New chicks and biosecurity question

[igorsMistress]

Hi all

I recently purchased some chicks from a breeder. Chicks were incubator hatched and living inside the house. I saw the parents, all looked healthy and were energetic.

I have a small mixed flock already. I go out to my older birds first and feed/water etc, then scrub up and take care of the littles. The littles have a bucket of soil from my yard in their brooder to bathe in.

I know the littles would do well to get some sun too and we have a playpen outside they can go in. So, can they go outside after a couple weeks of observation? Or should I wait a full 30 days?

My bigger birds free range in my yard.

 

[chickens really]

Already they are exposed to anything your others have....Yes, take them out when you feel they are ready?....

 

[theuglychick]

I can tell you what works for me.

My biddies go out in a biddie pen from 3 days on.

It's on well-drained, mostly shaded with some sun dirt/shell in my main run that my big birds are in and out of throughout the day.

If your flock is healthy, then the risk of disease is low, save for the stuff they all pass around from time to time.

Biddies love sun bathing and rolling and scratching in the dirt. And it's good for them.

A lot of people try to hermetically seal their birds off from contagions, but I've learned that's it's not really practical or possible. Or at least until I can get wild birds to stop visiting me. But I like the wild birds so they're here to stay.

Being stringent about quarantine of new older birds is always smart, but for the biddies, some exposure is necessary to build immunity.

To date, I've not had a biddie die after I put them on the ground. That's including chicks that were shipped (they have died from shipping stress before I put them out), hatched in an incubator, hatched under a broody, and bought from other breeders.

That's not to say I haven't had contagious diseases, because I have. But other than the occasional cocci, (which is a right of passage for birds here in Louisiana) the contagious stuff usually happens to my older pullets and cockerels and is usually contracted from wild birds or natural disasters.

I'm sure a lot of other people will be able to give you more advice and input. Hoping the best for you!

 

[igorsMistress]

@chickens really and @theuglychick that's what I was thinking. I brought in the soil so they're exposed anyway, but was thinking about the older birds. I have tons of wild birds around though so figured they're exposed to whatever regularly anyway. So what difference will it make? Thanks much for your replies!

 

[chickens really]

We all take our chances...Your right wild birds carry disease into our yards plus our own Chickens have disease that they are immune too...Do as you feel is best...

 

[aart]

but was thinking about the older birds.....

...being exposed to what the chicks might be carrying?

Hard to say how soon anything the chicks might have brought in would manifest enough to be apparent.

I'd say that after a few weeks anything acute would be obvious.

 

[igorsMistress]

Thanks @aart