Should I quarantine?

[HappyClucker7]

So, I'm getting two Easter Egger chicks on Saturday, and I'm wondering if I should quarantine them before I introduce them to my flock. Is this necessary? The chicks will be almost 2 weeks old on Saturday. Thanks!

 

[chickenlittle21]

It's not necessary unless you think they are sick

 

[byrd95]

I would absolutely quarantine. The only reason I say this is because I had 6 chicks I bought from a breeder and I added 8 from another breeder a few days later...they had coccidia but did not know this until a few days after. They never had any outside time either so I knew it came from the breeder. I treated everyone for 5 days and everyone seemed to be clear and no more bloody stool. Two weeks ago I lost two of them randomly and I noticed one looked very ill (they were 8 weeks old at this point). I immediately separated her from the others and started them on corid. I never had to deal with coccidia before but had a feeling that's what was going on again. Long story short out of the 14 birds I did have...I am down to 2. They are now very healthy and happy. I was used to only hatching my own babies so I never dealt with quarantining but due to what happened to me I will be quarantining any new bird I bring home from here on out.

 

[HappyClucker7]

If I do quarantine, how long should I do it for? Is one week enough?

 

[rosemarythyme]

To do a true quarantine it'd be 30 days, and you need to house the birds separately with a few hundred feet between or something like that, changing out clothing and shoes between each visit. So pretty hard to do in many backyard settings.

Honestly with young chicks I'd just take my chances and start raising them alongside the older birds, reason being they're less likely to be carriers of anything, and having them away from the flock for a whole month... that's basically my entire integration period.

 

[HappyClucker7]

Okay, that makes sense. Thanks!