Leaving chicks at home for two days, will they be ok?

[Goose08]

Our family is leaving for two days, and we have two bantam babies at home, one is 4 days old the other 6 days. They live inside with plenty of clean food and water, and heat, but I’m worried about leaving them. Will they be ok? Can I leave them here alone for two days? I don’t think I’ll be able to enjoy my time worrying about them. Thank you!

 

[Raising Quails]

They should be fine but you want to make sure the heat lamp or whatever you use is secured properly. Also if you are using a heat lamp make sure that the chain inside of it does not look brittle because if it does the heat lamp is going to break soon.

 

[Sally PB]

Can you get someone to check on them? If your power goes out, or the heat source fails, they are not old enough to survive.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Can you get someone to check on them? If your power goes out, or the heat source fails, they are not old enough to survive.

x2. Plus chicks are more prone to soiling their waterer, kicking debris into their feeder, etc. - just a lot of ways they can make life hard on themselves within a 48 hour period.

 

[NatJ]

They live inside with plenty of clean food and water, and heat, but I’m worried about leaving them. Will they be ok?

If they have everything they need, including clean food and water and the correct amount of heat: yes they will be ok.

But if something goes wrong, they could have a problem. They might make the water dirty, the heat might malfunction (heat lamp bulb burns out or brooder plate doesn't work right or electricity goes out), a chick might get into something dangerous (stuck in a corner or inside a feeder or flies out the top of the brooder or something like that).

If possible, I would either stay home or arrange a way to check on the chicks. That could mean a neighbor comes to look, or it could mean a camera pointed at the brooder that you can check from a distance (and you could call a neighbor if there is a problem), or there are probably other ways to check on the chicks as well.

If you have no other options, I would leave them and hope for the best. There is a good chance that they will be ok, but not guarantees. I would worry too, even though worrying does not actually do any good.