NY chicken lover!!!!

[Cass]

I am picking up the rest of my chicks this weekend.

6 of them are already living in the pen with some older silkies, so I plan to put them directly in my coop when I get home. I put an old outside table in there and wrapped the legs with chicken wire so they can be in the coop , but safe from the older birds. I hesitate to say "bigger" cuz they aren't very big.

And yes, I know I should put them in insolation for 30 days, but that just isn't possible and I totally trust the health of the chicks from this breeder. And I know my own birds are healthy.

My question to all you who have done this longer than me (which would be EVERYONE) how long do I have to keep them separate from the older birds for their safety? Is it days or months? If it is months, I am probably in a whole lot of trouble with all these chicks. I have ONE coop because I planned to start my flock with 6 hens and 1 roo that were all hatched at the same time so it wasn't going to be an issue.

Now it is and I'm not sure about timing or anything about intigration of birds into an exisiting flock.

 

[tgrlily]

Quote:
It's supposed to be a month for quarantine. That said, I have a few breeders I trade birds with. I have also borrowed a hen to put right in with my Dorkings. I don't do that unless I trust the other breeder implicitly.

To be on the safe side, can you put them in a brooder for a few days? Have you gotten birds from this breeder before?

 

[critterranch]

Quote:
does hubby know yet? or you trying to pass it off as a black silkie!!

 

[tgrlily]

Quote:
does hubby know yet? or you trying to pass it off as a black silkie!!

Thank you Miss Smarty Pants!!!!!!!

No, he doesn't usually look in the incubator. I hope he doesn't start looking tomorrow! It is definitely a duck! Cute little bugger.

 

[Cass]

Quote:
It's supposed to be a month for quarantine. That said, I have a few breeders I trade birds with. I have also borrowed a hen to put right in with my Dorkings. I don't do that unless I trust the other breeder implicitly.

To be on the safe side, can you put them in a brooder for a few days? Have you gotten birds from this breeder before?

I haven't gotten birds from her before. I have talked to her a lot and she knows what she is doing and is state tested. I have a flock of 4 birds. I would HATE to lose them, but if I am wrong and they new ones DO bring in some disease I will only lose 4 birds. And I will cry for 4 days, but I just DO NOT have space for any more brooders. Oh wait. I am going to have to set up aTHIRD brooder for the 4 one week olds I am getting from the same source. My current brooders have 5 silkies and 4 mutts that are NOT ready to be put outdoors.

I do understand I am taking a risk. I MAY be able to keep them in the cardboard box I am going to transport them in for a week, maybe two, but it depends on how big these "chicks" are. I think they are 8 - 9 weeks old...Marans and Olive Eggers. 5 of them total. Then there will be 4 one week old Amerucanas, that HAVE to go in a totally clean, totally separate brooder box. If they are not terribly large I can keep them in a box, since they don't need supplimental heat. (It's a large box, but it may not be large enough for 5 birds)

Since my existing flock are adults is there really a large risk of living chicks bringing in something? I mean, if they aren't coughing and sneezing when I get them (in which case I WON"T get them) is there a huge risk of them having something that will allow them to be alive but kill my 4 adult hens? I AM going to put DE in the area the new chicks will be in, in the coop. I have sand in my coop.

Edited to add: This is SOOOO Stressful.

Once I have all these chicks feathered out and integrated into the flock I am NEVER adding birds from an outside source ever again. I will hatch my own and eat the roos.

 

[tgrlily]

Quote:
It's supposed to be a month for quarantine. That said, I have a few breeders I trade birds with. I have also borrowed a hen to put right in with my Dorkings. I don't do that unless I trust the other breeder implicitly.

To be on the safe side, can you put them in a brooder for a few days? Have you gotten birds from this breeder before?

I haven't gotten birds from her before. I have talked to her a lot and she knows what she is doing and is state tested. I have a flock of 4 birds. I would HATE to lose them, but if I am wrong and they new ones DO bring in some disease I will only lose 4 birds. And I will cry for 4 days, but I just DO NOT have space for any more brooders. Oh wait. I am going to have to set up aTHIRD brooder for the 4 one week olds I am getting from the same source. My current brooders have 5 silkies and 4 mutts that are NOT ready to be put outdoors.

