Leaving my chickens for ~4-5 days

[Sedelfelt]

Hi,
I got my chicks in January of this year so they’re about 7 months old and laying.
I am leaving for a long weekend and don’t know what to do with the chickens.
I have nobody to come let them out in the morning/ lock them up at night. I’ve researched auto doors to install but don’t want to spend a bunch of money on something that won’t work.

Please send advice or help on what to do with chickens when you go out of town!!

 

[BarnyardChaos]

I get someone - hire them if I have to - to come over twice a day - let them out, feed & water, and then in the evening collect eggs and lock them up. I would never consider leaving them without care for even one day.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

You could look into finding a house sitter or pet sitter, hell even a babysitter - who'd be willing to care for your birds. Ask your neighbors, co-workers, friends, anyone.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I have a friend that house sits when I go out of town. I used to have a neighbor that would do it. She had chickens too so it was quid pro quo when they went out of town

 

[Sedelfelt]

I get someone - hire them if I have to - to come over twice a day - let them out, feed & water, and then in the evening collect eggs and lock them up. I would never consider leaving them without care for even one day.

I don’t have anyone to help, are there resources online to help hire someone? I’m in Austin, TX

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I don’t have anyone to help, are there resources online to help hire someone? I’m in Austin, TX

Maybe you could find someone on here who is local to your area. There are some posts like this here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/everything-else.19/

 

[TRALALARA1]

I don’t have anyone to help, are there resources online to help hire someone? I’m in Austin, TX

I would say go to your nearest feed store and ask if they have anyone working there that might do it or know of someone. You’ll have to pay them, of course. This is why I have a 6 inch wide pvc feeder tube. It’ll hold enough feed for several days. And I also have a water barrel with gravity fed hose connected to pvc pipe with water cups. When my chicks were smaller it was no problem to leave them for 3 or 4 days. Before they were laying. We lived in town still and only got out here a couple times a week. We were still working on our house to get it livable.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Alright, as a last resort, do you have anywhere in your house that you could bring them in - basement, garage, other easily-cleaned space - for the time you're gone? It's far too hot for them to stay in the coop locked up, and far too dangerous to leave the coop open at night, even if your run is entirely enclosed. If I had to be away that long, I'd bring all 41 adult birds and 30 chicks inside to my basement or garage. There'd be some cleanup afterwards - oh my yes - but at least I'd know they're safe. Put down a bag or two of wood chips to help with the mess, and erect something for a roost. Possible???

 

[NatJ]

I have nobody to come let them out in the morning/ lock them up at night. I’ve researched auto doors to install but don’t want to spend a bunch of money on something that won’t work.

Can you leave them locked in the coop while you are away? This works fine if the coop is big enough, and of course in summer there needs to be enough ventilation to keep it from getting too hot.

Or if you have a predator-proof run, you could leave the pop door open, and not have anyone open or close it.

For food and water, you can probably put out large enough amounts that the chickens will be fine.

it is good to have someone check on the chickens every day, in case something unexpected happens (they spill the water, or a tree falls on the coop, etc.) But you might be able to set up a camera, so you can check them yourself from a distance. Then maybe arrange with someone local, that instead of actually taking care of the chickens each day, you could call them if there is a problem and they can come fix it (less work for them than coming over every single day just to check.)

 

[NatJ]

do you have anywhere in your house that you could bring them in - basement, garage, other easily-cleaned space - for the time you're gone? It's far too hot for them to stay in the coop locked up

Some garages get very hot inside. Before deciding to move chickens around, CHECK the temperature in each place, at several times during the day.