How do you go on vacation with chickens?

[SmiYa0126]

We haven't been on vacay since we got chickens, my in laws would be reliable... however we haven't gone. Our neighbors swap with another farmer, they take care of each other's animals on vacation.

 

[Morrigan]

I can somewhat understand not wanting to travel because it means leaving your chickens in someone else's care. There was a time in my life where DH and I had aging dogs with special needs and we went without a vacation for several years, because we did not feel we could leave them.

But.

When we were finally (if, sadly) in a position to start taking vacations again, we really, really enjoyed them. Comparatively, caring for chickens is easy. Any pet sitter accustomed to feeding and walking dogs, should not have a problem putting out some feed and water and (in my experience) are delighted to collect the eggs. I would not forgo travel because of chicken keeping.

 

[SkyAJK]

When I had my 1st flock of 6 baby chicks, I was over the moon and it had not ever enter my thought about how am I go on a vacation until I wanted to take a long weekend at the beach. I realised then that I can not leave the coop's door open at night and unattended chickens.

I then went on to get more chickens due to chicken addiction condition. Now it is too late to do anything about it, except wait until the flock scaled down naturally, that is I am not getting more along the way.

I miss going to the beach early in the morning, but I can not do it anymore as my girls are screamer, they scream at each other fighting for 1 nest box and leave the rest of the boxes emptied. I have to mitigate that so it does not upset the neighbours. Any outing for a few hours must be done after the egg business, I am confine to my chicken egg laying schedule.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Fill up enough feeders so they have two weeks of feed then pay someone to check on them and their water at least once a day. There are plenty of teenagers who would love to make a quick buck just ask around. I used to take care of everything from milking the neighbors cows, exercising horses and even taking care of their diabetic dog when they went on vacations as a teen. So when we moved here I asked around and had several recommendations for reliable teens in the area saving up for college. They all know that if I hire them they will be paid well and they do an excellent job. They even have offered to send picture updates and gone out of their way to tidy things up when we were away.

 

[Poultrybonkers]

For me its simple... I don't go on vacation lol

 

[0ddyssey]

We have a friend's teen daughter come twice a day... Let them out in the AM, feed, water... Then in the evening to lock them back up...

We also have cameras up and she knows that. She also sends me updates. She can have any eggs they lay while watching them in addition to what we pay her. She also waters all our outdoor plants

We also have another friend come by and take care of our cat and indoor plants. She sits with our cat and also sends me updates. Again, cameras inside as well.

It's peace of mind to have people coming and going at different times, a long with cameras to check in any time!

There are also pet sitters you could look into if your friends or their kids (what teen doesn't want to make money?!?) aren't available.

 

[StinkyAcres]

If hiring someone who has chickens or other birds of their own, I'd make them follow biosecurity rules - before entering my coop area they must shower and wear different clothes/shoes than their coop clothes/shoes.

 

[Justagalwithchicks]

Do you have other animals in your household? When we go on vacations we always hire a pet sitter that stays at our house and our chickens are part of that deal. I also would advise a meet n greet before hand where you show them all the steps. I typed up a schedule for the pet sitter and labeled everything. The peace of mind was worth hiring out.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

Is there a backyard chickens Facebook group for your area?

 

[Themellowyellows]

Cruise around to local farmers with flocks. Ask if they have a son or daughter who would like to earn some $ to help you with your flock for 3 weeks (1 week early to learn routine).

No one else has chickens near me. Whatever happend to NJ being the "Garden State" I have to drive 1 hour to find a farm lol!