Rescued chicks... should I worry about diseases?

[mcdaid36]

A friend brought me 4 chicks yesterday that she rescued from some woman who was going to leave them outside for the coyotes to eat. They look to be about 1 - 2 weeks old. I have them here in my brooder, which was all set up for the chicks I have hatching out tomorrow, and a batch of meat chickens I have arriving on Friday. I don't know if I need to be worried about diseases spreading from such young chicks. The rescued chicks all appear to be healthy, they spent their short life so far in a closed rubbermaid container, which had woodchips in the bottom but was obviously not cleaned at all. They were not exposed to any other chickens. Could they in fact have a disease and I should keep them quarantined for a while? If so, what should I be on the look-out for?

 

[speckledhen]

Young chicks can spread disease, yes. Someone here almost lost her entire flock by bringing in a week old chick that has Coryza. Many diseases are passed through the egg, so they can be hatched with them.

 

[mcdaid36]

Thanks, I didn't know they could get diseases through the egg. I'm assuming these chicks came from a hatchery though... the woman said she bought them from the feed store. And I know some chicks can arrive from a hatchery very ill, but I would think anything they would have brought from the hatchery would have shown up by now. Am I wrong? This is all new to me - I've never brought in chickens from a place I didn't know and trust was healthy.

 

[columbiacritter]

I would think they would have been sicl already if they'd come with anything. Why in heck did she buy them if she wasn't going to keep them?

 

[mcdaid36]

She probably just thought they were cute when she saw them in the store and didn't think about anything else. That's what I'm guessing anyway. My daughter and her friend witnessed her turning one upside down and then dropping it, the woman thought it was funny. How cruel! They were in a small rubbermaid tote box that she was bouncing and throwing around. They were covered in poop, and ate and drank like crazy when they got here. There were some pieces of whole corn in the box they were in, obviously uneaten because the pieces were huge. When they got to my home they ate and drank to their hearts content, and peacefully fell asleep under the heat lamp (which they didn't have before). Poor little chicks. Amazingly, they are very friendly, and come running over to say "hi" when they see us.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It is best to quarantine them. They could have picked up something from a wild bird. You just don't know, especially as they went from the hatchery to the feed store to the first owner. All it takes is a feed store customer with a diseased flock to handle a chick.