Leaving my chickens in someone else's hands...

[Anna_MN]

So I will be out of town for two days this weekend. My brother always comes home and cares for the animals but has never had the opportunity to care for the chickens. I am worried because he is sort of....yuppy. I don't really know how else to describe him. He reluctantly agreed to care for the birds but I'm worried that he will get worked-up and frustrated. I currently have 20 hens, 3 roosters, and 50 meat birds. I gave him a detailed outline of how to care for them and showed him how I did it and he seemed to understand. Maybe I'm just worrying for nothing- who knows! My brother is very responsible, but gets frustrated easily. How have you dealt with leaving your chickens with someone else while you're gone?

 

[sourland]

It's always difficult but you've shown him what to do and hopefully you have written down the routine so that he forgets nothing. He's a responsible individual - all should be fine. Understand that no one does it as well as you. I hire a bonded animal caretaker, and she is good, but it's still difficult to go away.

 

[what did I do]

I feel for you. We left out chickens in the care of someone last year and came home to chickens without water. That made me mad. This year I have someone lined up to care for my birds in exchange for some chickens. I hope it works. I don't know this guy very well but he is a neighbor and not a flighty person.

We have 50 meat birds and a bunch of chicks and chickens. I will pray that God takes care of my birds while I'm gone. Hubby will care for them part of the time but that isn't all that reassuring that all will be ok. We know that we have several foxes near by.

 

[Red Barn Farms]

Sure he'll do fine but never hurts to make the phone call every so often if it's possible!

 

[NYboy]

2 days is a pretty short time. Will be a good test how he handles it.

 

[theoldchick]

If I'm worried about my critters, I call the petsitter. I don't like leaving them in the summer. So hot. So many things can go wrong because there are so many things to worry about. Hopefully, all will go well for you.