Quarantining, Integration and Other Woes

Orit

Songster
12 Years
Jun 21, 2011
197
140
226
Philadelphia, PA
I purchased 4 sexed chicks 10 weeks ago, 2 of which turned out to be roosters. I was able to find them a loving home but was sad to be left with only 2 out of the 4 I had planned for. Someone in my local backyard chicken group was giving away 2 pullets that are the same age as my 2. He over purchased so he's downsizing his chick cohort. He also has a flock of older hens. They share a run. I am likely going to take these pullets. Here are my questions:

1. Do I need to quarantine the two newbies (who are 11 weeks old) before I integrate them into my newbie flock of two?
2. If so, for how long?
3. I've never integrated pullets with pullets. Is there anything that would be useful to know? Will they be aggressive to each other at this stage?
4. Then, when they are close to the same size as my older flock, I will need to do another integration of the 4 younger ones with the 5 older ones. Am I crazy to attempt all these integrations? I'm nervous that I'm creating chaos for the flock.

My set up at home is a coop and attached run in my backyard. The 5 older hens inhabit this space. I have a big dog cage in the run where the pullets live. I let the older ones free range in the backyard when I'm also outside. I let the two little ones free range with them (although they go to different parts of the yard) for about half an hour each day. So this is what the newbies will be coming into. I look forward to hearing people's thoughts on quarantine and integration.

Thank you!
 
I can't help with quarantine, but here are some useful articles on integration:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old.72603/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/my-coop-brooder-and-integration.74591/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/introducing-new-chickens-using-the-“see-but-don’t-touch”-method.67839/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/adding-to-your-flock.47756/

Am I crazy to attempt all these integrations?

One of the major factors in integration success is space. If you've got generously-sized facilities you're more likely to have things go smoothly than if you're hugging the space minimums so that the established birds feel compelled to defend scarce territory.

Clutter is also important. I had babies escaping my integration pen after only 2 days of see-don't-touch but since I have plenty of clutter in the coop they can stay out of the way of the teens and adults and have been doing fine.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/21588571
 
In this case, quarantine would probably be advisable: https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...nderestimated-part-of-raising-chickens.67097/

That said, I've simply bought new pullets (7-weeks-old) and tossed them in with my 7-week-olds, no problem, but I was willing to take that chance as I got all the birds from the same source, and was favoring the ease of integrating earlier vs the risk of adding new birds that were living in a feed store lot.
 
I can't help with quarantine, but here are some useful articles on integration:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/integrating-new-birds-at-4-weeks-old.72603/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/my-coop-brooder-and-integration.74591/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/introducing-new-chickens-using-the-“see-but-don’t-touch”-method.67839/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/adding-to-your-flock.47756/



One of the major factors in integration success is space. If you've got generously-sized facilities you're more likely to have things go smoothly than if you're hugging the space minimums so that the established birds feel compelled to defend scarce territory.

Clutter is also important. I had babies escaping my integration pen after only 2 days of see-don't-touch but since I have plenty of clutter in the coop they can stay out of the way of the teens and adults and have been doing fine.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/posts/21588571
This was super helpful and great food for thought! I'm going to see what I can do to add clutter. Thank you!
 
In this case, quarantine would probably be advisable: https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...nderestimated-part-of-raising-chickens.67097/

That said, I've simply bought new pullets (7-weeks-old) and tossed them in with my 7-week-olds, no problem, but I was willing to take that chance as I got all the birds from the same source, and was favoring the ease of integrating earlier vs the risk of adding new birds that were living in a feed store lot.
Thanks for sharing! The article is quite intense, and I'm not sure I even have the space or equipment for that type of set up. My girls are 10-11 weeks. The ones I'm getting are from someone who purchased them as chicks from a breeder. They are vaccinated (both mine and the new ones). Hmmm... not sure what to do.
 
Thanks for sharing! The article is quite intense, and I'm not sure I even have the space or equipment for that type of set up. My girls are 10-11 weeks. The ones I'm getting are from someone who purchased them as chicks from a breeder. They are vaccinated (both mine and the new ones). Hmmm... not sure what to do.
Really have to weigh your risk tolerance - if you can't really quarantine but still want to get the birds, then make sure the birds you're buying are in the best shape possible and (if they allow you to view their facilities), that they were well taken care of during their early weeks.

Do NOT buy birds that look unhealthy, listless, etc - that definitely would increase the risks you are taking.
 
Really have to weigh your risk tolerance - if you can't really quarantine but still want to get the birds, then make sure the birds you're buying are in the best shape possible and (if they allow you to view their facilities), that they were well taken care of during their early weeks.

Do NOT buy birds that look unhealthy, listless, etc - that definitely would increase the risks you are taking.
I will definitely do my due diligence when I pick them up this weekend. I will probably do a semi-quarantine, which would require keeping them in a dog crate inside my house and take it from there.
 
Most back yard people cannot properly quarantine, they simply do not have the space and set ups, and thing is...if you can't do it properly, you may as well not do it. You can't cheat at quarantine.

However, in my book, healthy looks healthy. Do not ever take in anything you feel sorry for. But active eating, bright eyed birds with good feathers are probably going to be just fine. Ask the owner if they go to auctions or shows, both prime areas to pick up a chicken disease, but if they are just keeping a single flock of birds, those birds really have no more risk of disease than the ones your own.

Is there a chance of a wipe out disease? Yes, but not real likely. If you want to keep them in for a few days, the stress of a strange place should bring anything out.

As for integration - I am a bit worried in that you are doubling your flock size, 5 older birds + 4 new birds. SPACE is finite, and I hope you have measured. 9 full size birds will need a 45 sq foot coop which would be about 6 feet x 8 feet, give or take. The birds will be full size before you know it. What seems like enough space for chicks, is often not enough space for chickens.

As for integrating the chicks, I would not worry about it, two birds to two birds, same size, same age is pretty even, with only the home territory advantage. I am not quite sure what you mean by a dog crate inside the main run, but that might be a problem if the birds are trapped in there. Even a large one is not enough space.

I would take off the gate, or open it, covering the opening with fencing that the bigs cannot get into, and leaving a gap at the bottom, that the littles can go in and out at will. Feed in there, so the littles get enough food. Then add a lot of clutter to the run, so that the littles can escape and get out of sight. This would be much better than a half hour of yard time. This allows a much quicker integration that the chickens work out on their own terms.

Mrs K
 

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