If you go on vacation...............??

[drdoolittle]

Does anyone here have ideas of how to set up your ducks and geese so no one has to take care of them in order for you to leave for a weeks vacation? Please don't laugh! We are planning a week-long trip this summer to Colorado, and I don't want to have get rid of my ducks and geese to do this. I just don't think I can ask someone to do all the work I do daily to care for all my barnyard animals. The chickens will be fine with plenty of food and water left for them, and the goats only require some hay tossed to them and filling up the water buckets twice a day. But the ducks and geese! They need fresh water twice a day----------well, it's not seeming like such a big deal now that I've typed it out. LOL

 

[heatherindeskies]

Quote:
If you are going to have trouble finding someone, can you just put out alot more water containers so they only have to come out once a day?

 

[FenDruadin]

I hire neighborhood teenagers to do it. It's not cheap, because there are a lot of chores, but I just consider it a part of the cost of travel.

To make it easier, I make sure all the feed bins are labeled clearly, and each animal pen is labeled separately (so I can tell them "pens A and B get such-and-such, pen C gets this, etc.). I create a chore checklist, so they don't have to remember everything, and I make an effort to keep the system simple enough for once-a-day trips, although I do prefer if they come twice a day so the ducks can be let out in the morning & put back in the evening.

For 20 ducks, two goats, a small group of quail, two guinea pigs, an indoor quail, and a small tank of fish, I pay about $10 a day.

Hope that helps! I don't think there's a way to leave ducks for a whole week without care unless you have a very large farm pond and an automated way to close them in every night. Sorry!

 

[bufforp89]

vacation? whats that? I assumed everyone stops taking vacations when you get chickens, ducks, geese, ect.........No? Just me?

 

[drdoolittle]

Well, we have taken a weeks' vacation every year since 1990. Except for last year------we had a graduation party instead. We've always found someone to take care o the animals, and I'm sure the same friend of my oldest son (who did it the last time) would do it again. We usually pay him $100 or so for the week----it may have been more. This is the first time with ducks and geese, though, and I will worry----as I always do----that something will happen. Guess it goes with the territory.

 

[Amiga]

Ditto iamcuriositycat.

I have two ducksitters who come by once every week or two during the year to back me up. That way, I know they know the ducks, and what to do.

We also have a checklist, and food and grit and oyster shell, etc. are organized in bins.

We don't go away for very long, by the way. Sometimes I have to be gone over a week, but usually my beloved is here. He's got his hands full, though, so having the ducksitters come in takes a load off.

Yes, it's part of the expense of vacation for us.

Also, if I should take ill, there will be someone around who can help out.

Not that I'm planning on getting sick.

 

[gofasterstripe]

It would cost me an arm and a leg to get someone in to feed my animals if I went on vacation. 3 indoor dogs, 2 out door dogs, 2 cats, 6 goats, 4 minis and a mini mule and the ducks, oh and my gold fish. I wouldnt even leave my Dh here to feed for me coz he half ass does it on days when I am in town and wont be back till its dark. I need to do to him what he does to them. Give him 1 potatoe, half a piece of chicken and hand the plate to him and when he say wheres the rest.......well now you know what it feels like to only be half fed.

 

[duckyfromoz]

Just thought this was a good place to maybe write this since the thread has popped up at an opportune time.

I dont go on vacation myself- as I dont like to leave the responsibility of my animals to someone else- finding someone totally trustworthy can be difficult. I do have a block of land I travel to often which suffices as a get away when needed instead of less frequent longer vacations. I can take some of my ducks with me- leaving less at home to cater for. Being 3 days at the most- i can leave enough feed and water for those at home.

However to my point- It is important to have something lined up- not just for vacation- but in the instance of an emergency. I am faced with the following scenario - 20 + adults nearly 20 ducklings with eggs due to hatch any day with others in the incubator. I also have my daughter 6 week old chickens to cater for - I think there is about 18 of them.

An urgent situation has arisen where I have to travel interstate- luckily two days ago- my daughter stayed home while I flew out for a very speedy day trip across the continent. But again shortly I have to travel interstate but my daughter will be accompanying me. While I do have friends near by I can have come over to feed and water it is such a task that I feel able to only again make the across continent travel there and back in just a day.

Making sure you have someone lined up in case of an emergency is very important and can ease the stress when a situation does arise.

 

[HottentotTeal]

I recently saw a timed automatic food dispenser at Petco.

I can't seem to find it on their website and i didn't really get a good look at it, but it was near the cat aisles and it looked like a dual food tray with a clock that would open at a set time, so that if you have to leave food out for more than a day or so, it can do that.


I'm not sure how much it costs, though, and it obviously wouldn't feed 20 ducks. It would feed my 2 ducks for a day or 2. I will try to get some more information on it when i go back. There might be larger versions from other places.

 

[chickensioux]

I don't go anywhere.