Vacation Dilemma

[IRL]

Hi
This summer I am going on vacation for 2 weeks. My 6 buff orpington chicks will be 2.5 months, and my 2 pekin ducklings will be amost 2 months by the summer. My parents are having a pet sitter coming to feed them every other day. The chicks and ducks will be living in a 4x8 coop with a 4.5x12 foot run with access to the 4x8 bottom of the coop (4.5x20 run total). Since the pet sitter is coming once a day every other day, I can't have her let the flock out into the run in the am and close them in in the pm like i will be doing normally. I don't want to leave them in the run with access to the coop all day becasuse its 2x4 wire and I don't trust its security. I also don't want to leave them in the coop the whole time. So my questions are....
A. Should I let the flock stay in the 2x4 wire run ?
B. Should I keep them locked up in the coop?
C. Should I get an automatic chicken coop door (they are way too pricey, though)?
D. Do you have any ideas of what I should do?

Sorry for this confusing post and thanks for your help!

 

[drunkdog]

since the coop most likely isnt in the house you could se if a neighbor would do it or a firend maybe then they wouldnt need in the house just access to the chickens even if you had to pay them a few dollars it would be worht it wouldnt it

 

[BirdBrain]

What he said.....but if you can't get a neighbor to help out, 32 square feet is not bad accomodations for your 6 and they will be just fine in the coop the whole time as long as they have adequate ventilation and food and water. BO's are easy going.

 

[Kittymomma]

Can you buy or borrow and electric fence charger? I wouldn't take long at all to put a couple of strings around the coop/run area and should keep your chooks safe. The coop would probably be ok for that many young birds, but I'd make arrangements to have somone clean it out at least once while you're gone--Ducks are lots of fun, but they make a huge mess with the water and I'd be concerned that it would get pretty nasty in the coop before you got home.

 

[BirdBrain]

oops!! I missed the part about the ducks. start polling the neighbors.

 

[kickinchicken]

What is the pet sitter charging per visit? I am a pet sitter and I have to say, I'd much rather do 2 short visits EVERY DAY then one, exhausting, smelly visit every other day. This way she was feed/let out on the am visit, clean-up/let-in in the evening (honestly, 2 15-minute visits could easily be accomplished here). I'd check her rates and have family/friends/neighbors fill in the gaps where needed. As a pet sitter, I do not do EOD visits due to liability. What if an animal gets hurt in the evening of the day I visit? Then he's be alone and in pain for almost 2 days. I think its worth the expense and peace-of-mind to have a sitter come more often.

 

[IRL]

She charges $25 a visit since we have cats, dogs, a rabbit, and fish too.

 

[Kittymomma]

Well, if you had neighbors that would/could help out you likely would of went that route already. Maybe talk to your mom about seeing if someone on here lives close enough and would be willing to help out--maybe you could trade for when they need to be out of town. I know it's a major problem for me and I'd love to find somone trustworthy to swap farm sitting with. Make sure to ask your folks first, cause while this is a great site it's still the Internet and they might not want you to post even the gen. area that you live in. Good luck!

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

Why go on vacation? You are just going to worry about your flock the whole time you are gone. How about this idea....... Take your hard earned vacation $$$ & BUY MORE CHICKENS!!!

You can stay home & watch them & thoroughly enjoy yourself!!!

 

[kickinchicken]

Wow! $25 per visit? is that for a full hour? I mean really! Are in in downtown Manhattan? Those rates are really high. I am near Providence, RI and no one charges $25 unless its for an hour or for a mid-day park trip for dogs.
Seeing as its for 2 weeks, perhaps you can have her do one day am let the hens out, then pm let them in and do the feeding, then the next day, just do the am and pm chicken checks, this way the girls get out all day and in at night, you know someone is there at least twice a day to check on their safety and she is only having to feed/clean EOD. I think a rate of $15/day for the check-ins would be fair and $30/day on the check-ins/clean up would be more than fair. And these are rates for a metro area. Or you can off set the cost by perhaps having a neighbor do the check-ins and just let the sitter handle the EOD stuff.