Best Way to Leave Chickens Alone for the Weekend?

[chattykathy306]

We have been free-ringing our 6 hens daily, but plan to be gone for the weekend. Is it best to leave them closed up in their app. 4'X5' coop or leave the door open into their run, so they can at least be outside during the day? I have already bought them treats, so they will be happier with this change in routine.

I got them one of those balls that you fill with food and also one of those blocks of seeds to peck away at! So nervous leaving them; almost like having kids again! Kathy P.

 

[bobelot]

what i did when leaving them for two days i just asked the neighbor to feed them in the morning but other then that just let them run around the yard but at night the next door dude closed there coop up

 

[tlcmama]

as long as the run and coop are secure i think its okay to let them have access to the run and coop
we just put out a big bowl of food and top off their watering system if were leaving for a few days
they are farm animals after all - despite how we treat them

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

If your run isn't like Fort Knox against raccoons and dogs, I'd leave them in the coop - it would be good to have someone to gather eggs for you if at all possible so they don't start pecking at them and egg eating. But frankly if you don't want to have a sitter you might get by with it.

They will only have 3 sq. ft. per hen approximately, which is slightly less than optimal for being cooped up. So pecking at each other is always a concern.

If your pen is secure with 1/2 inch hardware cloth, aproned out or buried at the bottom, and covered even on the roof with that hardware cloth (totally secure) then you might be all right. But it is always a risk that a predator might find an entry point.