buying adult birds or chicks at auction

[oldrooster]

I have read on several threads that one should quarantine new birds brought in no matter the source. My question is if I buy several birds or chicks at once from an auction and they are from different sources do I quarantine each batch from each other? like I buy 12 lots of 3-4 birds do I need 12 different pens for the birds if I start from scratch with no other birds on site? Or can I put them all together with medicated feed and medicated water for a few weeks and hope they all turn out okay? and is there any different process for doing the same thing with chicks with no existing adults on site? like if I got 2-4 lots of 15-20 chicks do I need to separate all the chicks or can I medicate them all in the same pen for a few weeks until I am certain they are healthy. I am not into medicating healthy birds but I realize they may be carriers of some diseases and if they are medicated from day one should help insure they stay healthy. also it is about an hour and a half from the auction barn to my house and checkout from the auction's cashiers window is 15 minutes to a half hour and all the birds at that auction house are stacked in close quarters and may be there for several hours from the time they are delivered until they are auctioned off. The auction barn in question is very popular and the small animal auction runs as long as 6 hours alone and the animals are accepted as early as 9 hours before the sale. if that info helps.....

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

If you medicate them with antibiotics while in quarantine then you may mask an illness.

I would plead with you to buy yourself some healthy chicks from a respected breeder or hatchery/feed store, as the chances of illness are less than buying at auction.

There are also worms and mites/lice to treat for- definitely consider treating those birds for those symptoms or no! You don't want worm eggs on your property, nor mites/lice. Retreat in 7 days for the mites/lice to get hatching eggs (and if lice I'd treat once more another week later as their life cycle is closer to 2 weeks).

As far as how many pens, that's up to you. Also be aware that there are diseases that make birds asymptomatic carriers of disease, for which many have had to put down their whole flock and start over.

You would be worried especially about bringing Marek's, chronic respiratory disease (coryza, mycoplasma, etc.) into your flock. There are still no guarantees though even with chicks from a hatchery.

Also I'd like to note that it is not really recommended to worm chicks under around 18 weeks of age "just in case" because their organs are still developing. So if you bought chicks I'd not worm them just in case if it were me...but you can also take a poo sample to some vets for a fecal float test for worms if needed (false negatives can occur though).

 

[A.T. Hagan]

It's all about your acceptable risk level. As ChickensAreSweet says I would not prophylactically medicate new birds as it may mask what you are trying to discover. Feed and manage them properly then let whatever may be there manifest itself, hopefully while they are still in quarantine.

As for whether they should be kept separated from each other it depends on whether you are willing to risk losing the entire days purchases or not if one lot of birds should happen to come up with something serious.

Personally I would not buy anything at an auction without good quarantine facilities. Some diseases are serious enough to have to cull wholesale. At a swap at least you have a chance to interact with the breeder and maybe get a feel for the quality of their birds.

 

[fiveladybugs]

Personally I would not buy anything at an auction without good quarantine facilities. Some diseases are serious enough to have to cull wholesale. At a swap at least you have a chance to interact with the breeder and maybe get a feel for the quality of their birds.

Agreed! I made the mistake of buying two Blue Silkies at an auction several weeks ago & ended up with a roo who has bumblefoot on both feet. You were allowed to see the animals before the auction but that was it. I'm pretty sure that's why they may have been there. They're both sweet birds, but I did quarantine them. I think I'll steer clear of auctions and just pay more for quality birds.

 

[speckledhen]

Quote: What medicated feed? Chick starter? That's only medicated with amprolium to offset coccidiosis, nothing else.

You NEVER, not EVER medicate birds in quarantine with antibiotics. It does not fix most chicken diseases or change the carrier status of any bird who is already a carrier. CRD/Mycoplasmosis and Coryza, for example, are very common and neither one can be cured. You won't be able to tell if birds are carriers of those and antibiotics will not fix either one.

Quarantine is not to medicate, it's to observe for symptoms, not fix anything other than lice/mites and worms. Quarantine is to allow symptoms, hopefully, if the bird is a carrier, to come to the surface so you can cull the bird and not add it to your flock. Medicating can mask disease and make quarantine useless.

