Moving with 16 chickens

[Quonit]

My family has been considering moving across the country. I'm in support, except for the difficulty of moving the chickens. They're all hens, most are normal sized and some are bantams. I know you can put them in crates of about 4 each and they'll be fine enough, but my issue is with temporary housing. When we move, we're not going to go directly to the new house, we will have temporary shelter in a cheap hotel or something until we actually buy the house. This will take either a few days to a week. My family has no idea where to put the chickens during this time and all the resources online have the expectation that you'll just be moving right in and can just put up a mesh fence for a quick coop, but we wouldn't be able to do that.

I'm really really worried about leaving the flock behind, because I'm really attached to them and they are all my friends. any ideas?

 

[Buckingham Palace]

Could you up playpens? With something on the top to keep them in? Or maybe some big boxes.

 

[eira_barbara]

Hm. How urban is the place you're moving to, and how are you moving to the new place? If you have a trailer or a large car, you might be able to get away with simply leaving the chickens in their dog crates for a few days to a week--just add new bedding, food, and water as necessary. Most hotels, obviously, won't let you take livestock inside. If you lock them inside an otherwise-ventilated trailer, though, they should be all right. Look into how folks who do shows transport fowl, too.

What are climate conditions likely to be? If it's very hot or very cold this might be less feasible. Generally, though, I would assume that you can basically treat large dog crates like a sort of small coop for a week or so without any long term damage to your birds.

 

[FunClucks]

Can you stay behind with the chickens until their new home is ready?

 

[DickMidnight]

re-home your chickens and start over when you’re moved in to the new house and have a proper coop and run set up.

i know that’s not the answer you want, but it’s the most practical thing to do.

 

[FunClucks]

Can you rehome all but your 4-8 favorite chickens or something? That would make everything much more manageable for temporary housing.

Also, not to rain on anyone's parade, but do you need a permit when moving poultry across state lines in the USA?

 

[eira_barbara]

I bet you folks who show poultry would know.

 

[Quonit]

The big problem is we can't set up in advance. We can't afford more than one home at a time, so we are here until it sells and can't get somewhere else in advance. We also can't re-home because people don't want old birds. Our flock has four that are a few months old but are adults, eight that are a year old and four that are several years old. Maybe some of the younger ones, but the rest... They're nice breeds, but again, adults.

Where we live now it's pretty hot, and where we're moving the weather is more mild so that shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Quonit]

Can you rehome all but your 4-8 favorite chickens or something? That would make everything much more manageable for temporary housing.

Also, not to rain on anyone's parade, but do you need a permit when moving poultry across state lines in the USA?

If a permit is needed then that would be very important to know...

 

[DickMidnight]

We also can't re-home because people don't want old birds.

you haven’t looked hard enough. or at all.