New Member

[4Heathermp77]

Hello everyone!

My name is Heather, and my husband and I are relatively new to the chicken world. We have 4 Leghorns that are 4 months old, raised through incubation. And, was just inherited a 6 week old Polish Frizzle. We have a homestead in Pennsylvania, and free range our flock during the day.

My question is: How long do you quarantine a new chick before introducing to the flock? She is healthy, and we have her on a feed that is rich with vitamins, and probiotics. For safety precautions.

I look forward to learning all there is to know from you guys. Thank you so much!

 

[alexa009]

Welcome to Backyard Chickens Heather! Glad you joined the flock! BYC is a very helpful and informative about poultry! I don't think not quarantining chicks from chickens will cause any problems or diseases. I do it all the time (for a few years now) and never have had any diseases in my flock. Except my buff orpington once that got blue comb disease but that was before we were raising chicks. Sometimes people just like to be cautious. Integrating can be hard though if the chickens don't except the chickens, but it's better to introduce the chickens when it's at least somewhere between 4-8 weeks. Chickens that are introduced when older will result in fighting, feather picking and cannibalism. Hope you enjoy it here as much as we all do!

 

[drumstick diva]

 

[Lazy Farmer]

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My name is Heather, and my husband and I are relatively new to the chicken world. We have 4 Leghorns that are 4 months old, raised through incubation. And, was just inherited a 6 week old Polish Frizzle. We have a homestead in Pennsylvania, and free range our flock during the day.

My question is: How long do you quarantine a new chick before introducing to the flock? She is healthy, and we have her on a feed that is rich with vitamins, and probiotics. For safety precautions.

As a safety measure it is wise to protect your existing flock for a few days before integration. Once they are inspected for physical parasites as well as monitoring their poop for abnormalities- & as well as behavior. If they are lazy and not very active, that could be a warning sign.
They should be integrated thru a safety fence or divider until they get use to each others presence. You original birds will be territorial. Defending with extreme prejudice. Time will change that and a safety fence will speed up that process.

I look forward to learning all there is to know from you guys. Thank you so much!

I am looking fwd to your contributions!
I photographs.. hint hint..

 

[4Heathermp77]

Welcome to Backyard Chickens Heather! Glad you joined the flock! BYC is a very helpful and informative about poultry! I don't think not quarantining chicks from chickens will cause any problems or diseases. I do it all the time (for a few years now) and never have had any diseases in my flock. Except my buff orpington once that got blue comb disease but that was before we were raising chicks. Sometimes people just like to be cautious. Integrating can be hard though if the chickens don't except the chickens, but it's better to introduce the chickens when it's at least somewhere between 4-8 weeks. Chickens that are introduced when older will result in fighting, feather picking and cannibalism. Hope you enjoy it here as much as we all do!

Thank you so much! Loving everyones posts. In the last few hours I have learned a lot.

 

[4Heathermp77]

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As a safety measure it is wise to protect your existing flock for a few days before integration. Once they are inspected for physical parasites as well as monitoring their poop for abnormalities- & as well as behavior. If they are lazy and not very active, that could be a warning sign.
They should be integrated thru a safety fence or divider until they get use to each others presence. You original birds will be territorial. Defending with extreme prejudice. Time will change that and a safety fence will speed up that process.

I am looking fwd to your contributions!
I photographs.. hint hint..

Thank you! I feel like I am doing the right thing then. Lots of pictures to come! I never thought in a million years that I would be so into chickens, but I am loving this experience. Lol.

 

[JedJackson]

You've gotten sound advice from everyone, so I will just say welcome aboard. I hope you enjoy BYC and your feathered friends.

 

[BlueBaby]

Hello, and welcome to BYC!

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi Heather and welcome to BYC - thanks for joining us.

Quarantine ideally should last around 4 weeks, but unless you have the space on your property to keep your new bird a couple of hundred yards from your existing flock, the separation will not be as effective as desired.

I’d suggest using the search function for further reading on the topic.

More generally, this is a useful link relating to guides to read through - https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/website-announcements-feedback-issues-guides.3/?prefix_id=3


You can use this link to contact members in your area - Find your State's thread.

Best wishes

Pork Pie