Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Cockatrice6420]

I have an awesome Rhodebar broody. She is raising 4 pullets and 1 cockerel. She hatched some and took on 3 more after I moved the eggs to the incubator. The chicks are Rhodebar also. So lovely to watch a nice mommy hen cluck over her chicks. No worries for me over heat lamps and power outages.

Congrats and agreed. Mommy birds are the best way.

 

[FamFitz]

Advice Please!

My friend had a flock of hens and over the summer lost 6 to raccoons. She has decided they are too stressful to keep for the time being, so she offered me her remaining two laying hens. I have the room, so I said sure. I know there is a quarantine of 4 (or is it 6?) weeks one should do when they get a new chicken. My DH and I converted an old rabbit hutch into a coop for them for the time being. It somehow didn't occur to me until today (and the chickens are arriving tomorrow) that to actually keep the quarantine going, I wouldn't be allowed to free range my current flock. My current hens have an enclosed run that is more than big enough for them to be in all day (I think by sq. feet/bird I could have 40 in the run and I currently only have 7), but they really enjoy the free ranging. And they have actually been on lock down due to coyote issues for the past month and only this week started free ranging again.

I guess I am kind of just curious what you all would do in my situations: Keep everyone locked up or mix & mingle and see what happens?

Things to note:
1) My friend has only had one hen die not from a predator in the past few months and she died from a flystrike my friend didn't catch in time (friend had a broken leg and her pet helper didn't see the signs).
2) While I practice OK biosecurity when going to a feed store then back to my hens, I haven't done that when visiting her hens (or if she comes to visit mine).
3) I also have a brooder room with 4 chicks (Between 2 & 3 weeks old). While the distance for quarantine is good between the hutch & the coop, that isn't the case for the brooder room. The chicks are inside and the hutch is outside, but I'm limited on where it can be so it is pretty close. I plan on washing my hands between each chicken area, but can't really change clothes/shoes between all areas.

Thoughts??

 

[Flaming Chicken]

Advice Please!

My friend had a flock of hens and over the summer lost 6 to raccoons. She has decided they are too stressful to keep for the time being, so she offered me her remaining two laying hens. I have the room, so I said sure. I know there is a quarantine of 4 (or is it 6?) weeks one should do when they get a new chicken. My DH and I converted an old rabbit hutch into a coop for them for the time being. It somehow didn't occur to me until today (and the chickens are arriving tomorrow) that to actually keep the quarantine going, I wouldn't be allowed to free range my current flock. My current hens have an enclosed run that is more than big enough for them to be in all day (I think by sq. feet/bird I could have 40 in the run and I currently only have 7), but they really enjoy the free ranging. And they have actually been on lock down due to coyote issues for the past month and only this week started free ranging again.

I guess I am kind of just curious what you all would do in my situations: Keep everyone locked up or mix & mingle and see what happens?

Things to note:
1) My friend has only had one hen die not from a predator in the past few months and she died from a flystrike my friend didn't catch in time (friend had a broken leg and her pet helper didn't see the signs).
2) While I practice OK biosecurity when going to a feed store then back to my hens, I haven't done that when visiting her hens (or if she comes to visit mine).
3) I also have a brooder room with 4 chicks (Between 2 & 3 weeks old). While the distance for quarantine is good between the hutch & the coop, that isn't the case for the brooder room. The chicks are inside and the hutch is outside, but I'm limited on where it can be so it is pretty close. I plan on washing my hands between each chicken area, but can't really change clothes/shoes between all areas.

Thoughts??

Raccoons are the worst! I had my own flock nearly destroyed by raccoons before I built fort Knox. Lucky survivors to be able to come live with you!

Your friends chickens might be carriers but not showing any symptoms. The stress of moving to a new home and new flock could bring out hidden illness. Quarantine at least a month. Try and keep 30 feet distance between the Quarantined chickens and your own flock. There's been a lot of posts on here lately related to AI, Mareks and MG, take reasonable steps to protect your own girls from illness.

 

[Cockatrice6420]

Advice Please!

