quarantine?

[Stasia]

Hello everyone :)

I'm looking for some advice about bringing home a new bird. We have one p'let and will likely soon be getting a cockatiel. I have heard a lot about needing to quarantine new birds for up to 45 days? Can someone explain this to me a little better? Does this mean they cannot be in the same room for the long? I'm lost on the subject and the books don't seem to be of much help. Thanks and have a great weekend!!!

Stasia

[wildirish]

Quarantine is done so that if your new (or old) birds are sick it won't be transmitted as easily to the other. You need to put them in seperate room as far apart as possible. After a vet visit for the new bird, if all results are good then you are ok.

[Rue]

...birds can harbour diseases that only come to the front when they're stressed, ie. move to a new home...

...to prevent the potential spread of disease from a new bird to the healthy bird you quarantine...

...a strict quarantine means the new birds should ideally be housed 400 m from the exisiting flock...you should have a change of clothes...different shoes...different washing facilities for the new bird...

...but this is improbable in most cases...

...the next best quarantine is to have a separate room in your own house that the new bird will live in for the specified period (ideally 90 days...most compromise and recommend 45, and practically most people manage 30 days)...again, with the change of clothes, shoes, etc...

...however, if none of that is possible...keep the birds as far apart as you can, and feed/look after the healthy bird first...and then look after the new bird...this won't help for airbourne germs at all, but will min. the spread of faecal germs (poop)...