Over on The Chicken Chick, there is an article about quarantining, with this picture and quote: "[These pullets] were kept in my basement... for six weeks before they took up residence in our new coop." Isn't this an awfully small space for three chickens to stay for an extended period of time? (I'm not questioning the TCC, I'm just confused about size requirements.)
Not really. My quarantine is typically 2-3 weeks and I usually quarantine groups - often trios or quads - in an X-large dog crate maybe 2.5X4 feet. They don't seem to mind much. Otherwise I use 2X2 battery cage units for singular birds of bantam through small standard size. They adapt quite quickly to the confined space. The birds in that photo look like young Silver Spangled Hamburgs, which are a small standard bird. They've got a lovely spacious quarantine area from what I can see - that pen is about the size of pens that many breeders will use for pairs and trios for entire breeding seasons or even perhaps year round with no ill effects.
Once quarantine is complete, discard or clean materials birds came or their products came in contact with. Try to keep quarantine area cleaners than typical chicken keeping area swapping out bedding repeatedly. I even prefer to check main poultry area first before going to quarantine area then dump cloths in the hamper. Birds I take off property repeatedly during summer are more than a hundred yards from main area. Feed storage and buckets all separate.
