Traveling with chickens

[livegreenordie]

I have a bit of an odd question. When we travel I was planning to have a neighbor check on my chickens, but lately I have been trying to think of ways that I could bring them with us. Typically our "traveling" is just exploring the mountains within a 6 hour drive of where we live. We bring our fur babies so I thought why not try to find a way to bring our feather babies. Since we mostly camp it seems like it could be possible to bring them with if we could find a coop/run that is easy to assemble/disassemble. Does anyone have suggestions for coops that might work for this kind of situation? Anyone have experience of traveling with birds?

 

[DobieLover]

I would think it would be terribly stressful for the birds. They do not like change. Personally, I would try to find someone responsible to watch over your flock when you are not there.
Good luck with whatever route you choose.

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

I would think it would be terribly stressful for the birds. They do not like change. Personally, I would try to find someone responsible to watch over your flock when you are not there.
Good luck with whatever route you choose.

X2

 

[chickens really]

Definitely would be exposed to different diseases too.

 

[Kiki]

X3 I think it is a bad idea to move them around.

 

[IamRainey]

How long will you be gone?

I've left mine for 2 weeks. I had family members to look after them but, in truth, what I asked them to do in my absence was very minimal: make sure they had water, make sure they had feed, make sure their enclosure remained locked & secure and collect the eggs. Even that can be minimized by getting large and multiple feeders and waterers. Collecting eggs is a twice a day trip to the nesting boxes but it comes with free eggs so...not so onerous.

I won't lie. Mucking out that first day back was a chore but my point is you don't need to talk anyone into anything that requires a skill set, is time consuming or is particularly unpleasant. I bet there's a neighbor or neighborhood kid who could be enticed with a $20 bill.

And you can rest easy knowing they'll be fine until you return.

 

[livegreenordie]

Thanks all for the advice. I can definitely find people to check in on them when we are gone and have made my run super secure from predators. I was just curious if it had ever been done and how the birds responded. Thanks!

 

[aart]

It could be done, but, would be a bit of a PITA and not great for the birds.
Not the same(at all) as taking dogs along.
Best to leave them at home IMO.