Vacation and ducks

[Luvmyducks]

What do you all do with your ducks when you go away for vacation. We usually have a friend/neighbor come take care of our dogs and cats but no sure about the ducks!! LOL We are not suppose to have them in our neighborhood in the first place so keeping them happy and quiet is the biggest thing. They are perfectly content when they have a clean pool, free ranging and some treats now and then.

 

[Amiga]

Last year I started finding and training duck sitters. I also decided, before getting the ducks, that I would not be traveling nearly as much as before. My beloved and I take separate trips if it's going to be more than a few days, sometimes even short term trips. It is not a terrible thing, by the way.

I have three primary helpers who are familiar with the ducks, their routines, feeding, cleaning, bedding, gathering eggs and so on. Two of my neighbors love them dearly and watch out for them if I am away.

 

[Sword]

You hire me!

A local kid would probably be delighted to take care of them.

 

[TLWR]

This is the main reason DH doesn't want me to get 2 more ducks. We can't just hop in the car and leave for a weekend. Not that we can too easily with 3 large dogs anyway....
I say we already have 2, what's 2 more.

What I'd like to be able to do is build them a new duck house (out of spare brick) and attach a small enclosed run to an end of it so the ducks can go in and out on their own to that small run. Then have my neighbor come over before he heads out to work, add fresh water, fresh food and open their duck house door and let them roam for the day.
Then when he comes home, he can pen them back up and close them in for the night. That way if it isn't dark yet, they can still hang out a bit.

I could do a bigger enclosed pen and set out an auto feeder and put a hose in their dish on an auto timer so food and water is done automatically, but I just don't see them being happy - ie quiet - that way and they'd quack up a storm and annoy the crap out of the neighbors.

That would take care of the ducks. Now to figure out how to shrink the dogs so they fit in the back seat of my car and wouldn't require the use of the truck to get all 3 somewhere....

 

[dumb_cluck]

Having "pets" or minor livestock prevents one from going anywhere for a long period of time. If you can find a reputable "baby sitter", then go ahead...... BUT make SURE that they will really take care of them and not "skip a day or so". Not good.

 

[stargazingmommy]

We left ours for 3 days. The kid next door is checking on them for us. I left lots of food out and I left the duck run open so they can free range. Normally they are locked in their yard because we have dogs.
my chickens are locked up though, the cats would go for them. The ducks are big enough they scared the cats off

 

[QuackerJackFarms]

I am not familiar with this word "Vacation" you speak of.

 

[Luvmyducks]

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[flowergirl60]

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[NoseyChickens]

We are heading up to Oregon in a few weeks to spread my Dad's ashes and I have a friend of my son's coming over to take care of the chickens, goats, ducks, and dogs. We are going to take the puppy with us because they are all indoor dogs and she is crate training. I'm not leaving her in a crate all day long for that many days. He will come over a few times a day and let the dogs out but that's not enough time cage free for me to be comfortable leaving her home.