possible. Then close barn doors, and let the disinfecting do its job. I would call this "poor mans commercial disinfecting"
You may consider doing such inside your barn areas, before you move your flock in there.
Also keep in mind,, that some diseases come on the wind,, so no way to prevent everything unless we are living in a bubble. Of course that is not realistic.

WISHING YOU BEST ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,in your new home

Thank you so much. I figured I should be ok - but I’ve read how when bringing a chicken from a different flock is so dangerous and how you have to quarantine it. I just wanted to see how other people move with their flock.

 

[Percheron chick]

As someone who had a converted stall as a coop, you are going to love it. Lots of room, probably power, hold lots of chickens, airy, all the animals together so speeds up chores, place to hang out in bad weather... Even without pictures of the barn or coop, I say save yourself and sell the coop or leave it for the next family.

 

[MaggieRose2001]

As someone who had a converted stall as a coop, you are going to love it. Lots of room, probably power, hold lots of chickens, airy, all the animals together so speeds up chores, place to hang out in bad weather... Even without pictures of the barn or coop, I say save yourself and sell the coop or leave it for the next family.

I am so excited to have a barn for all the reasons you just mentioned! I figured I would keep the coop as a “romance cottage” for breeding. =)

I am new to farming and animals. Well, I’ve had chickens now for a whole year so I’m an expert on those. If I transition my chickens from the coop to the barn and if I plan on having them out in the fenced pasture during the day - where do they lay their eggs. I guess I need to have portable nesting boxes out in the pasture for them - correct?

Also, while in the barn at night do I need to lock them up in their own enclosure or just let them roost anywhere with the other animals.

Finally, I am also adding 20 baby chicks to my 10 chicken flock. I plan to keep them in my house until fully feathered then putting them in the barn in their own stall so the other chickens can see them. How long do I keep them separated? Also, I have a broody hen with 5 babies. I had to remove her from our coop because it’s off the ground with stumps and not safe for the babies. Do she is in our house in her own playpen. Do I keep her separated from the other chickens in the new barn or do I put them together. The babies will be 3 weeks old when we move.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Percheron chick]

The hens will return to the barn to lay. You will keep them up in the stall/run for up to a week while they get in the groove.
You want the chickens to have their own space that they return to at night. During the day, they will wander around with the goats, donkey and horses, pick through the poop but sleep and eat with their own kind. Best to start off locking them up at night. You can count on having the regular predators, dogs, coyotes, raccoon, owls and probably fox. Chickens are rather messy so discourage them from hanging out in the barn during the day.
I would go straight to the barn with the new batch of chicks. They will still need a heat source but with that many, it may be about one week max. Dec 2020, I bought a batch of 25 3-4 week old chicks. Went straight to the barn in a 6x10 pen with one 3' heat plate. Built a berm around the pen with hay bales to cut the draft. Nights got into single digit. Stopped using the heat plate in about 2 weeks.
I would place the hen and her chicks in the same stall but leave her in her playpen.

 

[MaggieRose2001]

The hens will return to the barn to lay. You will keep them up in the stall/run for up to a week while they get in the groove.
You want the chickens to have their own space that they return to at night. During the day, they will wander around with the goats, donkey and horses, pick through the poop but sleep and eat with their own kind. Best to start off locking them up at night. You can count on having the regular predators, dogs, coyotes, raccoon, owls and probably fox. Chickens are rather messy so discourage them from hanging out in the barn during the day.
I would go straight to the barn with the new batch of chicks. They will still need a heat source but with that many, it may be about one week max. Dec 2020, I bought a batch of 25 3-4 week old chicks. Went straight to the barn in a 6x10 pen with one 3' heat plate. Built a berm around the pen with hay bales to cut the draft. Nights got into single digit. Stopped using the heat plate in about 2 weeks.
I would place the hen and her chicks in the same stall but leave her in her playpen.

Wow. Thank you so much for the info and help. I will definitely do that.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Hi.

We just purchased a new home and we close in 2 weeks. Our 10 chickens are currently in a Coop we built for them a year ago. But we have finally found a home to buy and are moving. Here is my concern:

The house has an existing barn that had all kinds of animals in it - it has a chicken section as well as pens for other animals. I believe they had goats, cows and sheep as well as the chickens in their barn; but they got rid of them about 6 months ago. Do I need to worry about diseases or quarantining? I need to put the chickens in the barn while we are breaking down and moving their coop - plus I want it to be their new home. Can I take my chickens and just put them in a new barn?

I close on the 15th and I thought I would spend a week cleaning out the barn - bringing it back to square one - before moving my chickens to their new home. Is that good enough? Also, I have 20 baby chicks plus a mama chick with 5 chicks that I need to move as well. I thought I would keep the baby chicks and mama with chicks in my home in brooders and then put them in my new home for a few days before taking them to the barn.

I feel like I have all of sudden gone from backyard chickens to a farm and I have no clue what I am doing. But I have jumped off the diving board into the deep end there is nothing left but to learn how to swim. Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

How did everything go? My grandparents kept their pig, cow and chickens in their barn. The pig had a stall, and the cow too, the chickens were hosed above the cow stall. If you're interested, I can get more info for you. Lmk