New chicks- what now

[Jaimes09]

so im not new to raising them, have raised 14 chicks to 2 months. Healthy. No problem but i have traded some for new chicks. Mine are crossbred and i traded for some gamefowl and I’d like to know anything i could possibly use to clean them of anything that they may have and give them the health that i have kept with my own chicks.

 

[Iluveggers]

so im not new to raising them, have raised 14 chicks to 2 months. Healthy. No problem but i have traded some for new chicks. Mine are crossbred and i traded for some gamefowl and I’d like to know anything i could possibly use to clean them of anything that they may have and give them the health that i have kept with my own chicks.

Quarantine the new batch for at least 2 weeks, better if you can for a month. Go into your current chicks area first, and then the new birds so your body/hands doesn’t bring anything from them into your flock. Observe them carefully during this time. If no health concerns pop up after quarantine, you can work on integrating

 

[Jaimes09]

Quarantine the new batch for at least 2 weeks, better if you can for a month. Go into your current chicks area first, and then the new birds so your body/hands doesn’t bring anything from them into your flock. Observe them carefully during this time. If no health concerns pop up after quarantine, you can work on integrating

Imma be honest when the guy came he popped them in with mine. Since we were planning on trading anyways but they all started pecking at them haha. I was planning on giving all of them a good bath tomorrow though. I was left with 2 of mine and the 2 from the guy.

 

[Ebony Rose]

Everything Iluveggers said PLUS if possible, make sure that these two groups of birds can SEE and HEAR each other but cannot touch. The familiarity between the two groups after quarantine is complete will make integration so much smoother, without adding another two to four weeks to the entire quarantine/integration process.
Be mindful of cockerels in the group, weighing which ONE you're keeping and decide on what you'll do with the extras; find new homes, process for your freezer, create a totally new space on your property for a male only flock that cannot see the hens, etc. Weighing the options now, before you're totally 'in love' will make things easier on you.

 

[Jaimes09]

Everything Iluveggers said PLUS if possible, make sure that these two groups of birds can SEE and HEAR each other but cannot touch. The familiarity between the two groups after quarantine is complete will make integration so much smoother, without adding another two to four weeks to the entire quarantine/integration process.
Be mindful of cockerels in the group, weighing which ONE you're keeping and decide on what you'll do with the extras; find new homes, process for your freezer, create a totally new space on your property for a male only flock that cannot see the hens, etc. Weighing the options now, before you're totally 'in love' will make things easier on you.

As of now i have 4 chicks in total after trade. 2 of mine and 2 of the new ones. One is same age as mine but the other is smaller. So i could throw in the same size one after a while with less issue then the younger one.

 

[Ebony Rose]

Yeah, since your friend tossed them in together anyhow, both groups have been exposed to the other. Should illness ensue anytime soon, it will be harder to single out simply because you're dealing with two sets of birds, fortunately you're only dealing with four individuals... Imagine the chaos that could cause if say, it were a total flock count of twenty...
I would NOT separate the younger out of the group, else you'll have integration issues with a SINGLE bird against three later on. As long as this wee one moves around well, so that they don't get trampled, you can provide hiding holes for the 'baby' to step into if things get more rambunctious than they care to deal with. I repurpose margarine and plastic ice cream tubs for this type of job; cut a 'door' into it, turn it upside down and viola! a chick hut. Chicken behavior dictates that your wee one would have better luck going in (and staying in) WITH their friend, than going it solo later on.

 

[NatJ]

Imma be honest when the guy came he popped them in with mine. Since we were planning on trading anyways but they all started pecking at them haha. I was planning on giving all of them a good bath tomorrow though. I was left with 2 of mine and the 2 from the guy.

Since they are already together, I would not bother trying to quarantine them.

I would not give them a bath, unless there is something specific that you need to wash off. Baths are stressful for chickens, and do little or no good in most cases.

I would pick up each chicken (new and old) and look it over thoroughly. Also watch for any problems with droppings, or any other symptoms, over the next few weeks.