Medicating birds and keeping them from showing symptoms does not mean they are healthy. If you are in the habit of doing that, for example, I would never buy a bird, not even a chick or hatching eggs, from you. That's how serious that is.

Buying that many from swaps and different sellers, if you put them together, and they all become ill, you won't know which one caused it and you'd have to cull them all, some probably unnecessarily. I just never buy started birds and avoid all the hassle.

 

[Cetawin]

Agreed! I made the mistake of buying two Blue Silkies at an auction several weeks ago & ended up with a roo who has bumblefoot on both feet.  You were allowed to see the animals before the auction but that was it.  I'm pretty sure that's why they may have been there.  They're both sweet birds, but I did quarantine them.  I think I'll steer clear of auctions and just pay more for quality birds.

Bumblefoot is nothing, any chicken regardless of health can get it by simply scratching the pad of the foot. It does not mean they are sick or from a bad flock and often it goes unnoticed.


OP ... quarantine means exactly that...keep all groups separate. If you buy one sick bird and quarantine it with ten others...you have eleven sick birds.

Never Medicate new birds ...you want to know if they are ill not hide it. And never give antibiotics until you know they need it and what they have. Antibiotics are like comparing aspirin and birth control...they each do something different and work for different things.

 

[lonelychicken]

This thread is right on topic for my question - which is very similar.

there is a small animal swap meet at Tractor supply this Sat. I lost 5 hens and want to get only 3 or 4 pullets to rebuild my small BYChicken flock. I can keep my single hen quarantined and divide their outside yard so the new pullets and my existing 3month old Cochin (Beyonce lol) are separated.

My question is what should I look for if I see young hens that I am interested in? I am assuming I should check for the same thing as other livestock?

should not be lethargic
Clear brite eyes
no nasal discharge
healthy looking feathers
clean

what else should I look for ?

thanks I love this forum you are all very helpful

Gail

 

[mstricer]

If you medicate them with antibiotics while in quarantine then you may mask an illness.   I would plead with you to buy yourself some healthy chicks from a respected breeder or hatchery/feed store, as the chances of illness are less than buying at auction.   There are also worms and mites/lice to treat for- definitely consider treating those birds for those symptoms or no! You don't want worm eggs on your property, nor mites/lice. Retreat in 7 days for the mites/lice to get hatching eggs (and if lice I'd treat once more another week later as their life cycle is closer to 2 weeks).   As far as how many pens, that's up to you. Also be aware that there are diseases that make birds asymptomatic carriers of disease, for which many have had to put down their whole flock and start over.   You would be worried especially about bringing Marek's, chronic respiratory disease (coryza, mycoplasma, etc.) into your flock. There are still no guarantees though even with chicks from a hatchery.   Also I'd like to note that it is not really recommended to worm chicks under around 18 weeks of age "just in case" because their organs are still developing. So if you bought chicks I'd not worm them just in case if it were me...but you can also take a poo sample to some vets for a fecal float test for worms if needed (false negatives can occur though).

I sell at the auctions, my flock is NPIP test and have no mites. I sell my culls, so please don't assume that just because one is buying from an auction they will get crappy birds. As for the OP is question on different pens. I would house them together and give no medication unless you see symptoms, the distress, of them going into a new house can make an illness come out. Buying at the auction, you can get you some good or crappy birds. I sold some nice silkies at one and yielded 20 dollars for one. I sold 15 birds and got 130$

 

[speckledhen]

mstricer, you are the exception. All you have to do is read through the Emergencies section with all the "I just got these birds at the auction/flea market and they are snotty, smell bad, etc, etc...". to know that it's not a safe way to buy birds. Most folks who sell there seem to be chicken traders of sorts and don't really care what if they are selling or buying is ill or has been ill, probably because they are ignorant of chicken diseases.

To be honest, the safest way is not to buy started birds at all.

 

[fiveladybugs]

Bumblefoot is nothing, any chicken regardless of health can get it by simply scratching the pad of the foot. It does not mean they are sick or from a bad flock and often it goes unnoticed.

Oh no I agree, I'm just saying I think that's why the original owners got rid of them because it's a really bad case and they didn't want to deal with it. You certainly couldn't miss it once you were able to handle the bird after it was purchased. I wasn't at all implying that my birds were full of disease. I was just lucky that's all it was...