Is it safe to buy chicks this spring, in the context of avian flu?

[K0k0shka]

I want to add a few chicks this spring, but I'm not sure what the risks are with avian flu going around. It has been reported in my state and county. My flock doesn't free range and is in an urban/suburban area with no ponds or waterfowl nearby, and I'm strict about biosecurity, so I'm not worried about my own chickens. I've read only about poultry farms housing adult birds as being affected. What are the risks to hatcheries? I'd get the new chicks as day olds from the local feed store (which is supplied by a hatchery). I want to use a broody to raise them, so quarantining them would toss that option out the window. Are day olds safe to add to my flock?

 

[TooCheep]

want to use a broody to raise them, so quarantining them would toss that option out the window. Are day olds safe to add to my flock?

If you define safe as 0% risk, then no. Hatchery chicks are generally hatched isolated from adults, so there is definitely minimal risk. If you want to eliminate the minimal risk, then you need to keep your chicks isolated from your flock for at least a while to see if any problems develop. HPAI is a fast killer.

I don't use broodies, so I don't know. Can you move chicks to a broody after a few days or a week?

Water fowl (primarily ducks) are carriers, so a backyard flock can never be 100% perfectly protected. The best you can do is minimize the odds of being affected.

 

[K0k0shka]

If you define safe as 0% risk, then no. Hatchery chicks are generally hatched isolated from adults, so there is definitely minimal risk. If you want to eliminate the minimal risk, then you need to keep your chicks isolated from your flock for at least a while to see if any problems develop. HPAI is a fast killer.

I don't use broodies, so I don't know. Can you move chicks to a broody after a few days or a week?

Water fowl (primarily ducks) are carriers, so a backyard flock can never be 100% perfectly protected. The best you can do is minimize the odds of being affected.

I understand that I can't bring the risk down to 0%, so I'm not aiming for 0%. Just trying to figure out the general level of risk.

That's a good point though that it's a fast killer, so maybe I don't need to quarantine them for 2 weeks. This broody has previously accepted chicks that were as old as 3 days, but I don't know how much more I can push it (or if the ones at the store are really 1 day old as advertised, or more like 2-3 days already). How long do you think I'd need to quarantine them for?

 

[TooCheep]

I understand that I can't bring the risk down to 0%, so I'm not aiming for 0%. Just trying to figure out the general level of risk.

That's a good point though that it's a fast killer, so maybe I don't need to quarantine them for 2 weeks. This broody has previously accepted chicks that were as old as 3 days, but I don't know how much more I can push it (or if the ones at the store are really 1 day old as advertised, or more like 2-3 days already). How long do you think I'd need to quarantine them for?

Based on my reading, if the chicks look healthy after 3 days, I'd move them to the broody. 1 week if you want to be paranoid. As I said, HPAI is a quick killer.

 

[Mrs. K]

Really, I think you are going to be darn safe with freshly hatched chicks. I would not worry about it. I would get them under that mama when you get them. Make sure they have a drink of water, then wait till dark, let them get a little chilled, peeping madly. Then put them under her, and they should stick like ticks.

It really is not just the hen, it is the chicks that get too old. People tend to worry about the hen accepting the chicks, but really it is a two way street. The chicks have to imprint on her, see her as the warmth and feed source. So if you keep them apart for a week, this will drastically reduce the chance of this being successful.

Mrs K

 

[K0k0shka]

Really, I think you are going to be darn safe with freshly hatched chicks. I would not worry about it. I would get them under that mama when you get them. Make sure they have a drink of water, then wait till dark, let them get a little chilled, peeping madly. Then put them under her, and they should stick like ticks.

It really is not just the hen, it is the chicks that get too old. People tend to worry about the hen accepting the chicks, but really it is a two way street. The chicks have to imprint on her, see her as the warmth and feed source. So if you keep them apart for a week, this will drastically reduce the chance of this being successful.

