My family will be going on vacation in a couple weeks and will be gone for 6 days. I need some advice on what to do with my chicks when I am gone. I don't have to worry about water and food because I have an automatic waterer and two 5 gallon bucket feeders that will be more than enough while we are gone. My chicks are 13 weeks now and have been free ranging around my house during the day for the last couple weeks. We have lots of bushes and trees, and my husband is an auto mechanic so there are always cars over here that they like to hide under during the day. I do check on them throughout the day but they spend most of the day outside by themselves. We have a lab that stays in a fence in our backyard that barks and seems to keep most wild animals away during the day. I do worry about hawks, but they seem to run and hide whenever any large bird flies overhead.
These are my options when I am away. The chicks will be 15 weeks. I can keep them in their coop. It is a secure open air coop with the whole front and half a side open. It is so hot here though with temps getting into the 100s. It is much cooler under my back porch and flower garden where my chicks like to hang out during the day. I worry that they will get overheated if they have to stay in the coop all day as the air doesn't seem to move much inside the coop despite it being open in the front.
Second choice. I have someone that can come let out the chicks in the morning and then lock them in at night, so that they can do what they usually do during the day when I am home. I trust this person that they will be here before dark to lock them up.
I also have to decide what will be better for me when I have to go back to work when school starts back. I do want to let them free range and I know the risks that go along with that. But they still seem young. What are your opinions?
These are my options when I am away. The chicks will be 15 weeks. I can keep them in their coop. It is a secure open air coop with the whole front and half a side open. It is so hot here though with temps getting into the 100s. It is much cooler under my back porch and flower garden where my chicks like to hang out during the day. I worry that they will get overheated if they have to stay in the coop all day as the air doesn't seem to move much inside the coop despite it being open in the front.
Second choice. I have someone that can come let out the chicks in the morning and then lock them in at night, so that they can do what they usually do during the day when I am home. I trust this person that they will be here before dark to lock them up.
I also have to decide what will be better for me when I have to go back to work when school starts back. I do want to let them free range and I know the risks that go along with that. But they still seem young. What are your opinions?
