Vacation or Not?

[mudboots]

I am new to the world of having chickens. It has so far been a total joy to spend so much time with my 6 girls. They will be ready to go into their lovely coop next Tuesday. We have an auto waterer and 5 gallon feeder system. We just planned a campout for 4 days with our grandson for his 12th birthday during memorial weekend. I can not imagine leaving them. I spend a lot of time with them. Will they be ok if I get a family member to come to our property once a day and check on them at such a young age?

I am really anxious about it. Any suggestions? Yes the coop is big, safe and preditor proof. Hard to tell what weather will be like so I will be leaving there outdoor pen unable to access while I am gone. Thanks in advance.

 

[unionwirewoman]

I do that al the time . As long as you have someone dependable , then you're good to go .

 

[kstaven]

Quote:
If the person you pick is responsible and reliable there should not be an issue.

 

[annaraven]

We'll be going to Italy for 3 weeks and Portland for 2 weeks this summer. My son will be caring for the chickens while we're gone. He's done it before and he's good about it so I don't worry.

 

[donrae]

We leave for long weekends several times over the summer/fall. My fil comes over twice a day to feed the horses and check on the birds. They'll be fine, and having someone come check on them is much better than telling your grandson he's second in your heart to a bunch of birds.

 

[columbiacritter]

We are going for a long weekend soon and hired a licensed, bonded pet sitter to come twice a day to let them out in the morning and lock them up in the evening. I will put double waterers out and top everyones feeders off.

Saying that I will relate the horror story of a freind with many many top show birds who hired the teenage friend of his daughter to tend his flocks while they were gone for 10 days. She "Forgot" and more than half his birds died of thrist and starvation. The lesson is have someone else double checking periodically if you are gone more than a day or two if you are not 100% comfortable and trusting who you have caring for your critters. .

 

[2DogsFarm]

You don't say how old your chickens are, but as long as someone checks daily to make sure they have fresh water & feed they s/b fine.

I've been gone as long as a week+ and the worst thing I came home to was a dirty coop.
Farmsitter fed & watered the girls & collected eggs, but I hadn't shown her how, so she didn't know to scoop poop.
No Biggie.

If you can leave access to your coop from their fenced yard available, chickens will decide when to put themselves back in & out of the weather or go in to roost.
Only do this if your yard is as predator-safe as you can make it.

Go enjoy your camping trip, birds s/b A-OK until you get back.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I have learned that no matter how dependable you believe your watering system to be, give them a backup water supply when you aren't there. This can be a shallow pan that no one can drown in or a full-fledged chicken waterer.

Just when you trust that waterer, it fails you.

I have come outside and found my chickens parched in the heat when I thought it was full, but it drained itself. Now I have FOUR waterers for 30 chickens.

 

[Life is Good!]

Due to our large menagerie of pets (indoors and now outdoors), we hire a professional local pet sitter. Costs a LOT - and she's not yet taken care of our hens...but she does great with our parrotlet, hamster, turtles, cats and dog. So....I'll give it a whirl this summer when we go on vacation.

Whomever you have come - ask them to come once for 'training' (I got the waterer turned around and it wouldn't dispense!) and once more before you go to show you they know what's what. Including how to properly lock up your girls (your system will vary).

Cost for our sitter? Priceless. Our zoo has remained healthy and happy for three years with this person. She'd better not move on me!