Ex Batt chooks. Reassure me!

[Fransurrey]

FIL has kept chooks for years but is rather old school with certain things. For Christmas I said I'd get them some ex batts, as their flock was depleted down to one. Since then he bought 4 warrens as a stop gap, as the first homing day was today. OH came in half an hour ago and tells me FIL is going to put them in at sunset, so they mix better.

My understanding of ex batts is that they are very vulnerable and weak. Can't perch...etc. I asked him yesterday was the house ready and did he need help disinfecting and he oddly replied that the house was fine! Now I know why. He wasn't planning to keep them separate, treat for red mite or put straw down until they can perch. He's literally going to throw them in with the other 5! It's a good size house and can easily hold 12, but this is so far removed from what I would do!! OH said a while ago that his dad had taken ex batts before, so am I stressing unnecessarily?!? We have a spare house, so this to me is just needless risk!

 

[MotherOfChickens]

I never introduce any birds without quarantining them for a month first. Moving stresses the birds, stressed birds get sick. The new birds need time to get their bearings and establish immunity to the new environment and you need to see they aren't carrying anything untoward (although ex batts are immunised against most). If your ex batts aren't well feathered then ideally they'll stay separate until they are. Most battery farms have a huge amount of red mite-although they mainly feed at night and then go away, your new birds should be dusted.

I learned the hard way about quarantine-even though I had quarantined for 2 weeks, it wasn't enough-had to cull a load. I rarely buy birds in now, not worth the risk although I only deal with pure breeds.

 

[jodie3]

I kept my ex batts separate from my main flock for about six weeks. They now go out together during the day but go back to their separate houses at night. Although the ex batt girls look so much better now, much stronger and nearly all feathered up, they are still picked on by my original girls but have the space and strength to get away. I think if I had put them in together from day one, which the ex batt people strongly advise against doing, they wouldn't have survived.

 

[Honey08]

I've always put mine straight in too, in fact the lady at the hen rescue suggested it. (At the time it surprised me that she said that) So far we've had four different lots and no injuries. We have a big run though, which makes a difference. On one occasion the new hens immediately took top of the pecking order and chased the old hens off. Obviously if the hens are weary/ill (our rescue holds onto them if they're like that) I wouldn't.

I usually get them home about 2pm, shut them in the coop for an hour or two, then let them out at about 4pm to mingle with the others. There are usually a few scuffles, but nothing major. I usually get them October, so its going dark around 5/6 and the original hens go to bed, some of the new hens follow, sometimes you have to put them in manually for a few days.

What you do need to do is ensure they have alternative food and water sources dotted around the run for a few weeks so that nothing gets prevented from eating, and also provide several places to shelter if it rains (we dot overturned dustbins around the run and they go in those). You also need somewhere to separate them if there are any fights (like a stable) but we haven't had to so far.

Do make sure they're in a run. I got some for a local lady and she let them out free range a day later and they all got killed by a fox.

 

[Fransurrey]

They're in a run (or will be). We've got them home now and they look pretty good. Quite well feathered and they were trotting around a run at the collection point. FIL is insistent that they'll go into the house at chicken bedtime, then let out tomorrow with the others. I have had to bite my lip most harshly. I'm never ever getting him animals again! I don't know when that house was last disinfected and currently the new girls are still in their travelling crate, as he thinks he'll never been catch them if he puts them anywhere else (there is a spare small run with the spare EMPTY house). He got quite defensive at one point and startes on about raising chickens for longer than my OH had been alive and all that testicles. Pfffft!! Oh and no plans to treat newbies for red mite or worms, either. *head bangs wall*

 

[Honey08]

How are they doing?

 

[Fransurrey]

They're doing great! They all laid an egg on that first night and all came out the next morning. If it wasn't for the lack of feathers in places, you'd never think they were ex batts! There's been zero squabbling, too, which is fab.

 

[Honey08]

Fab. All our newbies have been like that. Sometimes you get squabbles a few days later, but nothing too serious. They will feather up fairly quickly with a bit of luck.

 

[Twizzel]

My ex batts that I bought a week before Christmas were kept separate until they had finished moulting- they went into the main hen house after 6 weeks but were bullied so moved back into their temporary house. The moved back in 3 days ago and so far I think everyone is ok. They are bottom of the pecking order until they are fully feathered again.