My quarantine process, new rooster, will this work?

[tadpole98]

I am getting into raising silkies and for awhile now have been wanting to cross a mottled cochin x black silkie to eachother to see what we get. Today I finally found a nice bantam mottled cochin rooster, who I would like to add.
Now I realize the importance of quarantine, so I would like to ask my friends here if this would work, if I do not have what it takes to do it properly I am going to wait and do it right when I get it all.

Week one: He is going to go into an area 5' by 5' (approx) where the goats used to be, back before we moved them out to pasture. There will be food, water, straw for bedding, I would put something in there so he can stay warm. This is close to my grow out pen, probably 30 ft. away, which has 20 ameracaunas staying in it until they get just a bit bigger, most likely one more month. Is that too close?

Week two: If he isnt showing any signs of anything, no lice or mites or disease, I am going to bring up a 'sacrificial' hen, a mean one whom I dont like (I dont know who yet.. ugh), to see if he is a carrier.
If he has lice, mites, or anything else I will treat him for it and until all signs go away, then continue with my plan.

week three: If hen isnt getting sick, then she gets to come back to the coop and be happy again. But with him this is where it gets complicated. I only have 3 full grown silkies so far (lol i know, im starting slowly, getting the best quality I can, which is HARD), one is a white rooster, buff hen, black hen. Then I have 8 white silkie chicks (sex unknown) I got from BHep here on BYC (DOB new years eve!). I also have 3 coops that i have set aside for this, one of them is being used up by the other silkies.
Now i cant go putting a new rooster in with Koda, the silkie rooster who is very aggresive towards any other chicken (he loves people) that looks at his ladies. I want that black silkie bred to the mottled cochin rooster, but I know know if she will accept him. what is a good way to have them bred together, away from the rooster, then have the hen go back with Koda?


But then what about the rooster? Should I put him in a separate coop with the silkie chicks or is that a stupid idea?

If this is a bad idea let me know why and I wont get him. The only problem I have is what to do with the birds after I breed them..

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

If you're planning to quarantine him in a pen that's only 30 ft away from another pen containing 20 chickens, there's a chance they will be your "sacrificial birds" (if he's carrying anything). There is a form of Mereks that is spread by feather dander. Hypothetically, if he were to have that, the wind blows and....poof, you've just infected the 20 birds close to him.
That being said, proper quarantine is rather difficult to accomplish. You'd want to house him as far away from any other birds as possible (if your chickens are on one side of the property, you'd want to put him on the complete opposite side of the property). You'd want to also have a designated set of clothes and shoes to wear when you're tending him. You wouldn't wear these items while taking care of your other birds (don't even wear them in your house, as you could track something icky by putting on your normal coop shoes and walking where the other shoes had previously been). He'd have his own designated feed and water bowls. You wouldn't want to scoop feed, take it to him and then scoop feed for your other birds with out changing clothes (and, optimally, taking a shower first). Sounds unbelievably complicated and like alot of work, right? Whoa!!!
Most people don't go to these lengths to quarantine. I don't. I only-very occasionally-take adult birds from outside sources. If I'm considering this, I want to be able to inspect the bird I'm considering bringing home, the rest of their flock, their coops so I can gauge the conditions the chickens are kept in, ect. If I'm satisfied with all of that and bring said chicken home, that chicken goes into a quarantine/hospital hutch that is as far away from my other chickens as possible. My chickens don't free range, so there's no chance of contact there either. The new bird(s) stay in this hutch with no contact with others for at least 30 days. If there are no signs of illness, then they go into a cage in the coop to meet the others without the opportunity to get beaten up. A couple of weeks in the cage, and its out into the general population with them. I have brought chickens home and put them in the coop without quarantine, but those are only from very trusted/impressively clean-healthy looking, emergency situations. I just recently acquired a bantam frizzled Cochin hen that had been plucked from another BYC member. I brought her home with every intention of putting her in that hutch, only to discover that my heat lamp had crapped out. My spare is being used in the brooder, and she'd been plucked naked to the point where I thought she'd need one. So, I put her directly in the coop (she looks very healthy besides the missing feathers and this BYC members coop was impressively clean and her other chickens were gorgeous and very healthy looking). I guess my point is, if you cannot/aren't willing to quarantine properly, you're always taking a risk with your other birds. Go to this roosters home, inspect him and the other chickens thoroughly, ask to see the coops they're housed in. If the seller isn't willing to let you do these things, then pass on him. I've found that chicken people who care for their birds properly are MORE than happy to show them off and let you at least look into their coops (I've had people refuse me entrance, bc they don't want me tracking potential disease inside, which is perfectly understandable and leads me to believe they are a good place to buy from- but they'll open the door so I can peer in). People who.don't take such great care of their flock generally don't want you to go anywhere near their coops or their other birds. Usually I just politely tell them that I'll buy elsewhere. So, you'll have to judge the situation for yourself and do what feels right. If it feels wrong, it probably is. I've rolled the dice a few times and have never had an issue (touch wood). Just be selective. Oh, and there's no harm in treating him immediately for pests, whether you see them or not. Most poultry have some type of critters hiding out on them. Sprinkle him with a little Sevin and repeat as you normally would. I'm not sure this novel was much help, but, good luck!
Nikki

 

[tadpole98]

Since I cant quarantine properly, i am not getting him, and when i look closer into the pictures their coop is filthy and theres alot of chicken and not alot of coop.