Quarantine arrivals; do not walk disease into the main group

Healthy-looking animals still carry parasites, respiratory infection, or skin disease. Mixing them the day they arrive is how a whole flock goes down.

Practical rules

• Give new stock their own pen, buckets, and time before they join the group.
• Isolate immediately if contagious disease is possible.
• Clean tools, feeders, waterers, cages, and handling kit between groups.
• Limit unnecessary visitors in animal areas.
• Keep mixed species from sharing tight, dirty space when disease can jump.
• Remove dead animals safely and investigate unexplained deaths.
• Protect feed from rodents, moisture, and mould. Keep drinkers clean.

Farm dogs and cats walk the same yards. Include them in the health plan: they can spread contamination even when they are useful.

Local veterinary and extension advice sets the days for your diseases. The record of source, arrival date, and what you saw is what lets you trace a later outbreak.

In this series

• Walk the animals every day before you reach for medicine
• Quarantine arrivals; do not walk disease into the main group
• Some signs are not a wait-and-see
• Dry, clean, and ventilated beats a warm damp shed
• Parasites live in the paddock, not only in the bottle
• A health log is cheaper than reconstructing last month