AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

Hi guys, I am after some info or tips on introducing new chooks to my existing flock. I have five lovely ladies (Isa's) and would like to introduce some Leghorns. I was thinking four or five. I also have two young sons and was thinking a little later down the track some Bantoms for them. Any tips would be very much appreciated as I don't want to stress my girls or my new girls. Thank you in advance.

Chookdog,

First thing to do when you bring the new girls home is to quarantine them for at least a month. That ensures any diseases are kept away from your existing flock. I have found Isa's to be less than friendly when introducing new flock members. I would suggest having them divided by fencing that they can see through but can't reach each other. Chook wire divider would work well. They may need to divided for a couple of months. Let them out to free range together when you can supervise them. It's best to try to integrate similar age groups also.

I hope this helps.

Yep quarantine is sooooooo important

Definitely quarantine them, and keep them separate via chook fencing so the existing flock can see them and get used to them. Chooks can be rather nasty and vicious when sorting out their pecking order.

Also with adding smaller sized chooks, keep an eye of them when they all free range as the bigger girls can be bullies and attack the smaller ones.

Agree with all of the above. Isolate them for at least 4 weeks then introduce them gradually, preferably between a fence first then supervise them when together. Maybe find out when their last lice, mite and worm treatment was last given, you could start that while they are in isolation

Thank you for your advice, I will post an update on my new Chicken family.

I have a whole regime when getting new flock members now....made a rookie mistake when I got too many chooks from different places.

First (like the others said), I quarantine the newbies into an area totally far away from my existing flock.

Then, I give the newbies a dose of Oxymav B for 3 days to make sure any lurgies they have get treated.

Then, after the 5 days on the Oxymav B, I see if there is any signs of illness & to see if their poos are nice & firm with white caps or brown and runny. If it's the latter & not the former I then move to stage 2 after 5 days (to make sure the drugs have started to wear off in their system).

Stage 2 is to worm them with Avitrol Plus tablets and wait another 5 days & watch their poos (again) to see how they are travelling.

Normally after the first 15 days of being treated with broad spectrum antibiotics & being wormed the majority are pretty good by now, but just to be sure I give them another week in "quarantine", before starting to introduce the new girls to the existing flock.

Finally, I introduce the newbies to the oldies when they all are free ranging in the last 1 & 1/2 of each day for another week.

When you finally do put them all together, it will still be a nasty scene, because there has to be a pecking order sorted out, regardless of how much time they've spent free ranging together. It's when they are in the house together that they all must learn where they stand when it comes to the food & who roosts where.

Hope this helps.

Cheers
Chicka-Dee