Raising healthy chicks, advice needed please.

[chickens really]

Respritory transfers quickly from Bird to Bird..Chances are your fine being the Chicks did not get sick yet..Congrats and just keep on trucking with what your doing..

 

[sharonp53]

Big concern for me would be if your ailing hen is contagious. Earlier introductions are easier than later ones IMO. I like to get new chicks integrated between 6 and 9 weeks. Many folks do so even earlier. You have to be set up for this, and have a safe place where the chicks can go but not be followed by the adults.

We did get her checked by the vet and she was on a two week course of antibiotics, followed by a three week course of a different one, but I guess she could still be a carrier?

My worry about getting the babies out there is that we are on a farm, the girls have electric mesh around their browsing area, so there is a real security issue for such little ones. And we have crows, magpies and kookuburras. What would you do in that situation?

 

[sharonp53]

x2! Do you know what your sick hen had? Is she a carrier of something that's going to be a problem for your new birds?
Mary

She had a respiratory illness that responded quickly once we got the right antibiotics. But since she was on the wrong ones at first a lot of structural damage occured to her lungs before we got on the right track. She looks well, has laid eggs since and has a brilliantly coloured comb. But I understand that carriers are a real issue.

 

[chickens really]

We did get her checked by the vet and she was on a two week course of antibiotics, followed by a three week course of a different one, but I guess she could still be a carrier?

My worry about getting the babies out there is that we are on a farm, the girls have electric mesh around their browsing area, so there is a real security issue for such little ones. And we have crows, magpies and kookuburras. What would you do in that situation?

Chances are they have it..Once stressed they will show symptoms too and become sick..

 

[sharonp53]

Chances are they have it..Once stressed they will show symptoms too and become sick..

Why would they get it? They have never been exposed to her.

 

[Pjacct]

Hi, I’m located in Australia too.... my advice is to let them out in a penned area with plenty of shade and lots of water drinkers to chose from. If you have a sprinkler you can set up near their enclosure when you have a breeze it can help to keep the temp down a fraction, just make sure the water isn’t going into them. Start with a couple of hours in the morning and gradually increase. This shouldn’t take more than a few weeks to get them out all day, by 6-8 weeks, all day outside is okay. On really hot days like today here (41! I think I just walked outside into a hairdryer!) I let my 14 week olds and 2x 8 week olds roam the whole back garden. Too hot, and they can then find their best spot to cool down, dust bathe, and run under a sprinkler.
I tripled the number of water options and changed the water twice today so it was cool and not hot at least a couple of times for them. This afternoon they got watermelon as a treat to help cool down.
Hopefully like Sydney it is going to cool down a little bit for the next couple of days
I should add... 41 Celsius is about 106 Fahrenheit and we have had very high humidity! Heat stroke temps.

 

[lazy gardener]

My sympathy to you folks. I don't do heat. At 80* F (26*C), I cease to function, and have signs of heat exhaustion if I do any work.

We did get her checked by the vet and she was on a two week course of antibiotics, followed by a three week course of a different one, but I guess she could still be a carrier?

My worry about getting the babies out there is that we are on a farm, the girls have electric mesh around their browsing area, so there is a real security issue for such little ones. And we have crows, magpies and kookuburras. What would you do in that situation?

I would build a tractor to keep them safe in until they are big enough so that they are not such tender tasty morsels for the local wild life.

Why would they get it? They have never been exposed to her.

Diseases can be carried from one flock to an other on your clothing and your shoes. Some diseases are forever, and though the bird remains asymptomatic, she may still be a carrier.

 

[Ryn2011]

If your chicks are already exposed to your soil, that's great. The amprolium is designed to help the chicks build up immunity GRADUALLY to coccidia in their environment, so stopping it and then having them outside is the wrong approach. They may need it those first few weeks out in the dirt!
I'm also blessed (so far!) in being able to avoid amprolium medicated chick starter with no problems. Some places aren't so lucky, and their chicks will get sick/ die without it.
Mary

Thank you. Great advice and I will take that on-board and impliment it as soon as their outdoor run is ready.

I second this.
I decided to keep my birds on the medicated grower feed until around 12 weeks just for good measure. They were kept in my detached 3 car garage in a large pumpkin box until they feathered out, then I integrated them to outside. I figured I'd rather be safe than sorry. I'll probably mix the last third portion of the medicated with the layer feed before switching completely over.