AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

How long do you guys quarantine your new chooks for before you put them in the coop with the others? I kept them separate for 7 days but 4 days latter one got a respiratory disease and it died so I don't want it to happen again

The recommended time seems to be 2 weeks. I haven't had to do it yet myself but this seems to be the standard answer.

Thank you I was just told this afternoon 2 weeks so great minds think alike.

The longer the quarantine, the more likely you are to pick up on any disease that the new bird may be carrying. The word quarantine is derived from the French: quarante- meaning 40 days- so the classical length of time is 6 weeks.
I find that 4 weeks works well. Gives you time to worm them and treat them for external parasites at least twice, and also to make sure they're not showing any signs of respiratory diseases.

The important thing is only to mix new birds with your old birds after quarantine if the new birds look 100% healthy.

I know of people who have just introduced new birds to their flock just because the quarantine period is over, when the birds haven't been quite right- with disastrous results.

IMO the trick is: Buy them healthy; quarantine them; introduce them to your flock only if healthy- & keep them that way

Cheers

Parvo

This is also an opportunity to feed well and make sure the new bird/s are in the best of health before the introduction too.

Moving and new situations can be stressful to chooks and when stressed their immune system may be compromised. This then allows illnesses to be picked up. Being introduced to new chooks and having to find its way through a pecking order would be a stressful situation for sure. You want them in great health before this happens.

It could very well be that your own birds passed on the illness to the new chook. They may not have obvious symptoms themselves but potentially enough to make other chooks ill.

There are ways of helping a chook recover from a respiratory illness. It doesn't always kill them. Generally a healthy bird recovers under its own steam but there are things you can do to help them along.

Keep them separated from the others in an area which is dry, warm and draft free. Make sure there is clean dry bedding and fresh food and water. You can add vitamins to the water and the rickets mixture is a very good probiotic pick me up. You might want to keep her inside in a box or cage where you can keep an eye on her, but make sure she's somewhere you can easily check she hasn't tipped over her food and water. At least until she starts to pick up.

One way to keep her warm if your house is air-conditioned is to put a reptile heat pad under the flooring of the box or cage (making sure it stays dry) or you might just put towels or a blanket around the box for warmth. Keep in mind though if it is warm anyway, you don't want to overheat her.

Chooks with a lowered immune system have a higher chance of picking up a secondary infection which might need antibiotics to help, but this requires a trip to the vet as there are many different problems requiring different antibiotics. The problem with taking your chook to the vet is the fact you're again putting them in a stressful situation. At the time it would be a judgement call.

It could also be worth giving your other chooks the rickets 'pickmeup' because if your sick chook does have a respiratory illness it can spread through the rest of the flock rather quickly.

Good luck with any future additions

Thank you both for the information and advice with the vitamins in the water do you have a refered brand please

Try this website: http://www.auspigeonco.com.au/

Don't be put off by the fact you see pigeons everywhere. Click products on the left and just keep scrolling to see what you like.

Excellent thank you for that

Is a weezy sniffy sound the first sign of respiratory disease?