Cross Country Move on tap; Bring 'em, or Start Over?

[Chilebound]

Wow! thanks for all the good words. I never thought of needing documents!

I think that I would have to start over--what a bummer! But thanks to the suggestion about the show chickens, i may take my roo and one or two hens that are special. BUT I am not certain we have to move yet--BUT the chickens is one of the first things I thought of when the possibility arrose--I MUST BE A CHICKEN NUT NOW

 

[CityChicker]

LOL, you must be. It doesn't take long to become one, LOL.

I have moved semi across country with my birds once and then back (so twice, I guess). When we first moved, we took several, but did not return with all of the birds we initially took. It really was not *that* bad of a process. Several of the birds were exotic, tropical species as well and it was the middle of winter so they were probably harder than moving chickens. We stopped one night in transit to stay in a hotel and had to unload all of them and then reload them to continue on because it was too cold to leave them in the truck. It really was not that bad and was over and done with in two days of driving about 15-16 hours each day in two moving trucks and one flat bed trailer with a car on top.

I think you could do it if you really want to, but if they are easily replaceable, I might be inclined to do that (again, most of ours were rare, exotic breeds). I would probably move your favorites and replace the rest when you get to your new place. What I definitely would NOT do would be to ship them. Shipping that many adult birds would be an absolute fortune, like several hundred dollars. I seldom have shipped full boxes of adult chickens, but the approved boxes would probably be about $25-$35 a piece for the larger ones depending on how many your ordered and you would need to get 4-5 boxes. Each box could then cost about $80-$125 to ship depending on the weight (based on what shipping seems to cost us when we mail adults). Conservatively then, I would say you are looking at probably $450-$650 to ship all of them!

 

[Tikkijane]

Another thing to consider is the laws in various states you drive through regarding transporting poultry/livestock. If you are planning on trailering your flock with you, you'd want to have your documents in order (NPIP) and be informed about any regulations involved for the state where you're moving to.

Are there other states that you know of for sure need docs besides California?