Quarantining chicks?

[heathercara]

I looked at some other threads, and couldn't quite find what I was looking for.

If I am getting chicks from two different hatcheries - and getting them 1-2 weeks apart (maybe less) - do I need to quarantine the second batch of chicks? They are both being bought as total chicks.

Thanks!
Heather

 

[paneubert]

If they are reputable hatcheries then I would not worry about it. The hatcheries have really good bio-security, so there is not much that your chicks would catch between hatch and shipping to you (same day). Anything your first batch catches from your brooder would be caught by the second batch, quarantine or not.

 

[paneubert]

I see @Melky just commented pretty much the opposite in another thread. So opinions vary!

 

[21hens-incharge]

I also wouldn't worry too much.

I would however have a really big brooder so I could make a screen in the middle.
The tiny babies will need several days to learn to eat and so you can watch them before the bigger ones trample them.

 

[Melky]

I think the screen idea is a better compromise but bio security dictates to separate and recognize 30 day quarantine to protect the flock from illness also the age separation requires different needs particularly with temperature. It is safer to brood separately and try integration once weaned out of the brooder.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/adding-to-your-flock.47756/

 

[chickens really]

Unless you do a total Bio security quarantine disease transfer will happen. We all take risks so just keep in a look no touch pen till they know each other.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Chicks from hatcheries are not going to carry disease. Biosecurity on chicks isn't needed. What will happen is they will be far different in size as they grow so fast. You should use a divider in brooder with separate feed and water for a week or so. Until the new chicks are big enough to take being squashed by the larger chicks. Gang piles when sleeping even will kill new hatched chicks if in with older birds. They need to get a good week of growth to be with larger chicks.

 

[chickens really]

Chicks from hatcheries are not going to carry disease. Biosecurity on chicks isn't needed. What will happen is they will be far different in size as they grow so fast. You should use a divider in brooder with separate feed and water for a week or so. Until the new chicks are big enough to take being squashed by the larger chicks. Gang piles when sleeping even will kill new hatched chicks if in with older birds. They need to get a good week of growth to be with larger chicks.

They are not immune to outsiders...Not sure what your talking about? All Chickens carry disease of some type.

 

[Abriana]

I would not worry too much about it I have gotten chicks from Southern States and then a week later some from Rural King and I mixed them right away. Aside from running around and screaming for a while whilst they got to know each other, they were fine.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The purpose of quarantine is to protect two different flocks from transmitting disease or parasites to each other. Diseases and parasites can be transmitted by chickens sharing water of food dishes, pecking at the ground where the other has pooped (if they are together that is going to happen), vectors like mosquitoes can transmit diseases, things can be tracked in shoes or clothing, or some things just float on air. The more separation you have the better your quarantine.

A factor that doesn't apply here is that some flocks develop flock immunities. They may have a disease but be immune to it so that no matter how long you quarantine them they show no symptoms but remain capable of transmitting that to chickens that do not have the immunity. Since you are dealing with just hatched chicks they have not developed immunities. What you would be looking at is have they been exposed to any diseases recently.

It's a good question so lets do a quick risk analysis. One way to do a risk analysis is to look at what could possibly happen, how likely it is, and how severe the consequences would be. We are talking about newly hatched chicks shipped from two different major hatcheries. If the chickens are older or from a different source everything changes.

First case is if you quarantine what could happen. If the chicks have a disease or parasite that you would observe if you keep them isolated for 30 days or whatever, then you can detect a disease or parasite before you transmit it to your other chickens. As long as you have kept them separate you could dispose of the problem ones and sanitize their surroundings to protect your other chickens. If you quarantine how likely is that to happen with chicks from a major hatchery? With their biosecurity measures about as close to zero as you can get and remain in the real world when they ship. With living animals anything is possible, they could wind up in the cargo hold of an airplane close to older chickens being shipped by someone else. How severe could the consequences be if they do become infected? It would vary. The most likely things they could catch would be more annoyances than anything that would wipe out your flock, but it is always possible it could be something serious.

So what could happen if you don't quarantine? I think everything is the same with one risk. With their biosecurity measures it is extremely unlikely anything will come from either hatchery. The risk is that one group picks up something in transit. How likely is that to happen? In my opinion extremely unlikely, close to but not zero.

If you keep them isolated for a month you will be integrating older chicks than you would be if you integrate them without quarantine. By the time that month has passed both groups should be old enough that neither require supplemental heat, depending on where you are and time of year of course. That might make the logistics of integrating the month-older chicks a little easier. Many of us have no problems integrating chicks of different ages, but I once saw a 2 week old chick kill a hatchmate, no difference in ages. There is a risk any time you integrate or even when you don't but I don't see any significant differences in really young ones or some a little older. Sometimes just mixing them together works fine, sometimes it really helps to house them side by side for a week first. I don't see a lot of difference in risk here.

Personally I would not worry about quarantine with chicks from a hatchery. I think the risk is pretty low to start with, plus I'm not set up to do a decent quarantine anyway. But as you can see some others have a different opinion. Now if the chicks were from a different source or older I would feel differently.