Urgent Reminder-PLEASE Quarantine Newly Acquired Birds!

This is very good thread! I raised up my first chicks last year they came as day old chicks from a backyard breeder. I just purchased 6 day old chicks from Tractor Supply. I am hopeful everything will turn out fine. However I must say after reading this thread...I kind of wish I had just hatched out some eggs!
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Well, you shouldn't have any problems with the chicks from the hatchery and as long as the chicks you get from the farmer were incubator hatched, they should be fine. There is a much lower risk from egg born diseases than from chicks exposed to adults. I once got a pair of chicks from under a broody and they were INFESTED with lice.... Poultry dust, poultry dust, poultry dust... took forever to get rid of the problem since I gave the two chicks to a broody and she got them too!
I'm glad I found this... I bought 4 SLW chicks one week ago from the local feed store. Today, we bought six more Pullets from Tractor Supply...

Should these be quaratined from each other?

I would appreciate any input on this... Thank you!!
 
I quarantined by age (have 3 week old pullets, wanted some black australorp chicks) so I separated mine, cleaned up the brooder for the BA's, moved the 3 week old pullets to the undershelf cage in the greenhouse. There will certainly be some environmental exposure for the newest birds, but it should be ok. The older pullets would have pecked the babies to death I think
 
I am getting 5 new pullets from the same place i got my 3 month old girls. (Small private farm) Do I still need to quarantine? I plan on cleaning second coop really good before i get them and they will be next to the big coop. The others will be able to see them but not touch. Thoughts?
 
I am getting 5 new pullets from the same place i got my 3 month old girls. (Small private farm) Do I still need to quarantine? I plan on cleaning second coop really good before i get them and they will be next to the big coop. The others will be able to see them but not touch. Thoughts?
I personally would quarentine further away than that. Even though they came from the same farm it still can have happened that a disease or sickness was introduced to their birds after you got your first chickens from them. To be safe I think quarentine is a good idea.
 
IS IT TOO LATE TO QUARANTINE???

We have never bought adult birds, only chicks which we raised inside for 4-6 weeks before they joined the flock.
We went to a chicken auction today and bought 6 chickens, which we checked there as healthy.
I just assumed I could put them in my backyard with my other free ranging flock.
Now I'm finding out I can't!!!

They've already all been together for about 4 hours and at 10pm on a Sunday night there really isn't much I can do about it. The new ones are on the patio and the original are in the pen, but they've already been around each other.

Will going to Lowe's in the morning to get supplies and building a chicken tractor be of help or is it already too late and I have to take my chances....
 
Something is getting lost in this conversation folks!!! It seems many people understand quarantine to just mean "keep separated". A cage or chicken tractor or any other mechanical means of keeping the chickens apart is not quarantined! You also need some degree of distance,and a solid barrier of some type.

The problem is most diseases are airborne,either by feather dander or sneezing/coughing as well as food/drink. To properly quarantine you must prevent this airborne spread of virus. This requires considerable distance of seperation, several hundred feet if possible. some airborne virus may still transfer between flocks even at that distance. It has been noted that Mareks virus ladden dander can travel several miles so it is very important to maintain proper protocol.

Hopefully this helps to clarify what quarantine means and just how important it really is.
 
Dutchbunny it wouldn't hurt to try if the new birds aren't showing any signs of illness yet ( I hope they don't ) in some cases they shed more disease when sick sneezing and coughing and such. Be sure to clean waters or anything else used by the new chickens.
 
Well that's not really an option here, we live in the city with a little backyard flock.
They have no choice, but to be in the same yard.
Chicken tractor is the best I can do to keep them from sharing water/food dishes and the coop at night.
 

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