Feeding and watering while on vacation

[Ol Grey Mare]

So you do out a treadle feeder and Wateter inside the coop when gone for few days then?

No, I use the same gravity based feeders I use at other times - galvanized hanging feeder and double-wall water - which I keep in the coop anyway. I have several neighbors/friends with whom we trade off on watching one another's places during absences so someone is here daily to check the water and feed supplies of the birds, horses and cats (the dogs are boarded).

 

[RonP]

Last year I was unexpectedly hospitalized for extended periods (5 days max at a time).

I worried more about the health of my birds than my own...

I spent most of my "down" time designing a long term feeding and watering station.

Now, at any given moment, when temps are below freezing, my birds have in excess of 5 days food and water available , 30 days minimum all other times.

 

[sierranomad]

Can you share the design that you came up with? Thank you.

 

[RonP]

Can you share the design that you came up with? Thank you.

Click here for the tread on my feeder.

It's a basic 3" PVC feeder with large capacity storage.

 

[sierranomad]

Thanks Ron. Great set up.

 

[RonP]

Thanks Ron. Great set up.

Thank you. Many use the pipe design with great success.

Adding the extra storage is simply a matter of materials and the space available.

With the availability of food 24/7, I never see crowding, they just patiently wait for their turn and fill up.

Hope it helps.

 

[nguyenkinhphuc2]

Have you ever had problems with mice? I myself made gravity fed feeder from 3 5-gallon buckets stacking on each other. I hang them about 1 foot (maybe more) above ground. Each feeder keeps 75 lbs of feed (approximately), and I have 5 of them. My chickens are kept inside a 20 ft x 20 ft run (made out of 2 10ft x 10ft chain link dog kennel, which I bought on craigslist) with wire on top. In the area that I hang feeders, I have roof to keep my feed out of rain.

For waterer, I use 10 gallon fish tank with fish tank heater (40 watt, bought at Wal-mart for $15.00). You can use a bigger metal tank if you want.

 

[HappyChickadee]

I pay my daughter's friend big bucks to come take care of my pets because I have dogs that can't be left. $20 a day! It adds up if we are gone for a week and half and because it is my daughter's best friend she knows the routine with the pets because she is here almost every day and lives down the street. I think it is so much easier to have someone come by and make sure they are okay and fed because otherwise I would worry too much.

 

[RonP]

Have you ever had problems with mice?

Mice /rats, subject comes up often.

Posted to another query.
Hope it helps.:

My understanding is that rats/mice are everywhere.
They will congregate and breed where there is available food, water, and shelter.
Look closely around any fast food restaurant and you will see rat bait stations.

They will eventually come, the idea is to prevent them from establishing a colony.
If you see 1, there are probably fifty.
If you see two or more holes, expect dozens.

Keeping a rat trap/bait station baited 24/7 hopefully keeps the population from establishing near your food source. Once established, they are very difficult to eliminate.

Remember, chickens don't attract rats, food does.

That said, I fabricated black 4 inch circular x 18" long drainage plastic pipe as a bait station.
Placed along the outside of my coop, looks like drainage pipe (not unsightly).
I put a t fitting in the center, capped, for easy viewing once a week.
Inside I maintain commercial rat poison.

My run has food scraps 24/7.
My coop has food access 24/7.
Water access 24/7.

5 years, no sign of rats or mice...

Hope this helps.

 

[RonP]

I pay my daughter's friend big bucks to come take care of my pets because I have dogs that can't be left. $20 a day! It adds up if we are gone for a week and half and because it is my daughter's best friend she knows the routine with the pets because she is here almost every day and lives down the street. I think it is so much easier to have someone come by and make sure they are okay and fed because otherwise I would worry too much.

Agreed 100%.

My design is for extended unexpected absences, which I have had due to medical emergencies...

My routine is to check on the flock twice a day, minimum.