Needing to leave town.....

[richchicks]

We are needing to leave town for a couple weeks. We have chickens that are about 12 weeks old and some that are about 6 weeks old. They are used to getting out in the run all day long (divided from each other of course). I am concerned about what would happen if they had to stay in the coop for two weeks? Any suggestions? I would probably secure hardware cloth over hte window opening and open the nesting boxes and secure hardware cloth over that as well. They would get light and air??


Are they going to go crazy "cooped" up all day long

??

 

[mstricer]

Yes. Can the person who is feeding and watering them let them out?

 

[bobbi-j]

They'd get used to it, as long as your coop isn't just a little box with a roost and nest boxes for them. My coop is 8x8 and my chickens are cooped up all winter when we get a cold, nasty one (I'm in MN, so basically they're cooped up every winter). They adjust and are just fine. If it's a small coop made just for sleeping and egg laying, that could be a different story. Then it would be nice for whoever is feeding them to be able to let them out during the day. Do you have a run attached to your coop? You could leave the pop door open so they could come and go in and out as they please. That's what I do with mine.

 

[cafarmgirl]

I would be concerned and I would try to find a way to have them let out each day if at all possible. Unless, as bobbi-j mentioned, you have a very spacious coop. It would help a lot to know how many birds and what size your coop is. My concern would be, since they are used to being let out, that you might come home to find you've got a nasty pecking problem started. Once you get started with pecking it can be a hard thing to break.

Would the 12 week olds and 6 week olds be sharing the same coop? You mentioned they are separate in the run.... if they are normally separate during the day then I would not combine them in the coop and keep them in for two weeks. That could be a real disaster to come home to. Chickens can be really horrid to each other when they are stressed or just plain mad!

But again, knowing the size of your coop and how many birds would really help.

 

[NovaAman]

I was going to say, if you have a neice you could trust to house sit and do bird care, that maybe in the best interest of the birds... That way they get out each day, AND she'd be able to tell if there may be a problem. Not so easy to see if they are stuck inside a coop all day.