How do you go on vacation with chickens?

[Themellowyellows]

I would hire them for a couple of weekends first, to make sure they are trustworthy. If that is no bueno, I guess you will have to load of the coop with plenty of food and water and hope for best.

Yea lol

 

[Themellowyellows]

Could you install a camera before you leave? Are your feeders and waters big enough for at least three weeks? Maybe put enough food and water for three weeks and then hire someone and watch from the camera. If they end up not doing good then at least you know they have enough food and water and you can check on them from the camera. And I think if the person that watched them for you knew about the camera that would make them more likely to do it properly.

Yeah I could, but my feaders and waters are not big enough. I also dont want to cross my fingers and hope for the best.

 

[Squawkers]

Yeah I could, but my feaders and waters are not big enough. I also dont want to cross my fingers and hope for the best.

Get more feeders and waters? It shouldn’t be that hard to find someone right? I know three kids that I would trust completely to watch my chickens. And plenty of adults.

 

[Evadig]

Yeah I could, but my feaders and waters are not big enough.

Can you borrow some rarely used pots and pans from the house?

I also dont want to cross my fingers and hope for the best.

Then you will have to hire someone…or stay home .

I did not go out to California with my family because someone had to care for the animals.

I didn’t happen to see how many chickens you have but if you measure out how much food and water they go through in two weeks, and give them at least a week’s supply extra, they will be fine.

 

[sourland]

Hire a licensed, insured pet caretaker. Second option is to contact a local 4 H leader and get recommendations as to a trustworthy kid. I pay $35/day to have someone come in once a day and take care of things. I pay more if they come twice a day.

 

[tlcmurphy]

4H is an excellent idea!

 

[Themellowyellows]

Get more feeders and waters? It shouldn’t be that hard to find someone right? I know three kids that I would trust completely to watch my chickens. And plenty of adults.

I do have lots, I just dont know who I would trust

 

[Themellowyellows]

Hire a licensed, insured pet caretaker. Second option is to contact a local 4 H leader and get recommendations as to a trustworthy kid. I pay $35/day to have someone come in once a day and take care of things. I pay more if they come twice a day.

Oh smart!

 

[no fly zone]

I would arrange to have someone stop by on some regular basis. If you don't have family or a friend close-by, almost any pet sitter will do this.

When I travel, I pay to have some one stop by once a day to make sure there is fresh food and water, and scrap off the poop boards as needed. Once a day is probably overkill, but I like the peace of mind.

I have seen so many horror stories on FB about this exact scenario. Someone goes away for a short period of time and pays someone to watch their birds, and that person ends up not doing what they were supposed to do and the end result is dead chickens.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

How many chickens do you have with the coop space you have? I typically set up my birds so they can "take care of themselves," though I think leaving them for two weeks would be a bit much for my flock.

Basically, what I do is I keep them locked up the whole time while I'm gone and leave enough food and water to last them the period of time I'm gone for. Then I'll have someone occasionally check on them while I'm gone to refill things and what not if I'm gone longer than what I set them up for.
(Say, I have them set up for three days and have someone check on them every two days while I'm gone for a couple of weeks. I've been able to set them up for a longer time like a whole week, but with my flock size now to my waterer and feeders amount, that's about as long as I can set them up for at a time.)