Transporting flock..

[Thechickenchick2]

We are currently in the process of selling our home and buying a new home. We are going from RI to CT and the ride is about 1 hour to an hour and 15 minutes..

I am looking for any suggestions/advice on transporting our 31 chickens to the new house??

Thanks so much!!

 

[Fishkeeper]

Shouldn't be too terribly difficult. Put them in containers with ventilation, put them in a car or truck that has air conditioning so they don't get too hot, and drive. Cat carriers, Rubbermaid tubs with mesh over the top, heck, even just cardboard boxes taped shut with holes in the sides. If you have any roosters, don't put them in the same boxes as each other, just in case.

 

[Thechickenchick2]

That’s very reassuring.. I figured in theory it seemed pretty easy but I wasn’t sure if I could find any temperament issues, any stress induced illnesses etc after moving them? I’m not sure if we have any roosters at the moment as our straight run is only 2 weeks old but will be about 8 weeks old come transport... still keep separate? Can they be with some hens? Or entirely alone?

 

[enoryz]

I'll be in this same boat in the near future. I'm curious on the answers.
How would this affect laying hens?

 

[bobbi-j]

I'll be in this same boat in the near future. I'm curious on the answers.
How would this affect laying hens?

Chickens hate change, so moving them could set them off from laying for a while. They'll adjust eventually.

 

[Thechickenchick2]

Okay great! I only have 6 layers out of my 31 right now so luckily not too many will be effected in that manner... fingers crossed this is a quick and painless transition. They’ll have 8 acres to roam but it’ll take a little bit for them to appreciate I think lol

 

[CradG]

We only had 4 hens when we moved but we put them in one dog crate and moved them at night. Placed them right on their new roost. They laid the next day and have been happy ever since, granted the new coop was an upgrade.

 

[aart]

I’m not sure if we have any roosters at the moment as our straight run is only 2 weeks old but will be about 8 weeks old come transport... still keep separate? Can they be with some hens? Or entirely alone?

If the chicks have been integrated with the older birds, you could cage them together.
If they haven't it might be better to cage them separately for the move.
Will you be taking your coop with you or have a new one there?

 

[Thechickenchick2]

We will hehe our coop for the 6 laying pullets but will not have the run we built them. They are all going to get transitioned into a massive shed as their coop and will have 8 acres of a “run” to free range. We may decide to only let them free range an acre or so after we have an idea of how they do/don’t do with the move and large area. We currently have 31 chickens are will prob end up with around 50...

 

[aart]

We will hehe our coop for the 6 laying pullets but will not have the run we built them. They are all going to get transitioned into a massive shed as their coop and will have 8 acres of a “run” to free range. We may decide to only let them free range an acre or so after we have an idea of how they do/don’t do with the move and large area. We currently have 31 chickens are will prob end up with around 50...

If they are going into a 'new to them' space, you could complete the integration then, eliminates the territoriality aspect, best have multiple feed/water stations and 'hiding' places tho.

Multiple feed/water stations. Dominance issues are most often carried out over sustenance, more stations lessens the frequency of that issue.

Places for the new birds to hide 'out of line of sight'(but not a dead end trap) and/or up and away from any bully birds. Roosts, pallets or boards leaned up against walls or up on concrete blocks, old chairs tables, branches, logs, stumps out in the run can really help. Lots of diversion and places to 'hide' instead of bare wide open run.