My bro-in-law has a friend who raises chickens for sunwest foods, (they supply eggs to safeway here in BC) Anyway he has to many chickens (white leghorns) and he has 50 or so over limit (no idea why) So he told my brother in law that we could have as many that we wanted if we wanted some. I'm assuming these chickens probably don't live in the best conditions because my brother in law said something foolish like "well of course you have enough room they live 4 to a cage" I of course responded by saying "we don't raise chickens that way. I have room size wise for 10 more adult birds in my exsisiting coup. But I think I read somewhere its not a good idea to introduce new birds to an old flock? I have several other "out buildings" I could make into a coup, but I would need a couple days to complete and I guess these chickens will be culled today if they don't find new homes (they are 19 weeks) We have always planned on having another coup, but having just bought this property (and it needs lots of work) we have lots to do on it and havn't found the time yet. So I'm wondering should I take 10 and introduce to my exsisiting flock or should I get outside and work my butt off and ready them their own "coup"(i could then take all 50, i think im crazy) It would be possible for me to have it chicken ready on the inside however they probably would not have a run till mid-week or next week-end. Any thoughts?
You should quarantine them for several weeks before introducing to your flock. Recommendations run fron 3 -6 weeks. You never know - even if they appear healthy, you'd not want to introduce any disease to your flock. If they are used to being caged, that will help the quarantine process, since you can keep them in a small, temporary area well away from your other chickens and they won't mind too much if they are used to being confined. Once the quarantine is over, then introduce them. I've not got personal experience with that process (yet) but read enough here to know it may be better to put them close where they can see and interact with the other chckesn, but can't have direct access for a week or so. Then, put the new chickens in with the old after they have gone to roost for the night. Hopefully when they wake up in the AM, they'll not realize those new chickens are in there and there will be less agression. Of course if anyone else who has done this before posts otherwise, I'd defer to more of an expert than myself... LOL Good luck!
trust me best to keep them seperate for a while . i got some sick birds because i bought some new and didnt wiat. better safe than sorry..