Mrs K

Yes, absolutely, the chicks play a huge role in how successful the grafting is. That's why I don't want them to get too old before I put them under the broody.

I still have a couple of months before doing this, so hopefully we'll have more clarity by then. But I'm glad that newly hatched chicks seem to be relatively low risk.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The major hatcheries generally have their flocks set up away from the hatching room. Their biosecurity is usually topnotch, that's why they are still in business. As you said, the risk is never zero but I'd consider chicks straight from the hatchery as the safest way to go. There is probably as much risk of them getting exposed during shipping as from the hatchery, if not more. I consider that risk to be really low also.

Next on my list would be hatching the eggs yourself. Where you get the eggs would have a big effect on how risky this is but very few diseases are passed down through hatching eggs.

Third to me are chicks from a feed store. True, they are from a hatchery so should show up at the feed store safe, but a lot of people walk through a feed store. Some people working there may have chickens at home. I still consider them really safe but there is a reason they are third on my list.

Getting chicks from local flocks is next on my list. The risk obviously jumps. If the person you get them from has a closed flock (no exposure to strange chickens for a couple of months), would recognized a problem if it showed up, and would tell you about it they are safer than otherwise but a long way from zero.

At the bottom of my list are auctions or chicken swaps. They are obviously exposed to strange chickens and a lot of people that could be carriers. A lot of people do this and don't have issues but we are talking levels of risk.

I would not hesitate to give chicks I received in the mail from a major hatchery to a broody hen. I'd be OK giving a broody eggs to hatch, I've done that before. I've put chicks from a feed store straight into my brooder with other chicks I'd just hatched when I had a horrible incubator hatch. I was a touch nervous about that but needed the chicks. I do not add any chickens of any age from any other source to my flock.

We all have our own levels if how much risk we are wiling to take. I cannot tell you what would be right for you, just give my take on it. Good luck!

 

[K0k0shka]

Thank you Ridgerunner, very thoughtful and thorough as always. I would only consider the first three options on your list anyway. I would not get chickens of any age from local flocks, auctions, swaps, friends, farms, breeders etc. I just don't trust their biosecurity measures (if any... lots don't have any).

I was considering hatchery chicks from a feed store vs. mail ordered, only to avoid the inevitable casualties of shipping and any additional exposure while going through USPS. I'll have to weigh that against exposure at the feed store itself. The one factor that makes me lean towards feed store is that the one local store I use, does not have chicks in open bins or cages out among the gawking and swooning customers, the way TSC and some other feed stores do. Way back since before avian flu, they've had a policy that chicks stay behind the scenes, and when you walk up to the counter and ask for what you want, an employee goes back there and assembles your box of chicks, then brings it out to the counter. Which makes me feel a lot better. Random customers with their dirty boots and hands don't go anywhere near the chicks.

The best route is hatching eggs, of course, but they are very hard to find where I live. I either have to drive for hours, or mail order and deal with low hatch rates, higher cost, and a higher percentage of unwanted males. I've done that for breeds I really want, but in this case I just want some regular layers.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I was considering hatchery chicks from a feed store vs. mail ordered, only to avoid the inevitable casualties of shipping and any additional exposure while going through USPS. I'll have to weigh that against exposure at the feed store itself.

Yes, it is all risks and how we look at them. I've had three different shipments of chicks mailed from three different hatcheries totaling over 70 chicks. Every chick arrived alive and healthy. Others have had different experiences. Yes, the risk is never zero. Avoiding shipping over postal holidays probably helps.

I don't know if there is any differences in how chicks are shipped from the hatchery to your feed store versus me picking them up at the post office. I think the risk differences would be minimal if any but I just don't know.

One advantage in getting them from the feed store is you can usually time it with a broody better if you want to use a broody hen.

 

[K0k0shka]

One advantage in getting them from the feed store is you can usually time it with a broody better if you want to use a broody hen.

Yes, in my case that is going to be a deciding factor.