Soon after introducing the first 2 (Goldline) chickens we decided a total of four chickens would be just the right number for us. Once you start keeping chickens you start to realise just how many local suppliers there are of both chickens and feed etc. that I had not even noticed beofre and sure enough only 2 miles away was a local breeder that had quite a few different breeds of chicken for sale.
We arranged to pop over and collect 2 White sussex point of lay hens. As a total newcomer to keeping chickens I had not even thought about vaccination when I collected the first 2 but I soon relaised that it is important to make sure that your supplier follows a strict vaccination program to make sure you are buying good healthy stock, our supplier uses the following program..
Age Disease Advised vaccine Route of administration
Day 1 Mareks Hatchery Injection Injection
Day 3-5 Salmonella enteriditis Gallivac Se Drinking water
Day 17-19 Salmonella enteriditis Gallivac Se Drinking water
Day 25 Infectious Bursal Disease Intervet – Gumboro D78 Drinking Water
Week 8 Avian Rhinotracheitis Merial Nemovac Spray
Week 10 “Inactivated ND/IB/
Egg Drop Syndrome” Intervet IBMulti+ND+EDS Injection
Week 13 Avian Encephalomyelitis Lohmann Avipro AE Drinking Water
Week 14 to “Inactivated ND/IB/
transfer Egg Drop Syndrome” Intervet IBMulti+ND+EDS Injection
I checked with the supplier of our first 2 chickens and they told me that thay were vaccinated but could not give this level of detail so we will have to wait and see what happens.
Bringing them home….
I wish we had gone to collect them a little earlier as by the time we got home it was late afternoon and there was very little time to shut them in the chicken house to acclimatise so when it started to get dark the two goldlines roosted in the house good as gold and the white sussex were nowhere to be seen.
As it was getting dark we looked high and low and eventually found both of them roosting in two different trees. Over the next few evenings we went through the ritual of searching the trees to find them a putting them in the hen house. After about 5 days they got the idea and have roosted in the chicken house ever since but if I decide to introduce any more to the flock they will spend 2-3 house shut in the house before I let them out just to make sure I don’t have to go through all that hassle again.