On vacation

[PoultryGirly]

Do I have to get a "chicken sitter" when I go on vacation to feed my chickens and ducks? At the most, vacation will be a week. Can I just buy one of those savagecakes at mcmurrayhatchery.com and leave it in there run? Do I just fill their food bucket to the top with food???

 

[10thmuse]

Hi!

I always get a sitter.
Then again, I have 25 chickens!

My reasons not to leave them alone;
Eggs
Food
security

My girls can go through a full big feeder in 7 days or in 4 depending upon the week.
I imagine that the feeder + a block would make them running out of food pretty unlikely, but I wouldn't risk it!

I also have a 50 gallon auto watering system.
1 3 nipple outdoors and another 3 nipple in the coop, so water is always available.

Man I would have a mountain of eggs if I didn't gather for a week!!!

-K

 

[donrae]

If I only had chickens, I would just top off the food and water if I were leaving for a few days. For more than 4 (my personal comfort zone), I'd have someone come check on them every 2 days or so. They're really self suffecient if you have a decent set up.

 

[carladababe]

I would be more concerned about the water, my chickens make a mess even with the container raised. That being said, I am planning a road trip to see my Dad taking the dogs and the cats with but my 10 chickens have to stay home with a sitter. I want my chickens to be seen daily, I'll pay and they can have all the eggs. I'm buying a 7 gallon water container to go along with the two 1 gallon water containers we use now. You can only fill the feeders so full. So I have to use a friend/sitter. I'm sure I'll worry like a Mother hen.