6Pipers
Hatching
- Sep 1, 2016
- 1
- 0
- 7
Hi all--
Our family is new to chicken keeping as of this spring. We have a nice flock of six hens purchased as chicks this spring that are just starting to lay. The flock is doing well and all of the birds seem healthy and content. My concern is this--my kids found a stray hen at the park yesterday, fell in love with her, brought her home, and desperately want to add her to the flock. I've been reading online, and can see that there may be some social difficulties with integrating her into the flock, but aside from this, I am wondering if it is even safe to do so? She seems healthy, and I see no evidence of mites or other external parasites, but I still am somewhat worried that she could introduce some sort of disease. Is this a problem I need to be concerned with? If so, what would be the best approach to minimize risk? I would very much appreciate some advice from those of you that have been keeping chickens for longer!
Our family is new to chicken keeping as of this spring. We have a nice flock of six hens purchased as chicks this spring that are just starting to lay. The flock is doing well and all of the birds seem healthy and content. My concern is this--my kids found a stray hen at the park yesterday, fell in love with her, brought her home, and desperately want to add her to the flock. I've been reading online, and can see that there may be some social difficulties with integrating her into the flock, but aside from this, I am wondering if it is even safe to do so? She seems healthy, and I see no evidence of mites or other external parasites, but I still am somewhat worried that she could introduce some sort of disease. Is this a problem I need to be concerned with? If so, what would be the best approach to minimize risk? I would very much appreciate some advice from those of you that have been keeping chickens for longer!