Going on vacation

[Dinosaur Village Keeper]

I have seen a few posts where people have inquired about a good set up to go on vacation for a week or two. I have 27 chickens and 2 geese, but my bird family may continue to grow a small amount each year. Does anyone have any pictures to share of this sort of set up? Or portions of a set up, like the water and food part, the camera systems, the coop, dealing with the poop, etc? I do not have anyone to watch my chickens, plain and simple. I am willing to spend an unlimited amount of money to get a set up for my birds so I can leave them safely alone for 7 to 10 days. I am thinking about many huge automatic feeders and waters. Maybe adding on a 1000 ft.² covered runso they won’t be mad they’re not being free ranged? I have 30 feet of poop boards and they would get gross in just a couple of days, so that’s a dilemma. I have an emergency maintenance person that can fix any problems I find on the cameras that may arise while I’m gone. Any suggestions, and especially pics would mean a lot! Comments about it being cruel to leave them will not be helpful. My birds are my world, but my life is short, and I want to be able to leave my house occasionally.

 

[Tb530]

Is this on vacation during the summer time or winter ?

 

[Dinosaur Village Keeper]

Is this on vacation during the summer time or winter ?

It could be either. I can try to avoid the coldest months though if that seems like it’s too difficult.

 

[aart]

cruel to leave them

It might not be cruel, but it's definitely risky.....
...especially if it's for that long with that many birds.
Sorry but, sometimes you can't have your cake and eat it too.

 

[Sueby]

Thats a lot of birds to leave for a long time. I leave mine occasionally for a few days, but I only have 5-12 or so birds at any time & have my neighbors collect eggs. I would worry about broken or frozen eggs & then egg eaters if I had more birds or if it went longer than a couple days. Maybe roll away nest boxes would help there.

I have heated nipple waterers but I think the key is backups, always assume they will fail or get tipped over. Same with feeders. I leave at least 3 of each. I have a camera on the auto door so I can see that it opens & closes & will call the neighbor if there is an issue.

I don’t clean the coop but every 6 months anyway so I don’t worry about poop over a long weekend (deep bedding & a large outdoor run).

I do still worry while I’m gone, I’m the only one that knows my birds well enough to know if anyone is acting off & that does seem to happen quite a bit with hatchery layers, someone always has an issue or is broody.

 

[3KillerBs]

IMO, it's a bad idea to leave birds completely untended for more than a few days. Your automatic systems could fail, predators could penetrate your defenses, a bird could die or be injured and start a cycle of cannibalism, a treatable health problem could crop up and escalated into a slow and torturous death, and eggs WILL pile up and be broken -- leading to a rotting and possibly maggot-infested mess in your nests AND an egg-eating problem.

If you're willing to spend "an unlimited amount of money" on automated systems, why not spend that money on hiring a local 4H kid or some other qualified person to come check on them every other day while you're gone?

 

[Dinosaur Village Keeper]

IMO, it's a bad idea to leave birds completely untended for more than a few days. Your automatic systems could fail, predators could penetrate your defenses, a bird could die or be injured and start a cycle of cannibalism, a treatable health problem could crop up and escalated into a slow and torturous death, and eggs WILL pile up and be broken -- leading to a rotting and possibly maggot-infested mess in your nests AND an egg-eating problem.

If you're willing to spend "an unlimited amount of money" on automated systems, why not spend that money on hiring a local 4H kid or some other qualified person to come check on them every other day while you're gone?

I found someone, after much effort (not exactly qualified though!) to spend 30 minutes a day at my house caring for my birds and the fee was $100 a day. Truthfully, I’d rather spend $50,000 creating a self care chicken set up and not have to rely on anyone. Being taken advantage of by someone and also having to trust them to care for the birds I love so much just doesn’t work for me! Money is irrelevant, morals are not.

I guess it is correct what @aart says, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. I will resign myself to never leaving my house for more than a day. It is, and always will be, still worth having my birds!! Thank you everyone for your advice.

 

[3KillerBs]

I found someone, after much effort (not exactly qualified though!) to spend 30 minutes a day at my house caring for my birds and the fee was $100 a day. Truthfully, I’d rather spend $50,000 creating a self care chicken set up and not have to rely on anyone. Being taken advantage of by someone and also having to trust them to care for the birds I love so much just doesn’t work for me! Money is irrelevant, morals are not.

I guess it is correct what @aart says, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. I will resign myself to never leaving my house for more than a day. It is, and always will be, still worth having my birds!! Thank you everyone for your advice.

Did you contact your local 4H?

I've heard of 4H kids doing chicken sitting for reasonable fees.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Do you have any neighbors? My neighbor has chickens and when she goes out of town I help with her chickens and vice versa. I have dogs and a cat and fish too so I really can't leave the whole circus unattended so we have a friend who housesits but even then the neighbor helps out with the chickens depending on who is home at lock-up time or whatever. There must be someone whose back you can scratch in return for checking on your birds. Even the free eggs are a good bargaining chip.

 

[RubelliteRose]

I don't think anyone is saying you can't leave your house for more than a day, you just need to have someone check on them to make sure your automatic systems are working.

Did you contact your local 4H?

I've heard of 4H kids doing chicken sitting for reasonable fees.

This is a great idea!

Even if you can't find a 4H kid, I'm sure someone at your local high school does pet sitting and can stop by just to make sure your systems are working. You can leave detailed instructions for what if scenarios (water gone, food spill, how to collect eggs) and your phone number for emergency questions. If you don't know anyone, do you have the NextDoor app for your area or is there a local FB poultry group?