I am new to the world of chickens, and will be getting my first chicks in a few weeks. I am anticipating what may come down the road for my "flock" of a few chickens, and I suspect I will want to add more. I've been reading that, in the interest of sparing your existing flock from disease, new bugs, etc., it is necessary to quarantine any new adult birds. Is this an extreme bit of caution? Is this really necessary if your adult bird comes from a reputable owner. I'd love to hear others' experiences with this, particularly if your new additions have brought pathogens in to the flock.
I have heard of people on here NOT quarantining because their birds come from a *reputable* person and end up having to cull their whole flock . It's an expensive lesson, better safe than sorry IMO
I can't tell you how many horror stories I have read on here, regarding that subject. If you do a search, I think you will decide it is a good idea to quarantine, without exception! Good luck!
I highly recommend a thirty day quarantine for new birds, young or old. One little case of unnoticed sniffles can kill the whole group. My most recent roo was in solitary for 6 weeks- he could see and hear the others, but no contact at all physically. When feeding, etc., it's advisable to tend the established birds first, then the new birds. And if you can find a way to disinfect your hands, clothes and shoes in between, all the better. Rubber clogs work well for footwear that's easy to clean and slide in/slide out. Folks disagree on these issues, just depends upon experience. Good luck with the new babies!
Quote:OMG, read the archives, you will see a LOT of threads in which exactly that sort of thing happens. Disease is not just a matter of being kept badly or ignored. There are a number of things that can be resident in an apparently healthy flock -- you would not know the birds were carrying the disease as they seem 100% ok -- but when a bird is stressed it can multiply to the point of clinical illness and/or infect unsuspecting other birds at its new home if they do not happen to be as resistant to the disease as its home flock was. Personally I do not see me buying adult birds, ever, from *anywhere*, simply because I am not a disease roulette type person (and been in the horse industry too long, seen too many things... ). But if you do buy adult birds, even from a reputable seller I would for sure quarantine them (properly!) for a month at least. If nothing happens, you will have lost nothing; but you may be saving yourself quite a lot of grief and headache, or in the unlikely event that something goes wrong despite quarantine you will know you did everything you could. JMHO, Pat
I quarantine for around 5 months. All new birds get obsevered for anything out of the ordinary, they get dusted, and wormed.
Look at it this way. I consider myself a reputable seller. My flock has never had respiratory illness or external parasites, but what if they have just contracted something and the symptoms have not shown up yet? I wouldnt know they had something when you took them home and neither would you. That is why quarantine is so very important. It may not be perfect, but it's the least you can do to keep your flock safe.
Lesson learned! Thank you! I won't plan on adding adult chickens, to make life easier on myself. What about baby chicks, do they need to be isolated and observed as well?
If you get them straight from the hatchery, no quarantine needed,however, even hatchery chicks will, on occasion be carriers of something, but they are a safer bet. (unless you get them from a feedstore that doesn't practice any biosecurity measures). If you get them from an individual, yes, I'd quarantine them from other chicks. gumpsgirl almost lost her entire flock by bringing home a small chick once and it had Coryza or Infectious Bronchitis, cant recall which one just now. There is a long thread on it here somewhere.
