4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Jen&Rog]

Hi everyone

 

It's been a while since I've been on the forum as I've been busy with my own little hatchling - gorgeous baby Finlay, now 3 months old!

 

Anyway, I've been hoping to get some hybrids, but was advised not to mix these with our existing ex-batts due to the risk of spreading disease. I was told that ex-batts may be carriers of disease due to them being vaccinated with live vaccine. Has anyone else heard this? I know many of you have mixed hybrids and ex-batts, so have there been any problems with diseases?

 

Also, are bantams OK with cats? I'm worried that my moggie might try to swipe them for lunch. So far he's caught a pigeon, squirrel and rat, so I'm worried he can't be trusted around smaller birds.

 

Jennie

[Chook n Boo Mum]

No idea about cats, though my Pekin bantams are possibly the feistiest little minxes I've ever come across, so I wouldn't want to be a cat within their range......but my 3 batties live happily with 4 Orpingtons and 3 other hybrids and free range with an extra 3 Light Sussex youngsters with no illness problems beyond the occasional sour or impacted crop.

 

Congratulations on little Finlay's birth

 

Sha x

 

Edited so it now makes sense x

Edited October 20, 2009 by Guest

[Egluntyne]

Battery hens aren't vaccinated with anything different to ordinary hybrids. I can see no problem mixing them. I have a mixture of ex-batts, vaccinated hybrids and unvaccinated purebrees, and they are all OK together.

[Space Chick]

I have NEVER heard of that, and certainly my ex batts are mixed with hybrids and pure breeds and they are all fine

[Patricia W]

My bantams see off my cat and all the neighbourhood cats - they're terrified!

 

Tricia

[Jools]

I have read about it - the other way round though!

 

Victoria Roberts, THE poulty vet who writes in Country Smallholding, is always going on about not introducing exbats to other poultry because of their lowered immunity to normal poultry type problems because of their isolation. Don't shoot the messenger, I know lots of people do it without a problem.

[Lizzie]

Hi

 

Our first chooks were all ex batts and over time, we ended up with only three left.

After much deliberation, I decided to get three young chooks but dreaded trying to integrate them.

 

We brought them home and apart from a few clucks from the original girls, its been absolutely fine. They were kept in their "half way house" for 4 weeks, free ranging together for two of these weeks, then finally put into the main coop and run together under very close supervision.

 

Wilma even now does peck / chase the new ones, but there is no aggression, just a warning. She gets a little spray with water when we catch her !

 

I mentioned on a previous post that when I brought home my second ex batts back in Feb, the original ones went mad. It took eight weeks even before we could even consider putting them into the same run.

 

I truly believe that the smell of the battery farms brought back terrible memories.

 

Good luck, I am sure you will be fine - just take things slowly.

[alet_chicken]

Hi Jennie

 

We started out with a group of ex-batts, to which we added 4 POL purebreed (2 legbars and 2 leghorns) this January. We have since added more ex-batts and more purebreed girls to the flock, and I can certainly say that our pure breed girls are very fit and healthy. This may be because they are much younger, but I am sure if the ex-batts carried any serious disease, at least one of their runmates would have caught it by now.

 

Jools, Victoria Roberts (and my poultry vet!) do have a valid point about about the fact that ex-batts have lowered immunity. However, I'm sure that their immune systems do adapt once they are in a free range environment so integrating them with other healthy chickens would not necessarily lead to problems.

 

On a lighter note, I have to warn you though about another problem we had with adding active purebreed girls to our ex-batts. We found that our ex-batts learned a number of naughty habits from our leghorns and legbars: jumping into the pots on the patio, destroying the plants in said pots and then dustbathing in them, jumping on the garden furniture, etc, etc, etc. Need I say more... Bless them, it must have simply never occurred to them that these activities would be so much fun.

 

I would say, go for it, but do bear in mind the risks involved.

[poachedegg]

Another one with ex batts and non ones living happily together.

 

Congratulations and welcome to Finlay!

[cluckingmad]

Hi Jenny,

 

We mixed our 3 ex batts and 6 omlet girls without any problems at all We've also got several pure breed girls in addition to the hybrids and the vet's view is that they'll all be fine together as long as good husbandry is maintained (much mucking out in the rain....gah!)

 

And where are the pictures of Finlay may I ask?!