Please tell me your method for quarantining - i mean logistically

[PunkinPeep]

I am thinking of bringing in a rooster, and i know i will need to quarantine him, but i am flummoxed as to the method.

I think i can get him a cage to stay in, but the point is to keep them from sharing germy air, right?

I don't have a garage, so am i going to have to build something separate for him?

I would love to hear everyone's methods so i can formulate some ideas for myself and my situation.

Also, when you quarantine a new bird, does that mean that bird doesn't see the light of day for a month or more?

Please, tell me everything.

 

[cw]

you would be surprised how much bacteria dies in the air, i would just keep him seperateted the best you can,

 

[fowler_chick]

i have a large work shop where i have set up a small area to quarateen mine, it well away from my coop, my work shop is open all the time, so it get's air and light

 

[Elite Silkies]

I made a 4x10 pvc/netting cage for around $22.00. Give them a nice size, and you can move it were ever you want to .

 

[PunkinPeep]

Quote:
does your flock free range?
if so, is there not a concern about your flock approaching the quarantine pen and being exposed to mystery germs anyway?

 

[mradam]

I just fenced off a corner of my existing run and built a small temp. coop for my quarantine birds. That way they were separated from general population, yet close enough to begin to integrate into the flock. Granted, just fencing between the flocks does little for airborne viruses, but it does keep any intestinal bugs at bay.

I am sure my way was not the safest, but it has worked both times for me, and it greatly relieved the stress of actually introducing them into the main flock.

 

[kimboolah]

I use a rabbit cage my husband made--it has a wire cage in the front and attached to the back is a wooden "hutch". There is a hole between the two rooms, and we call it the condo. I put two pavers on the floor of the wire cage, leaving just enough room for a small feeder and waterer, and run a stick thru the wire holes for a roost. Inside the hutch I put pine shavings for them to snug up at night. I put the whole apparatus in the outside run of the chicken coop, so they can see each other, but cant get to each other. The whole thing is on a stand and the door to the cage is about 4.5 feet off the ground. It's heavy as lead and works better for new chooks than rabbits, in my opinion (but I like chickens better than rabbits, anyhoo).

 

[mradam]

That's a great idea, Kimboolah!

 

[Dar]

I have a pen that my DH made as a brooder, when it does not have babies in it, it has a new addition in it for quarantine

it sits in my dining room, I know thats not practical for everyone but i dont see why it could not be moved outside

it sits up off the ground so that the new ones have no contact with the ground and allows me to sweep under it

 

[Pathfinders]

We have a totally separate chicken tractor that we use for quarantine birds (just put a trio of Buckeye bantams in there yesterday in fact.)

I keep the pen completely away from all my other birds. I feed and water the birds in quarantine last, and don't wear those clothes around my other birds (I am pretty strict about this stuff.)

I also routinely give new birds Tylan in their water for the first week. They will stay in quarantine for at least four to six weeks, no matter who I get the birds from (I tell people who buy from me to quarantine my birds too, fwiw.)

Knock wood, in the last nine years of owning chickens, the only time I've ever had a problem was with some Silkies I bought that came in with an ear infection that I was able to treat and cure (the Tylan didn't work on that, had to use antibiotics directly in the ear canal.)

At any rate, I would keep the bird completely away from your other birds for at least four weeks, if you can. Not worth taking the chance of infecting your whole flock with something...