Quarantine? Don't understand....

Frannabelle

Songster
10 Years
Jun 1, 2009
307
4
121
MI
I started out with 6 babies, and over the past year have added several more, some adults, some babies. Before I brought anybody home, I made sure to look at the facilities where they came from and looked over the birds to make sure they were healthy. I did not quarantine any of them and have never had a problem. So I guess my question is, why always say to do so? I would quarantine if I didn't know where they came from though.
I've also talked to chicken people, some that are into "bio security" and others who don't worry at all about it. No one on either side has health issues in their flocks, so am wondering about that too
 
Any time you have two separate flocks you can run into problems with a disease that one flock has become immune to but is a carrier, and the other flock has had no exposure to.
Thus although both flocks can appear healthy, mixing them can cause one flock to have an outbreak of somthing they are not accustomed to.
 
I only quarantine the started pullets, or hens (or adult birds). Chicks up to a couple weeks old haven't developed the "issues" which may plague the older birds.

At least that's MY understanding.
 
Even if you know where they come from, some birds can be carriers of viruses or something. They would have a type of acquired immunity to it, but your flock may not. It is not worth it,really, to expose your flock to a potential sickness. Quarantine is essential for your flock's safety. Younger birds can be more susceptible to illness, or birds that haven't been exposed to said virus/illness. There are many threads on here of people who have lost their entire flock by not quarantining
 
But when quarantining, what am I looking for? It's confusing to me because if birds from another flock appear and are healthy, but maybe carriers of something, then they would never exhibit any symptoms of anything, right?
Confused about it, that's all
 
If they are just carriers I guess there would be no way to know about it, but if they have an illness and you put them in with your flock by the time you realize they are sick your entire flock will be in danger. when you get some new pullets or adult hens put in another area for 30 days to make sure they are not sick or could infect you flock with something. The people who have the chickens might not even know that their birds are carrying something or if they are shipped they could come in contact with something else, Better to be safe then end up losing your entire flock. there seems to be a lot of people that have closed flocks as in they do not buy anything but hatching eggs or day old chicks never adult or older chickens.
 
Quote:
That was my very thought too. If they don't show symptoms, how would you ever know
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Trust me, I know exactly why we quarantine, but you still take a chance (but probably a smaller one) when you put that new bird in.
 
To find out if that new bird(s) is carrying anything that is not obvious:
Quarantine the new one for 30 days, then put ONE of your existing flock in with the new one. If the one from your original flock gets sick, then you know there is a problem without infecting your entire flock.
 

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