From trailing your new animal home, to unloading it, to monitoring its health closely, there are many considerations to make once you decide to purchase new animals.
Transporting
Secure a trailer. If you do not own a trailer, you may need to make arrangements with the breeder or someone else who can transport animals for you. As a courtesy, you should be prepared to pay someone to provide transportation; consider the transporter’s time, equipment and the price of fuel.
Unloading
Make sure that your facility is ready to house your new animals before they arrive. Have a pen identified for new animals to go into that is set up with fresh water and appropriate feed. (Feed should be similar to their previous diet, and changing to a new diet should be done over a period of time.) Have a clear and direct path to the animals’ new pen from the trailer. To avoid animals getting loose or going somewhere in the barn that they should not go, make sure that all gates are open or closed, as appropriate, and secured.
Settling in
Quarantine, or separate, new animals for a minimum of 21 days. The more physical space you can put in between animals the better. At minimum, try to avoid nose-to-nose contact, and commingling feeding and watering. Use separate buckets and feed pans. Minimize stress on new animals during the quarantine period. Observe the animals for any signs of stress or illness during the quarantine. If after 21 days, the newly acquired animals have not shown any symptoms of illness, it should be safe to commingle them into your existing herd or flock.
Co-mingling and training
Since each species has a social hierarchy, observe animals during commingling and separate if there is risk of injury. Over the course of a day, the herd or flock should settle into a routine that includes the new animals.Training should begin once the animals’ health risk has subsided.