No Quarantine Integration (Yes, I know I'm being bad)

[Ebony Rose]

When do the new birds come home? Did you already tell us and I missed it?

OP said they're coming home in April. He's got a solid 5+ months to make the preparations.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

OP said they're coming home in April. He's got a solid 5+ months to make the preparations.

Ah, I did miss it. Thanks. (I think OP is a female).

 

[Ebony Rose]

(I think OP is a female).

Oops!

 

[Kacey Elle]

I was thinking that you might wish to intentionally bring some of the school dirt home with you a month or two prior to you bringing home the new chickens. This would enable you to expose them to whatever strain(s) of coccidia the new girls are going to be introducing to your existing flock when they arrive. This should work sort of like a vaccine (although you can't really vaccinate for coccidiosis) to enable your existing flock to build resistance to the strains of coccidia that the school chickens have ingested and will certainly shed once you get them home.

I would not do anything to purposely try to infect either group. Chicken diseases and parasites spread easily enough without us helping them. And you are not the only one involved in this. If you happen to bring something home, deal with it then. There is no use potentially making things worse for no benefit. And I don't see any benefit to you or anybody else trying that.

Good points from both of you. Any chance of a consensus on whether or not I should try to "inoculate" my home flock with some soil from my school flock before bringing home the new girls? I can see both points of view.

Do you have integration plans?

I'll be bringing home two or three new members, since I heard it's easier to integrate similar numbered flocks. I've already picked two out that are both sweet girls that are in the middle of the pecking order of the school flock (and I did the same when I took my current girls from school to home). I have the means to divide my coop/run and the outdoor range is already divided into alternating "pastures" so that the chickens rotate and don't destroy it. I'm going to do the look-but-don't-touch method before letting them roost together and then, hopefully, taking down the barriers and letting them all be together. When I first do that, I'm going to give them the entire range available in case they need to get away from each other. I already have multiple areas to access food/water, so I think that should be good. Any advice? I've never done this before so I'm sure I'm missing something.

If you are in the school flock and in your own flock for a period of time as stated, ten to one, quarantine is broken or non-existent. Your movement back and forth between the flocks would be pretty difficult to do over a long period of time without a goof up or two. To truly quarantine is dang hard to do.

The thing is really you could consider the school birds in quarantine from your birds now. You get to see them, care for them, and they are separate from your flock. That is quarantine, there is no magic in having them on your place, it is keeping them separate from your flock.

You are basically risking 2 birds, not a huge financial loss. Some people do get very attached and would suffer a decline if they lost their original birds, but you do not seem there.

There is a small chance that the school birds have something yours don't, or vice versa, but I would think it is a pretty small chance. It depends on where and how the school gets birds. If they are buying birds at an auction or swap, I would be a bit more leary about this. But as it is a school, I am assuming (?) that the birds were either hatched there or raised there from chicks. (what a neat school!) which would reduce the possibilities even more.

The only "no go" I would say is, if ANY of the school birds are sick... I would not take any of the birds.

Mrs K

Thanks for the kudos to my school! We started the flock and a garden and a pollinator garden and a greenhouse AND an outdoor classroom! We've been growing and "building" for the last four years as part of my AVID students' service-learning project.

We ordered the chickens as day-old chicks so I'm not worried about that aspect. And, no, I'm not terribly emotionally invested in my chickens. I like them but they exist in a livestock/pet zone for me. I definitely want to prevent them from getting an illness if I can, though!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

This scholastic program sounds amazing, @Kacey Elle !

 

[aart]

Any advice? I've never done this before so I'm sure I'm missing something.

Sounds like you have a good plan and some knowledge.

Here's my tips about....
Integration Basics:
It's all about territory and resources(space/food/water).
Existing birds will almost always attack new ones to defend their resources.
Understanding chicken behaviors is essential to integrating new birds into your flock.

Confine new birds within sight but physically segregated from older/existing birds for several weeks, so they can see and get used to each other but not physically interact.

In adjacent runs, spread scratch grains along the dividing mesh, best if mesh is just big enough for birds to stick their head thru, so they get used to eating together.

The more space, the better. Birds will peck to establish dominance, the pecked bird needs space to get away. As long as there's no copious blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down and beaten unmercilessly, let them work it out. Every time you interfere or remove new birds, they'll have to start the pecking order thing all over again.

Multiple feed/water stations. Dominance issues are most often carried out over sustenance, more stations lessens the frequency of that issue.

Places for the new birds to hide 'out of line of sight'(but not a dead end trap) and/or up and away from any bully birds. Roosts, pallets or boards leaned up against walls or up on concrete blocks, old chairs tables, branches, logs, stumps out in the run can really help. Lots of diversion and places to 'hide' instead of bare wide open run.