How do you go on vacation with chickens?

[Themellowyellows]

Lots of pet sitters these days will text you updates or even pictures if you want.

Yeah, I just dont feel like I could trust them. Surely chickens can not live 3 weeks without humans right?

 

[Themellowyellows]

Is there a backyard chickens Facebook group for your area?

Nope

 

[Themellowyellows]

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.

Nope sadly, I want a dog. I might end up asking my friend or something

 

[Themellowyellows]

I have been a few recent trips. Nothing longer than a week.

For a week I have a two and a five gallon bucket with horizontal nipples. They easily last a week for 11 hens. I have tested in various conditions to make sure. Although, if I go skiing this year I may need to buy a 2nd bucket heater. Or ask that the 5 gallon bucket be topped off after every 5 days.

I also have two home made feeders. A small and a large one. They too hold enough feed for about 10 days. My neighbor can just look and see if there is still feed. Again, I have tested to make sure they last.

Additionally I have a neighbor (and close friend) who comes daily to to take a head count, check that there is still food and water. She takes the eggs. If needed she has access to extra feed and of course water.

This has worked well for me. My neighbor and I are close. So this arrangement is not a huge ask. If I needed a backup I would ask the folks that run the kennel where I board the dog. They are great people and I bet I could pay one of them for the same daily care.

I hope this helps.

Yes it does! Thank you!! Maybe I can just do a detour to Flordia lol.

 

[Themellowyellows]

Animals are the reason we never take vacations. It's not worth the headache, heartache or worry wondering if they're ok or not. I don't even like being gone for more than 4 hours during the day. With the holidays coming up and obligatory family gatherings, I worry about the well being of my animals. When one is home and present with them all the time, your absence will be noticed and felt, which could create stress from a stranger filling in. I wish you luck with finding a solution and hopefully your vacation will be stress free.

Thank you. I agree!

 

[Themellowyellows]

You might be able to find someone via craigslist or facebook. Check out sites like Rover. Or even check with some of the veterinary offices and chat with some of the vet techs.. or someone at work if you have people working in your family.

My vets office treats exotics (like parrots) and even has kennel services.. where the birds can stay there.. it's not cheap, but then neither is vacation.

Man, if you think it's hard getting someone to stop by for chickens.. it's almost impossible with (mini) pigs! I literally had someone move in to our spare bedroom for pet sitting. It worked okay for a while and for the major vacation I was planning at the time. Long term.. definitely NOT recommended.

Lol!! Double the expense is lovely lol!

 

[Themellowyellows]

like people have said, I think you should hire someone. Your neighbors are obviously not a good choice, since you already know they don’t like the chickens.

Yeah, I might come home to one hen running without there head if I am lucky...

 

[BigBlueHen53]

What's a vaca?

 

[Seaslug]

I can understand that it is tough trusting someone. I have pet sat for years. It means a lot to me that someone trusts me to take care of their loved one(s). I stay in home and am always willing to talk to owners or provide updates. Just interview people. You can tell the types who are just trying to say the right thing vs. the ones who actually care. And if you question a teenager's judgement, there are those of us who are adults who are underemployed with no 401K who could use the "extra" money.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

What's a vaca?

Kidding, I know what a "vaca" is, I just mean we don't travel. We don't have anyone around here that we would trust to care for our chickens/ dogs/ cats properly. So .... we just don't.