If you find any specific problems, treat the problems you find (lice, mites, worms, diseases.)
But if the chickens look healthy and act healthy, just let them live like normal chickens, and keep watching. If you try to treat everything they "might possibly" have, you might end up with sick or dead chickens just from the side effects of treatment they did not need!

Everything Iluveggers said PLUS if possible, make sure that these two groups of birds can SEE and HEAR each other but cannot touch. The familiarity between the two groups after quarantine is complete will make integration so much smoother, without adding another two to four weeks to the entire quarantine/integration process.

No, they should NOT see and hear each other during quarantine.
The whole point of quarantine is to keep ALL germs, including airborn ones, separate. If they can hear or see each other, they can spread germs too.

If someone is going to quarantine chickens, they should be COMPLETELY separate. The look-no-touch step of introduction happens AFTER quarantine is over.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...nderestimated-part-of-raising-chickens.67097/

In OP's case, since the chickens have already been put in the same pen, I do not think quarantine makes any sense.

In many other cases, quarantine is not really possible. When quarantine is not possible anyway, trying it just adds stress for the people and the chickens. Housing chickens in adjacaent pens is a fine way to start introducing them to each other, but it is not quarantine, and should not be confused with quarantine.

 

[Jaimes09]

Yeah, since your friend tossed them in together anyhow, both groups have been exposed to the other. Should illness ensue anytime soon, it will be harder to single out simply because you're dealing with two sets of birds, fortunately you're only dealing with four individuals... Imagine the chaos that could cause if say, it were a total flock count of twenty...
I would NOT separate the younger out of the group, else you'll have integration issues with a SINGLE bird against three later on. As long as this wee one moves around well, so that they don't get trampled, you can provide hiding holes for the 'baby' to step into if things get more rambunctious than they care to deal with. I repurpose margarine and plastic ice cream tubs for this type of job; cut a 'door' into it, turn it upside down and viola! a chick hut. Chicken behavior dictates that your wee one would have better luck going in (and staying in) WITH their friend, than going it solo later on.

oh yeah definitely, i mean when we tossed them in they were pecking at them a lot. One which is a hen would just drop to the floor and they would actually stop, but the other which is a roo tried defending itself but gave up started running afterI definitely didn’t think of giving it hiding spot. Do you think a heat plate would be of any good?

 

[Jaimes09]

Since they are already together, I would not bother trying to quarantine them.

I would not give them a bath, unless there is something specific that you need to wash off. Baths are stressful for chickens, and do little or no good in most cases.

I would pick up each chicken (new and old) and look it over thoroughly. Also watch for any problems with droppings, or any other symptoms, over the next few weeks.

If you find any specific problems, treat the problems you find (lice, mites, worms, diseases.)
But if the chickens look healthy and act healthy, just let them live like normal chickens, and keep watching. If you try to treat everything they "might possibly" have, you might end up with sick or dead chickens just from the side effects of treatment they did not need!


No, they should NOT see and hear each other during quarantine.
The whole point of quarantine is to keep ALL germs, including airborn ones, separate. If they can hear or see each other, they can spread germs too.

If someone is going to quarantine chickens, they should be COMPLETELY separate. The look-no-touch step of introduction happens AFTER quarantine is over.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...nderestimated-part-of-raising-chickens.67097/

In OP's case, since the chickens have already been put in the same pen, I do not think quarantine makes any sense.

In many other cases, quarantine is not really possible. When quarantine is not possible anyway, trying it just adds stress for the people and the chickens. Housing chickens in adjacaent pens is a fine way to start introducing them to each other, but it is not quarantine, and should not be confused with quarantine.

Awesome, thanks for the tips.

 

[Iluveggers]

Yup too late for the quarantine I originally recommended. For future reference, it is a good idea when bringing new birds in to keep them separated from your current flock to ensure they don’t bring any contagious diseases or problems like lice or mites.
I agree with the previous poster about not giving them a bath. It will be stressful. They can “bathe” if you provide a diet bath (container of dirt) in their brooder or when they have access to outside at any point as they get older.