Leaving Girls home alone.

[West Bend]

Hi, I need to go out of town Friday through Sunday and need to leave my girls home alone, they will be almost 15 wks old. I do not have a neighbor to check on them & let them out . I have a small chicken coop and run. The coop part is 4 feet by 3 feet and the run is 4 feet by 6 feet. Do I need to leave the girls in only the Coop or can I leave the door open to the Run portion? It is built with hardware cloth & has one small window. I do have an additional 6_12ft dog kennel attached but the girls would not be in there while we are away.

 

[annampet]

How many do you have total? Personally, I would leave the door to the run open. It's a risk but with being "cooped" up for that long they may get a little stressed.

 

[Pork Pie]

Including your general location would help with advice, but assuming you are in the northern hemisphere I agree with the above post

 

[Mvan42]

I agree leaving it open may be a risk but keeping them cooped up can like the above post cause stress and also if the temperature where u live is high they can get to hot within the coop.


Leave lots of water and feed for them.

 

[West Bend]

I'm in the city of West Bend, Wisconsin. I have 3 girls and their coop is in the shade, except for early am. I'm hoping I can eventually ask a neighbor....

 

[123RedBeard]

It is built with hardware cloth & has one small window.

This sounds like the coop ... does the run also have hardware cloth?

Do you have a picture?

How much water and feed capacity do you have?

 

[GRB73]

Asking a neighbor or friend to open and close the coop door daily and top off the water is the best option. It is good to have someone checking in, especially in the summer. If no one is available to do this, I'd leave them in the run with the coop door open, but only if the run (and coop window) is secured with hardware cloth. Buried hardware cloth so that a fox can't dig under.

 

[blackdog043]

Where is their food and water? Will the water stay clean and last while your away?
I wouldn't lock them in the coop, it sounds like it's to small and could heat up pretty good, with only one window. I would take my chances and leave it open.

 

[rosemarythyme]

IMO the coop is too small to leave them locked in, so they should have access to the run. I hope you know how much they eat and drink each day - leave more food and water than needed!

In the future an auto door can take out some of the headache by securing them inside during the night, but from the sounds of it this is a prefab and there may not be a way to install such a door.

 

[That_australian_lad]

dont leave i left for 1 day and half my flock died