Moving To a Different State

[Bird-Whisperer]

Hi everyone! Although I recently joined BYC, I have been using this site for a few years to help me with my birds. I finally decided to join and ask some personal questions that I'm hoping y'all can help me with

My family and I will be moving from Colorado to Southern California in a couple-three weeks, and we are going to be bringing our animals with us. The vet will be coming tomorrow to help us get a CVI, and I was just wondering if y'all could give me some pointers for the actual move. We are hoping to leave by the 20th, and I'm getting pretty excited/nervous about it!

Right now we have 53 chickens (a lot of hens went broody this past spring lol), 3 call ducks, and 2 peahens in our flock. We have 5 or 6 roosters that we're planning on getting rid of but thats still a pretty large flock we're trying to move.
We've also got a small herd of goats - 4 Nigerian Dwarfs and 2 Fainting goats.

We just bought a 2 horse trailer and I'm wondering if that will be enough to take everyone in one trip... I'm also not sure how often I would need to stop and let them take a break (I've read some people say to break every 4 hours-ish).

Thanks so much for taking the time to read my post. I would greatly appreciate any tips that y'all have to make this trip run as smoothly as possible

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome!
Will you be able to take your chickens to your new place? There's the Newcastle quarantine going on, and new cases very recently somewhere there. (I don't live there, so no idea exactly where). Find out!
Moving that many birds will be a challenge; having a safe escape proof space with good ventilation is #1, in addition to having whatever testing and paperwork is necessary for everyone. Most folks move birds in big dog crates, and it will take a fair number of them, stacked, to make it work for you.
If you can take your birds, maybe pare it down to a smaller total number?
Mary

 

[Bird-Whisperer]

Welcome!
Will you be able to take your chickens to your new place? There's the Newcastle quarantine going on, and new cases very recently somewhere there. (I don't live there, so no idea exactly where). Find out!
Moving that many birds will be a challenge; having a safe escape proof space with good ventilation is #1, in addition to having whatever testing and paperwork is necessary for everyone. Most folks move birds in big dog crates, and it will take a fair number of them, stacked, to make it work for you.
If you can take your birds, maybe pare it down to a smaller total number?
Mary

Thanks for the input Mary!

I wasn't aware of the quarantine, thats scary! We are having the vet come over tomorrow for inspection and to help us with all of the necessary paperwork.

It will definitely be an adventure getting all of them to the new place.

I will be sure to keep things updated on how things are moving along

 

[ValerieJ]

I think the biggest concern is to not overheat your chickens in the horse trailers, and to give them plenty of ventilation. I have heard of chickens being shipped before, so perhaps a breeder who ships full grown chickens can tell you how they "package" them for shipping. I know you wouldn't be able to ship yours, I'm just thinking of logistical recommendations they may be able to give you.

 

[ValerieJ]

Also, you really need to contact the CA Dept of Agriculture and make sure you can legally bring them in, including the goats. The worst case scenario would be to get pulled over and have all your livestock confiscated or something. I don't know that this would happen, but CA is under chicken quarantine right now, so who knows what they will do.

 

[Bird-Whisperer]

@ValerieJ Thanks for the advice! I will definitely talk to the vet tomorrow to make sure I get everything taken care of

 

[Bird-Whisperer]

@ValerieJ @Folly's place
I just checked the quarantine zone on the CDFA website and we will be moving into San Diego county, so I think we will be safe. Pretty close though! We're going to Fallbrook and it's not too far from the quarantine line

 

[ValerieJ]

@ValerieJ @Folly's place
I just checked the quarantine zone on the CDFA website and we will be moving into San Diego county, so I think we will be safe. Pretty close though! We're going to Fallbrook and it's not too far from the quarantine line

I love Fallbrook! Haven't been there in decades, but had friends there at one time. I hope you will love it.

 

[Bird-Whisperer]

@ValerieJ Been in Colorado my whole life (granted, I'm not that old lol), but I could use a change in scenery
It's beautiful there and pretty green year round!

 

[ValerieJ]

@ValerieJ Been in Colorado my whole life (granted, I'm not that old lol), but I could use a change in scenery
It's beautiful there and pretty green year round!

When I was there they had a lot of farms...lots of avocados. My friends had an avocado orchard, and they were not in that biz at all. It came with the property, so they hired the workers, probably the whole operation.