Petsitting friend’s chickens in the same area as our own chicks?

[Sashjack]

Hello!

We received our first ever day-old chicks about two weeks ago. We are giving them water soluble minerals and electrolytes, feeding them medicated chick feed, and they all received a vaccine against Marek’s Disease prior to coming. A few had impacted crop and some issues with poop, but have been treated and are doing well so far. Keeping this in mind..

Our family friends are moving and asked if we would like to keep their four adult chickens for up to a year, until they buy a house. Our chicks and their chickens would be in separate coops, and we would try to keep any contamination between them to a minimum; however, they will still likely be exposed to anything the other chickens carry in their systems. Is it safe enough to take these four chickens, or could it be too risky for our chicks, even with the medication and the vaccinations they received? Is there a certain age for our chicks that would be safe enough for them to live in the same backyard (our backyard isn’t very big, but they would be in separate coops)? What risks would there be?

Although we tried not to get too attached, we love our chicks and would not want to loose any to disease... Any information is greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

 

[cherrynberry]

Hello!

We received our first ever day-old chicks about two weeks ago. We are giving them water soluble minerals and electrolytes, feeding them medicated chick feed, and they all received a vaccine against Marek’s Disease prior to coming. A few had impacted crop and some issues with poop, but have been treated and are doing well so far. Keeping this in mind..

Our family friends are moving and asked if we would like to keep their four adult chickens for up to a year, until they buy a house. Our chicks and their chickens would be in separate coops, and we would try to keep any contamination between them to a minimum; however, they will still likely be exposed to anything the other chickens carry in their systems. Is it safe enough to take these four chickens, or could it be too risky for our chicks, even with the medication and the vaccinations they received? Is there a certain age for our chicks that would be safe enough for them to live in the same backyard (our backyard isn’t very big, but they would be in separate coops)? What risks would there be?

Although we tried not to get too attached, we love our chicks and would not want to loose any to disease... Any information is greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

I don’t recommend doing so, diseases can spread through clothes, shoes, hands, etc. it is really hard to not let them contaminate. With chickens in general (even adults), you would have to wear gloves when seeing other chickens to be the safest. They would need separate waters, and such. Are they going to free range together?

 

[Sashjack]

I don’t recommend doing so, diseases can spread through clothes, shoes, hands, etc. it is really hard to not let them contaminate. With chickens in general (even adults), you would have to wear gloves when seeing other chickens to be the safest. They would need separate waters, and such. Are they going to free range together?

Gotcha.. if it were to happen, the the chickens/their feeders and waterers would not be in contact with each other, and they wouldn’t be out together. But you’re right, it would be very difficult to avoid spreading disease when we interact with them and their things, and they would still be exposed to anything the chickens might carry..

 

[rosemarythyme]

If you agree to do this you're also agreeing to expose the chicks to anything the chickens have, as it'd be pretty difficult to ensure biosecurity between two flocks for a whole year. If you trust these folks to be honest about the health of their flock, it's probably a fairly low risk (compared to bringing in adult birds from a random farm or auction) but it's up to you to decide if you're willing to deal with that.