[Bonniebean]

Thanks Sarah, it was just an idea as I have one spare which I keep for waifs and strays!

[janet12000]

I used a rabbit hutch to look after one of my hens while she was recovering from a fox attack.

She was very cosy and didn't want to move out when she was better. 

[IMOmimey]

I use a spare run/coop. It was my first, and so much smaller than I anticipated, it is pretty useless for anything BUT temporary housing, so I keep it for quarantine. I wash thoroughly with 10% jeyes, using a power spray, and stalosan on the area on the area of ground it was on.

Siting a run within a run, or adjacent kind of defeats the object, as sneezes and coughs can easily transmit disease to a nosy chook just on her way past 

Also, a small tip... young chicks need to be in a covered run, where older choox and/or wild birds cant poop into their pen. I'm told that this is one of the biggest causes of cocci in growers. (Babies with their broodies are ok, they are believed to aquire immunity from their mummy. 

[Hawkins]

Im off to see some new chickens on the weekend Im hoping to get 4 or 6 from the same breeder. My quarantine coop is set up but I have to put it in the girls original electric fencing run which is 100m.

Im planning on seperating the new from the old by 2 fences to try and combat the sneeze barrier thing. How much room do you thing i need to leave between fences. 1meter 2 meters or more.

[hillfooter]

The more the less the risk but I couldn't say what distance ensures absolute safety.  I suspect just preventing contact will probably eliminate 80% of the risk and increasing the separation will improve upon that.  I'd guess 5m is probably good for 95% ish and thereafter the risk declines slowly with distance.  These are just my rough feelings but I suspect it's something along these lines.
HF

[joyfull]

I agree with HF just preventing contact will eliminate most problems - not sure how far any droplets can spray when a chicken sneezes but don't think it's too far.

[tamnwill]

Just a thought after reading this excellent advice, I have a quarentine house for just incase, but is it ok to let them share the same garden, at different times of course?

[joyfull]

I wouldn't just in case there is anything infectious in their pooh. My newbies go into an ark with a run attached until I am sure about them.

[jhub]

I agree with HF just preventing contact will eliminate most problems - not sure how far any droplets can spray when a chicken sneezes but don't think it's too far.

have just been on an American website and the resident vet stated that respiratory viruses spread by droplets can travel >120 yards on the wind. How scary is that?
and how sad am I that my favourite websites are all about chooks- am even making them at pottery classes!

[pandoradeus]

being a newbie looking to expand my flock - I was going to get some more from the same breeder I got my original Ladies from - I know what you;ll say but I'd rather feel a bit stupid asking than not , but is quarantine necessary in this situation?

[joyfull]

yes - you don't know if he has had any infections since you got your original girls. Also it helps with the introductions - have them separated but in full view of each other and then move them together bit by bit until they are just separated by the wire. This makes for an easier introduction.

[hillfooter]

I agree with HF just preventing contact will eliminate most problems - not sure how far any droplets can spray when a chicken sneezes but don't think it's too far.

have just been on an American website and the resident vet stated that respiratory viruses spread by droplets can travel >120 yards on the wind. How scary is that?

Well not that scary really as the risk drops off very rapidly as the density of any infectious organism spreads in the air over distance.  True that aerosols can carry over a kilometre I've seen quoted however the risk of infection is very low and considerably lower than being spread though contact with wild birds or animals including humans, cars and trucks. 

You've considerably more chance of catching a cold from someone sneezing next to you on a bus than you have from someone sneezing a hundred metres away down the road probably in the order of over tens of millions of times more likely and actually only theoretically quantifiable.
HF

[Laine21]

Have learned this in a very hard way. a little while ago we purchased eggs to hatch, but only 3 boys hatched. But we had fallen in love with them so they stayed, to be sure of healthy birds we bought 6 young hens from the SAME breeder .
They did not all meet until the following week. Unfortunately we then lost 1 girl we thought at the time through stress with moving, and the breeder said she had never lost any.
 During the following week another girl started to limp, the breeder thought she had perhaps pulled a muscle, a visit to the vet and the vet gave an anti inflamatory jab, and kept her away from the others. This did not work, she just got worse. We took some video clips and sent them to 2 other breeders and to a vet, the consenus is Mareks.

A week further on, and just over 4 weeks since the girls arrived and this morning one of my beautiful boys could not get out of the coop, his legs cannot hold him, he, like the other one has other symptoms, irregular eye colour and green runny poops, and also has raised feathers.

I have been advised by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency that now Mareks has been on my property, it will ALWAYS be there. When  I come to replace the birds I can only have vaccinated birds, so no buying from a small breeder again.

You think you are doing right, but there is always more to learn.

Apparently with Mareks, birds can be lifelong carriers, and you will never know if you bring a bird into your group has it until you begin to have fatalities, unless your birds have been previously vaccinated of course.

The breeder initially offered to refund the cost of the birds, but is now not answering my messages.
Its been a very hard lesson.
Laine

[hillfooter]

A sad and salutary lesson indeed Laine.  There but for the grace of god etc. Grumpy Dad has had a long and ongoing battle with Mareks and has a similar story to tell.

Small breeders are vulnerable if they have a significant throughput of birds and don't vaccinate and even vaccinated stock may still be carriers.  In Grumpy Dads case the birds he had were claimed to be vaccinated.  Even when vaccinated correctly 5% fail to develop immunity so there's no 100% solution all you can do is take as much care as you can.

You should get your current birds vaccinated even now Laine as this should prevent them developing the tumours even though they will remain carriers of the virus.  Horizontal transmission will be much reduced after vaccination.  Mareks is not vertically transmitted so hatching eggs is one way of introducing new stock which will be Mareks free.  Vaccination at an early age will 'prevent them picking up the virus.  Chicks are naturally immune for the first two or three weeks anyway.  Of course there are plenty of other nasty diseases that can be vertically passed so using hatching eggs isn't a panacea and you still need to be sure of the origin of your eggs.  This is why I don't buy on ebay as you are very vulnerable to unscrupulous sellers.  I know 99.9% are perfectly genuine but one mistake as Laine has shown can cause tragedy.

The best strategy is know your sources and keep introductions to a minimum ie don't buy stock in ones and two from several sources that just increases risk.  Quarentine any new stock for 3 weeks minimum.  There's no guarentees but that's all you can do.
Best wishes
HF

[joyfull]

wise words there HF, know your breeder indeed - sadly I fell foul of one whose practises left a lot to be desired