VACATION????? HELP!!!

[Half-a-dozen]

Hi everyone-
I have been reading the vacation posts and am becoming sick to my stomach!
Not only are we new to chickens we are new to this area. (Cream Ridge, NJ)
We just booked our first vacation with our four kids (ages 8y.o., 7, 5 and 4) to go to cape cod in August.
Are chickies are only 4 weeks old so by then they will be around 14 weeks old. I have no idea how big they will be by then and I don't know anyone that will be able to come and take care of them EVERYDAY!. Possibly might be able to find one to look after them maybe a total of three time that week we will be gone.
What should I do???
For real if you pile up food and water and double secure them my babies won't be ok????

Excuse me if I sound very stupid but this is also the first pet we have had EVER!

I figured they live outside so they don't have to go out for a "walk" per say. They will have free acess to thier run. But now I am reading it has to be locked everynight and opened every morning???

Is there anyone out thier that does not follow this practice on a regular basis???

 

[farmgirl2477]

First off....breath....relax. <grin> I understand your feelings. I panic everytime I leave, and Ive had the same person care for my pets for a couple years now. Never seem to get over the anxiety of leaving my babies.

Next, where do you live. Maybe someone here lives close or knows someone that does. If not try looking for pet sitters in your area. Look on craigslist.com or your local feed store or even vets. Maybe a neighbor? I pay the neighbor kid (teenager actually) $20 to care for them 2 times day for a few days.

Hopefully someone else can chime in and offer some ideas.

Shannon.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Where is Cream Ridge? I grew up in South Jersey (you'll learn that we consider it a separate state then the rest of NJ, lol) Summers were spent on the Delaware Bay and Jersey shore. Oh yeah. It's also called the shore in NJ not the beach.

You'll have to learn about the Jersey Devil, Pine-ies (strange people living in the pine barrens think Burt Renyolds and Dueling Banjos!!!), lighthouses, crabbing with a net, string and (all you sensitives cover your eyes) chicken necks, swamps, chiggers, and Jersey 'maters and sweet corn!

 

[chickbea]

I like the idea of someone coming by each day because predators seem to start moving in as soon as regular human presence is gone from my yard. I don't know what the predator situation is in your area.
I pay my pet sitter $10.00/day to come once a day and feed the chickens, cat, bunny, and fish.

 

[Half-a-dozen]

I live in Cream Ridge, right near New Egypt, NJ.

I will look into the pet sitter people
And yes, I am learning it is a totally different side of the earth hear in Southern Jersey

 

[WoodlandWoman]

The more predator proof you build a run, the more expensive it is to build. So, most people build a less secure run, that's larger, lock their chickens up at night and let them out in the morning.

Some people make their run extremely predator proof and leave the door to the coop open.

It's also possible to use a combination of these methods. You can have a small, super predator proof run attached to the coop for when you are gone, that opens into a larger, less secure run. The chickens can use just the smaller, safer run while you are gone.

How secure is their run? Have you built it, yet? Do you have any idea what the predators are in your area. We have everything but bears and cougars.

 

[Half-a-dozen]

In the process of building the run. And have no idea what is around here. We moved here a year ago and have yet to see any other animal other than a dear or a squirrel. Oh and turkey Vultures but, I hear they only eat dead things. Other than that I've have never seen a fox, racoon and we are near the woods. Kind of pine barrens like woods.

We are going to secure the run on all sides and for the bottom we were going to dig the fencing in the ground 12 inches deep. Is that good enough?

 

[SpottedCrow]

That will certainly help...You should also bend the bottom wire into a 90 degree angle to keep the beasties from digging under.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

You've got it all. You are more or less in the "midlands" Not North Jersey or South. You have fox, possum, raccoon, weasel, mink, bobcat, and the occassional bear.

Need a secure coop and a secure run. I've got them all too here where I now live in NC. I'm using an old dog kennel, that I put a chicken wire roof on and sunk wire along the bottom. I've run hardware cloth around the door area so nothing can squeeze thru any of the gaps either. I don't lock up my older ones in their coop but I do my 5 week olds.

If anything can get thru the tight closure I have on there (I have to push my big butt into it to make it open & close) they deserve to have the chickens!

 

[Half-a-dozen]

which one is the smallest? I am not sure I know what a weasle and mink are. Is that like the size of a ferret? and how small of a hole will it squeeze thru???