Any advice on how to move four ladies to our new place? Anything that will make it less stressful. New house is about an hour away and I want to make sure i transport them safely and I definitely don’t want to stress them out.
Get a coop & run set up at the new place.
Put all 4 chickens in something safe,* then put them in the car and drive to the new house.
Put the chickens in their new coop, with food and water, and shut them in. Leave them there until at least the next day.
After a day or two, let them have access to the new run during the daytime, but check to be sure they do go to bed in the coop.
If you want to let them free range, wait at least a few weeks, and be sure they are putting themselves to bed in the coop every night, before you try letting them out. They need time to get used to this new place as "home" before you can trust them to come back at night.
*For "something safe" to transport the chickens, it needs to keep the chickens in, and let air in and out. You do not want them slipping and sliding around, so consider putting an old towel or some hay or something similar on the bottom to give them good traction, and make sure it will not tip over. They will poop during the ride. They do not need to eat or drink during a 1 hour ride.
Things that can work for holding chickens while you drive: dog crate, cat carriers, a laundry baskets with an oven rack tied over the top, a cardboard box with plenty of ventilation holes, a garbage can with chicken wire over the top, anything else you can think up that will keep them in and still let them have plenty of air to breathe.
You can put all the chickens together, or put them in separate containers, depending on what size containers you have and what size chickens.
If you put the chickens in an all-wire dog crate, you could drape a towel or a sheet over part of it so they feel sheltered. But that is optional, and chickens can be safely transported without that. Plenty of air is more important than any feeling of safety.
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