Southern NY, Dutchess county and below

[stoopid]

Quarantine should be done for 30 days.
It's pretty impossible to do that. I know I can't and I show and bring all kinds of disease home.
But the incubation period for most disease is 3 weeks.
So you really have to do what is best for you.
Good luck with your new baby!

 

[mammo6]

Thank you...it will be hard but I'll try

 

[brooklyndiane]

I was told two weeks and make sure They're the same size....

 

[queenchick16]

Roberta is right with the time. But like Roberta said it is difficult for most people to do this.
My friend just got 5 girls the other day and just let them go as soon as she got home. That is extremely risky . There are many diseases that once a chicken gets it will remain a carrier of that organism the rest of its life. It will be perfectly healthy but introduced to a flock that hasn't been exposed to that disease they can infect the flock.
I'm sorry if this is too much info. My husband just came back from a vet conference in Chicago . He went to a full day of lectures on the backyard flock. I haven't mentioned it ,cause what he learned , we don't want to hear. It's not good.


Christina, pm me your number, I lost it.

 

[mammo6]

Thank you ladies. As always I appreciate the information. I feel bad because the single lady will be all alone and 1 is all my wife will let me get...and I listen, lol...2 weeks shouldn't be too difficult. Anything specific I should look for?

 

[stoopid]

The first indicator is the eyes and nose. Any kind of discharge, snot, mucous, is a telltale giveaway to stay away. And then the other end. Same rule. People look at me like I am crazy looking at the butt.
Coughing, wheezing, discharge, etc.
Lesions like chicken pox is exactly that. Fowl pox. Stay away.
Mites and lice are common and it's up to you to decide if you want to deal with them. I admit I have them on some birds and cannot avoid them.
Older or heavier birds can have bumblefoot. Look over their feet. The bottoms need to be clean with no cuts. Scaly leg mites is another headache.
All bugs are treatable, but are easily passed to other birds. A LOT of disease is carried but will not express itself on a bird. This is where it gets tough, a bird will be a carrier with no signs, and this is where a lot of flocks get infected.
Unfortunately testing costs way more than replacing the whole flock. And New York kinda sucks when you look for help in this aspect.

 

[mammo6]

Holy crow...I hope and pray nothing happens to the existing girls otherwise I'll have a big fat "I told you so" coming my way...and then some. But all you ladies have been swapping and adding just over the past couple months I believe and all has seemed good...so here we go.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
I just got done building a quick little coop for the new girl out of a crate I got from work at The Tile Shop so it's sturdy and only needed a little closing up, by the way, they make great compost boxes too. Added a milk crate for nesting box and a roost and VOILA, took me an hour. Anything you think I need I'm all ears...or eyes and the ability to read as the case may be.

 

[Sallysec]

Mammo, not to be adding to the fear but I brought home two birds from one show in May, I was good about it I had kept the two seperated from my other two flocks which are also still being kept apart (way after a month) So basically I kept two flocks outside with a fence between the two. One in the garden one in the main backyard. So I kept these little two in a dog crate I converted and had them apart. Three weeks after coming home the little one died in the house. I freaked out because I had almost combined them. I went away and came home and had three more birds gone. Now I know in the last week I had gotten kind of lazy and would wash all the feeders/bowls/equipment at the same time rather than each coop individually. I ended up being worried and kept the last girl in the house alone because I wanted to wait another month in case she was sick. I had to use corid during this time in June because I started noticing the colors on combs being bad and just bad signs in general blood in poop etc. in my backyard flock. Long story short..I lost the second little on shortly later. All I can say is it is best to take precautions. I still keep the garden girls in the garden and I never lost a single one of them, no signs of any disease during the entire time. I usually wash their stuff with the hose in the garden rather than bring it in. Is that what kept them safe? I don't know. But it taught me a really hard lesson about keeping things apart and not being lazy. I just hatched two chicks. I disinfected everything in a large basin with bleach before thinking of using it again. I got all the chickens from people on here etc and it has nothing to do with the care they got...but just like the other ladies said...sometimes they have something that they built up a resistance to and your other chickens might not. Roberta came to my rescue with a first aid kit when I needed it but I would much rather have not had to use anything and kept them healthy in the first place .

I really hope all goes well with them no matter what you choose to do. Also when you bring them together I have been told to do it at night or to introduce them in a way that they have a barrier. The other ladies can weigh in on that I am sure.

 

[stoopid]

Oxine is the bomb when it comes to killing disease. It's 100% stronger than bleach and I use it like a mad woman. They used it in the govt offices when we had the anthrax scares.
Very hard to find, of course I can send out as much as you want. Doc Brown sells it. I bought a case of gallons last time I saw him.
And it is safe to drink. Go figure. It is also in his emergency kit.

 

[CarolinaIsland]

I'm keeping my two bantams in an extra-large dog carrier on my patio during the day (in the house at night) until everyone gets used to everyone else. My original girls have grown accustomed to hearing Vinny crow and none of them are making the what I began to call "*** noises". It's been less than a week. Everything seems hunky-dory but I'm concerned that my 3 original girls are hulking monsters compared to the Bantam couple. I hope they don't hurt them when I finally unite them in the coop.