I plan on leaving chickens alone at least one week

[Leihamarie]

I am required to go out of town for at least 4 days/ month so when I started planning for chickens, everything I planned for was designed for them to be okay for at least a week on their own (in case something happens). PLUS I refuse to use plastic so.... here's what I did:


1) chose breeds that do well in confinement (didn't work out so well with my BR who paces back and forth yelling at me till I let her out, but she settles in eventually, lol!)

2) I bought several of these baby pig feeders and put one in the coop, and then one at each end of the run: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Baby-Pig-Fe...657444?hash=item33c18e40a4:g:fIsAAOSwHMJYDIe1

3) I have multiple nipple waterers throughout the coop and run for redundancy and to reduce chance of moisture (I used large mason jars and a 2 gallon ceramic jug)

4) I invested in a Pullet-Shut solar powered automatic chicken door: http://www.chickendoors.com/

Finally, I make sure they all have enough room in the coop and run, which sounds like it won't be a problem for you at all.

I still worry like crazy every time I leave but I remind myself that this is why I went to the lengths I did to plan for the chickens.

P.S. I love Idyllwild! It's my favorite getaway!

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

I am required to go out of town for at least 4 days/ month so when I started planning for chickens, everything I planned for was designed for them to be okay for at least a week on their own (in case something happens). PLUS I refuse to use plastic so.... here's what I did:


1) chose breeds that do well in confinement (didn't work out so well with my BR who paces back and forth yelling at me till I let her out, but she settles in eventually, lol!)

2) I bought several of these baby pig feeders and put one in the coop, and then one at each end of the run: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Baby-Pig-Fe...657444?hash=item33c18e40a4:g:fIsAAOSwHMJYDIe1

3) I have multiple nipple waterers throughout the coop and run for redundancy and to reduce chance of moisture (I used large mason jars and a 2 gallon ceramic jug)

4) I invested in a Pullet-Shut solar powered automatic chicken door: http://www.chickendoors.com/

Finally, I make sure they all have enough room in the coop and run, which sounds like it won't be a problem for you at all.

I still worry like crazy every time I leave but I remind myself that this is why I went to the lengths I did to plan for the chickens.

P.S. I love Idyllwild! It's my favorite getaway!

Thanks for all the good info, I am going to take a look at those feeders..
Idyllwild is a great place to live, or to vacation if you ever decide to buy a house up here I am the broker at Forest Realty....

 

[Petra Pancake]

Well, I've left my chickens alone for 8 days a few months ago, in the middle of summer, in a simple coop with no technical extras. I had a boy from the neighborhood looking after them, but I'm not sure how often he really looked, not every day, that's sure. Back then I had only three chickens and basically I left them locked in their coop which has a small sort of outdoor area attached. They had lots and lots of food, in home-made bottle feeders and in bowls, same with water. When I came back, they still had some food left, though the water level was rather low and the water muddy. They were fine, however, and had laid eggs as usual. Of course they were confined to the coop, which isn't ideal, but mine tolerate confinement well and after all, commercially kept chickens live like that or worse their whole lives, not just 8 days (not that I approve of that, but that's life). Hope I don't get lambasted now as a cruel chicken mistreater...

 

[6littlegirls]

As long as they have what they needed I find that they just appreciate their freedom back when you get home.

 

[FridayYet]

Say hi to Tahquitz rock for me, I miss seeing it out the back window and seeing Suicide rock off the front deck.

It's great you are doing chicken research in advance. I also leave my chickens for a week at a time for vacations, and having multiple food and water stations really helps. I have my neighbor come over every other day or so just to check the water, in exchange for the eggs. When we're gone for a long weekend, I don't even ask anyone to check on them. Also, in the spring and fall, it's not so critical since they don't drink as much. We have left them without anyone checking for over a week though, and they were fine.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

Say hi to Tahquitz rock for me, I miss seeing it out the back window and seeing Suicide rock off the front deck.

It's great you are doing chicken research in advance. I also leave my chickens for a week at a time for vacations, and having multiple food and water stations really helps. I have my neighbor come over every other day or so just to check the water, in exchange for the eggs. When we're gone for a long weekend, I don't even ask anyone to check on them. Also, in the spring and fall, it's not so critical since they don't drink as much. We have left them without anyone checking for over a week though, and they were fine.

I will say hello to the rock for you former neighbor!

 

[6littlegirls]

I am all set to leave my girls for a week at Christmas. They have a thermostate regulated water heater. No frozen water. The have a run,plus the green house and their insulated coop with a reptile night light on a thermostate regulated plug. They have an automatic door opener and lights that are programed to come on. They have three places to get food. Two places for water. They have someone that will come by daily to check on them. The only thing they will miss is me and my treats but maybe their sitter will bring them some.

 

[drumstick diva]

what about power failure, or damage due to winter storms, etc. etc? I would worry to death about them if they were mine. But, I do tend to worry about everything. Plus members frequently complain about neighbors or others hired to come in and care for birds, that never show up. I used to breed dogs and never went anywhere because I couldn't trust others to care for them like I did.

 

[Coykoi]

This thread gives me hope for the future. I put off an out of town trip this month because I couldn't manage to board or pet sit the dogs AND the chickies, and I just assumed that I needed to be there twice a day, every day. My birds are too young this year (3 months), but maybe by next year I'll have a coop that I'm more comfortable with (security against predators) and the finances will have recovered enough that only the dogs will need to go to the boarder.

 

[1FlewOver]

I had some chest pain, and decided maybe I should go to the doctor, after months of pnuemonia. The doc said go to the hospital immediately. So I went home and had a couple of beers, then called a cab. They put me in intensive care for a couple of days, then isolatation as they pumped me full of antibiotics and took a hundred blood samples.

They had me in isolation because they thought I might have tuberculosis. Anyway, after a few days....I got to thinking about my critters! At the same time, my next door neighbor was found dead in his house, my neighbors realized they hadn't seen me in a few days, so the cops are breaking in my house. The lady across the street is trying to call me, but the nitwit is calling my house phone. She FINALLY calls my cell: " Where are you?" "Im in the hospital!" lol.

So I had called another neighbor and told them to let my cat out. A few days later, I was worried about my snake...I didn't know if she had water. I wasn't worried about my turtle or fish , but my daughter fed them anyway.

So...ten days later, $44,000 later... I get back home.(They still want me to see a pulmonolgist and an oral surgeon....whatever)!

Anyway...my critters survived.. (Dang crazy lady across the street was giving my cat bottled water and canned food!)