I do understand I am taking a risk. I MAY be able to keep them in the cardboard box I am going to transport them in for a week, maybe two, but it depends on how big these "chicks" are. I think they are 8 - 9 weeks old...Marans and Olive Eggers. 5 of them total. Then there will be 4 one week old Amerucanas, that HAVE to go in a totally clean, totally separate brooder box. If they are not terribly large I can keep them in a box, since they don't need supplimental heat. (It's a large box, but it may not be large enough for 5 birds)

Since my existing flock are adults is there really a large risk of living chicks bringing in something? I mean, if they aren't coughing and sneezing when I get them (in which case I WON"T get them) is there a huge risk of them having something that will allow them to be alive but kill my 4 adult hens? I AM going to put DE in the area the new chicks will be in, in the coop. I have sand in my coop.

Edited to add: This is SOOOO Stressful.

Once I have all these chicks feathered out and integrated into the flock I am NEVER adding birds from an outside source ever again. I will hatch my own and eat the roos.

I hear ya!

Sounds like your best bet is to put them with the older birds. Check them out before you bring them home. Using an antibiotic as a safe-guard may be a good idea. The DE is also a good idea.

I usually hatch eggs from others to add to my flock. That way they're in brooders inside & away from my flock. Every once in awhile, I trade with another silkie breeder, but he's where we got our original silkies.

 

[featherz]

I don't buy adult chickens, but I've heard that a month is recommended. If it were me and I had nowhere else to put them, I'd try to keep them in quarantine at least a few days (even if it's just in a cage somewhere) so you can observe for sneezing, see their poop, etc. Birds get stressed when being transported and put in with new chickens and sometimes that causes illness to show up.

check out this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=508010

 

[Cass]

Quote:
My other choice is to put the silkies out in the coop. They are healthy, but not what I would call "fully feathered". Close, but still lacking feathers under and between their wings. IF I had a way to get heat out to the coop, it would be a no brainer, but I don't....hense my thinking of putting the new birds that have already been outside in a coop , outside in the coop.

These aren't adult birds I am buying, they are the ones I ordered in February that didn't hatch until April, when I was supposed to be picking them up. LOL They are somewhere between chick and started pullet.

I read that thread and now I am more nervous about what to do. Maybe I just have to build a FOURTH brooder box and find a way to stack them in the back porch? I am picking them up on Saturday so I have all day Sunday to build a box I guess. Not how I envisioned my only day off from work, but you have to do what you have to do.

I thought this was supposed to be fun?

Edited to add: The new chicks are going to be physically separated from the older birds, but just by chicken wire, not a solid wall. Does that make a difference to anyone's thinking?

 

[featherz]

Anything over 'just hatched' is adult to me, and I even was sweating bullets when I added day olds to my 'hatched here' birds.. I don't think just a wire barrier is good enough - they should be kept far away from your existing birds and take care of the new birds last each day to avoid contamination.

I remember at last year's chickenstock (correct me someone if I am incorrect here), several people took home birds from a well known person and there were outbreaks of cooties all over. IIRC, I think it was cocci. I am not saying the well known person had sick birds (they looked fine to me), but I assume they were stressed and something emerged and there ya go.

How old are the silkies? Thankfully it's been warm enough lately - my big fat brahmas are even panting. My chicks (7 weeks old) have been outside now for several weeks.

I think you should consider quarantining MINIMUM a few days until you can see the poop and make sure nothing's amiss if you can't quarantine for longer..

Oh, and congrats on your new chickies! I have too many here, want a turken roo?

I have two!

 

[rancher hicks]

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Well I will weigh in on this. This is Sooooo true, an otherwise healthy bird can come down with bad stuff if stressed enough. Even in your own coop. This is why I have a sign on the coop door to open it slowly.. Never, never chase chickens unless absolutely necessary. Keep them calm.

Even changes in feed should be gradual.

If you need to dust, worm or anything else to them do it at night so you don't spook the rest and have casualties. Some chickens are like my ex-wife , here today, gone tomorrow.

Chickens can recognize people and don't like strangers. Especially ugly ones. That's why my mother in law is not allowed around my chickens. Lord have mercy they started dropping like flies. One rooster even got the ax and chopped off his own head.

Take care

Rancher