To quarantine or not to quarantine...?

[chickengoggles]

Wait! Before you say ALWAYS quarantine, let me explain. We added 5 pullets/young hens to our flock of two (7 month cockerel and two year old hen from folks we bought our tractor coop from). The 5 hens came from a friend with a large flock who is downsizing due to an upcoming ordinance change. We quarantined for 3 weeks, did another week of see/don't touch (could see each other from about 12 feet away), etc. Integrating them went easily.

I'm getting three more hens FROM THE SAME FLOCK that my 5 came from in January (a 7 month old, two 2 year olds) because our cockerel is definitely overbreeding our 6 hens.

Can I skip the strict quarantine, and go to keeping them separately for a time, then integrate? I can keep the new hens in the tractor coop, which we don't use, and my existing 7 in their coop, and swap off free-ranging times. We don't have a run, we are on 10 acres. I know she hasn't added any new birds, and some of the 3 and 5 used to hang out in a mini flock.

Thoughts? And thanks for your advice in advance!

Picture just because they're adorable:

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Well you already know you are taking a chance if you shortcut quarantine.
If you aren't doing a real quarantine, you might as well put them together immediately. If they are close enough to see each other, that isn't quarantine. Some diseases can travel a half mile through the air.
If you want to use the tractor, do so by moving it to the other side of your property.

 

[chickengoggles]

Well you already know you are taking a chance if you shortcut quarantine.
If you aren't doing a real quarantine, you might as well put them together immediately. If they are close enough to see each other, that isn't quarantine. Some diseases can travel a half mile through the air.
If you want to use the tractor, do so by moving it to the other side of your property.

I really was asking honestly. I'm new to chickens. I'm probably missing something obvious, but it just occurred to me that since the second and third group of chickens were from the same flock, perhaps a strict quarantine wasn't necessary. Rather more of a 'reintegrating separated flock members' approach instead...?

 

[Mrs. K]

To do a strict quarantine is really very difficult. To me healthy looks healthy, and adding birds from the same flock to your flock, is more than likely going to work just fine.... there is a risk, but to me, not a real big one.

To me, this is different from getting birds from an auction, those birds have been exposed to who knows what, and in a pretty stressful change of hands.

If losing your flock will put you into a state of decline, some people get very attached, then do not add full grown chickens to your flock.

So yes I would just add them, and not worry about quarantine...however DO NOT ADD anything you feel sorry for, or anything real old. DO examine them for parasites.

Mrs K

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I really was asking honestly. I'm new to chickens. I'm probably missing something obvious, but it just occurred to me that since the second and third group of chickens were from the same flock, perhaps a strict quarantine wasn't necessary. Rather more of a 'reintegrating separated flock members' approach instead...?

No, you are right. I agree with you.
It is just that any flock can become infected at any time. So while you would basically be just reintegrating them, there is still a risk - however slight that may be.
That's why I said, if you aren't doing the true quarantine, I would just go ahead and put them together now.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree with the others. Diseases or parasites can be spread to a flock at any time just by the flock being in the environment. The risk is never zero. But if a flock has been kept closed (not exposed to other chickens) and the owner would recognize a problem and was honest enough to tell you about it, they have essentially been in quarantine, just not on your property. Since you have introduced the others with no problems the risks are much less.

It's possible and not that unusual for a flock to develop flock immunities to certain diseases and even a certain parasite or two. Coccidiosis is a good example but not the only one. It could be your current flock or the flock the birds are coming from. It is highly unlikely that they will show any symptoms no matter how long you quarantine them. Quarantine is not set up to deal with this but a way around it is to take a potentially sacrificial member of your current flock and house it with the new chickens in their quarantine. If the new birds get sick then you flock is the carrier. If your bird gets sick then the new birds are the problem.

Where I think quarantine is very important is where the new birds come from an auction, chicken swap, or a flock that has new chickens coming and going. This is the situation quarantine was designed to handle and can be very important. I'd strongly recommend as good a quarantine as you can manage. But that is not where you are. The risk isn't zero but I think it is pretty low.

 

[chickens really]

To be honest you didn't do a quarantine anyways. Just a look no touch pen is all you need to do. Adding in Birds needs to be a full bio-hazard quarantine...Disease spreads on your shoes, cloths and the wind.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

...Quarantine is not set up to deal with this but a way around it is to take a potentially sacrificial member of your current flock and house it with the new chickens in their quarantine. If the new birds get sick then you flock is the carrier. If your bird gets sick then the new birds are the problem.
....

It is extremely rare that I bring in new birds these days but that's the approach I take. I will usually quarantine the new bird/s a couple weeks in a building on the opposite side of the property and then move one of my sacrificial lambs into an adjacent unit in the same building as the new birds to prevent squabbling but allow potential pathogens access to both sets. If all goes well for another week or so, I feel I'm good.
This approach is difficult in a small backyard and clearly requires one have multiple housing units - separated by as much distance as possible.

 

[Mrs. K]

This is not the op original question, but I would like to caution your children from kneeling among the chickens. Their eyes are bright and shiny, and chicken have been know to peck at eyes. It can be quite a thump. Every time I see that picture, it makes me cringe. Your call, but, you might not be aware of the potential problem.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It scares me too.