How Do You Go on Vacation?

[ChassiNoir]

What’s a vacation? Lol! Luckily we live on the same property as our friends. Usually they’re the ones to leave though.

 

[newchck]

With 2 cats, 5 chickens, and 2 rabbits vacations are much shorter! No more long trips, but we just have a family member stay at the house for us so the animals can get care both morning and night (I am weird and all the animals are on feeding schedules ) but a great neighbor that can check in once a day is great!

 

[theoldchick]

I have a farmsitter. She comes twice a day. I also have security cameras watching 24 hours a day. I can log on my phone and check out what's going on any time of day or night.

 

[WILIFORD]

I built a gravity feeder large enough to hold 80# of feed, which last my flock about a month, and I built a waterer that holds 2-3 months worth of water. The only thing I have to do is have someone collect the eggs. And as somebody had already commented, I strategically share eggs with neighbors from time to time. So for free eggs, they will come collect them willingly. I have 3 goats 18 hens and 3 dogs. I have it set up so I can be gone a week, before I need anyone's assistance. Even then, I only need them to come by once a week, and that's for the goats and the dogs.

 

[cmom]

Years ago I would take the summers off and travel. I was lucky. I had a friend who would stay in my guest apartment for the summer and take care of the birds. Whatever money he got for the eggs was his to keep. I had an account set up at the feed store up the road and he would get the feed when needed and when I got back I would settle my account with the owner. Sadly my friend passed away. I haven't went anywhere since and now really can't anymore. If it was just a weekend I would make sure the birds had plenty of feed and water. I have electric wires around my coops and pens, good heavy duty netting covering the pens and concrete under the gates. I leave the pop doors open 24/7/365. I never had a loss for all of the years my friend took care of the birds. I have 40# feeders in the coops so they only have to be filled once a week and auto waterers.

 

[cmom]

Originally I had cameras set up so I could monitor things with my computer at the time. They didn't have smart phones back then.

 

[NatJ]

I wonder if the people who work at the local pet-shop might not be an option as a reliable 'check-in-on-the-chicken' person, if you don't want to impose on the neighbors. The girl who works the store on Sundays when I go keeps telling me she dreams of having chickens

Sounds like a good idea of who to ask, but I would worry about how far away they live-- it's probably easier for someone who lives close, rather than someone who needs to drive over from a longer distance.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

I can log on my phone and check out what's going on any time of day or night.

I would spend the entire vacation staring at that screen and then screaming like a fanatic sports fan at everything that is happening. Does it have a speaker so if you scream the cameras 'speak' ? I would talk to the chickens all the time I was away.

They would probably complain it is an invasion of their privacy.

 

[ChickensForEggs2500]

View attachment 2509324

Thank you! That is a very impressive setup!!

 

[ChickensForEggs2500]

Years ago I would take the summers off and travel. I was lucky. I had a friend who would stay in my guest apartment for the summer and take care of the birds. Whatever money he got for the eggs was his to keep. I had an account set up at the feed store up the road and he would get the feed when needed and when I got back I would settle my account with the owner. Sadly my friend passed away. I haven't went anywhere since and now really can't anymore. If it was just a weekend I would make sure the birds had plenty of feed and water. I have electric wires around my coops and pens, good heavy duty netting covering the pens and concrete under the gates. I leave the pop doors open 24/7/365. I never had a loss for all of the years my friend took care of the birds. I have 40# feeders in the coops so they only have to be filled once a week and auto waterers.