Preparing to Quarantine- Just one question..

[SunnyCalifornia]

I will be acquiring 2 new pullets this coming weekend. I KNOW I need to quarantine them from my flock for a month. I don't have a lot of acreage, so my question is....

What is a safe distance to keep them away from my other chickens?

I will be following quarantine protocol ; house them separately, and feed/handle them last, and be prudent with sanitation measures, etc. But I'm trying to decide where to put their temporary coop, and where I need some temporary fencing to keep my other hens away from them.

Thoughts?

 

[Ridgerunner]

This is a hard one. Three of the ways I know of that diseases spread is them eating or drinking out of the same containers. eating each other's poop, and some diseases are air born. Mosquitoes can spread disease too, if that is an issue. I do not have a hard and fast rule to help you. I suggest keeping them as far apart as practical and try to keep the new ones downwind of the old ones.

If the pullets are coming from a place where they have not had any contact with any strange chickens for a month or so, I don't think your method of quarantine will do a lot of good. Chickens develop immunity to some diseases, cocci being a good example, so no matter how long you quarantine them alone, they will not show symptoms. I suggest you put one of your existing hens in with them to see if she gets sick. That way you only put one of your hens at risk instead of the entire flock. It is also possible that your flock has a disease they are immune to but they may infect other chickens.

If they have come into contact with other chickens in the last month, then quarantine is an even better idea. I'd still suggest putting one of yours in there with them. I also think treating them for mites, lice, and worms while they are in quarantine is a pretty good idea, just as a precaution.

Good luck! Most people don't have serious disease problems when they add new chickens, but there is certainly a risk and it can be devastating.

 

[SunnyCalifornia]

Thank you for your advice Ridgerunner. I will examine them very well, and look for any signs of bugs or illness. I will ask the questions, too, about what they may have been exposed to in the last month, and definitely keep them separate. I'll think about the idea of putting one of mine in with them, only after a few weeks of monitoring them first. I'd be devastated to lose any of my chickens, I don't have any disposable ones, but I understand what you mean by testing with one, instead of all of them. If he were to get sick, how soon do you usually see the symptoms? I've never had a sick bird before (knock on wood), and I pray I never do!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Different diseases take different times. The normal quarantine is 30 days, so I guess that has to be the answer.