My friend had a flock of hens and over the summer lost 6 to raccoons. She has decided they are too stressful to keep for the time being, so she offered me her remaining two laying hens. I have the room, so I said sure. I know there is a quarantine of 4 (or is it 6?) weeks one should do when they get a new chicken. My DH and I converted an old rabbit hutch into a coop for them for the time being. It somehow didn't occur to me until today (and the chickens are arriving tomorrow) that to actually keep the quarantine going, I wouldn't be allowed to free range my current flock. My current hens have an enclosed run that is more than big enough for them to be in all day (I think by sq. feet/bird I could have 40 in the run and I currently only have 7), but they really enjoy the free ranging. And they have actually been on lock down due to coyote issues for the past month and only this week started free ranging again.

I guess I am kind of just curious what you all would do in my situations: Keep everyone locked up or mix & mingle and see what happens?


Things to note:

1) My friend has only had one hen die not from a predator in the past few months and she died from a flystrike my friend didn't catch in time (friend had a broken leg and her pet helper didn't see the signs).
2) While I practice OK biosecurity when going to a feed store then back to my hens, I haven't done that when visiting her hens (or if she comes to visit mine).
3) I also have a brooder room with 4 chicks (Between 2 & 3 weeks old). While the distance for quarantine is good between the hutch & the coop, that isn't the case for the brooder room. The chicks are inside and the hutch is outside, but I'm limited on where it can be so it is pretty close. I plan on washing my hands between each chicken area, but can't really change clothes/shoes between all areas.


Thoughts??

Use an over coat, plastic grocery bags on your shoes, and get a bottle of sanitizer. Medical masks can be purchased in expensively. When we do our routine coop cleaning, we always use masks and gloves for our own sake. I believe quarentine is two weeks, unless you see something to look at for longer. Maybe put some plastic between the hutch and brooder.

 

[Cockatrice6420]

Oh, and the new chicks, you may want to feed them medicated food to help out. I know that sometimes ideal conditions are impossible to create, but heck, when we incubate eggs we have to make sure they're clean etc. But in a natural nest, boy there's some dirt in there.

 

[ochochicas]

Personally I think quarantine for 2 weeks in your chase is sufficient. You know your friends birds, it isn't like they are coming from a large farm. Diseases that are going to show due to "stress" or that have just started to incubate have a 3 - 14 day incubation period, so you'd know in 2 weeks if they were exposed to something. If they are carriers of something they many never show signs of illness. Quarantining them for 4 or 6 weeks or longer isn't going to matter. I got a bird last year that is a Marek's carrier. She was quarantined for 2 months. Guess what? She never showed any signs of illness and now my entire flock has Marek's. A whole year later she is still completely healthy and lays eggs every week. You just never know, but since you know where your new birds are coming from I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[lindalouly]

Just want to take a second and send my love to those in eastern Washington... Western Washington is thinking of you and praying for the best. My heart to the fallen firefighter and everyone effected by the wild fires.

 

[FamFitz]

Thanks for all the replies!

Chicks are medicated via their water. My older ones have been getting a booster in their water too because of all the heat (it helped perk up their egg production). And I do use gloves for cleaning and have sanitizer at the ready. I'll have to use the bag on shoes idea. 2 weeks isn't so bad for lockdown. I'll start with that then see how things are going. Also, as a precaution, I was going to do a mites/lice dust bath powder on the new arrivals. They usually lay about 4-5 eggs/week/bird. Assuming the stress of a move doesn't hault that (and I know it might), are the eggs OK after the dusting? My friend and I are on the same schedule for deworming and since it isn't time yet I'm not planning on doing that when they arrive.

 

[Cockatrice6420]

Just want to take a second and send my love to those in eastern Washington... Western Washington is thinking of you and praying for the best. My heart to the fallen firefighter and everyone effected by the wild fires.

Amen. Be safe, be smart, and run if you have to. My sister and brother in law are making a stand on their property trying to run sprinklers and what not. Just keep praying.

 

[Cockatrice6420]

Thanks for all the replies!

Chicks are medicated via their water. My older ones have been getting a booster in their water too because of all the heat (it helped perk up their egg production). And I do use gloves for cleaning and have sanitizer at the ready. I'll have to use the bag on shoes idea. 2 weeks isn't so bad for lockdown. I'll start with that then see how things are going. Also, as a precaution, I was going to do a mites/lice dust bath powder on the new arrivals. They usually lay about 4-5 eggs/week/bird. Assuming the stress of a move doesn't hault that (and I know it might), are the eggs OK after the dusting? My friend and I are on the same schedule for deworming and since it isn't time yet I'm not planning on doing that when they arrive.

If you're using diatomaceous earth then you'll be fine. You can even put a small amount in their food as a de wormer.