TattooQ27
Songster
DH and I are thinking about taking the kids to Disney next month but it would mean us being away for 9 days. My mother has offered to check on the birds once or twice while we are gone but she would rather not have to check on them every day.
We were thinking about leaving the ducks and geese (3 ducks, 2 geese) with five 5 gallon buckets for water. Right now we get about 2 days out of one 5 gallon bucket so five 5 gallon buckets would get them at least several days into our trip. The ducks and geese live in a 10x10 predator proof stall that has a raised floor and we do deep litter with them. Their water and food are at opposite side of the stall and their water is raised up on a pallet. We also built a wall around the water so that the shavings can't get into the water area so the bucket stays pretty clean. Right now the ducks pretty much stay in the stall (by choice) so it shouldn't be a big deal if they aren't let out every day.
While we are pretty sure we know how to keep the ducks happy during our vacation we are brand new to chicken ownership and don't know what to leave out for the chickens. We will have twenty 6 week old chickens and six 1 year old chickens. We are planning to leave the 6 week olds in a stall because it is predator proof and the chickens aren't able to fly out since we have the top of the stall netted off. The adult chickens live in the rafters and pretty much do their own thing, they can come and go as they please.
We are going to buy more 5 gallon buckets and also buy the push in style nipples from QC Supply so we can make our own waterers but we aren't sure just how many buckets and nipples we will need for each of the two age groups. I know the 6 week olds won't be full grown but I am not sure how their needs vary from that of an older bird. I would like to only have my mom watering once or twice throughout our trip if at all possible.
Any recommendations on how to water the chickens would be great. Thanks!
We were thinking about leaving the ducks and geese (3 ducks, 2 geese) with five 5 gallon buckets for water. Right now we get about 2 days out of one 5 gallon bucket so five 5 gallon buckets would get them at least several days into our trip. The ducks and geese live in a 10x10 predator proof stall that has a raised floor and we do deep litter with them. Their water and food are at opposite side of the stall and their water is raised up on a pallet. We also built a wall around the water so that the shavings can't get into the water area so the bucket stays pretty clean. Right now the ducks pretty much stay in the stall (by choice) so it shouldn't be a big deal if they aren't let out every day.
While we are pretty sure we know how to keep the ducks happy during our vacation we are brand new to chicken ownership and don't know what to leave out for the chickens. We will have twenty 6 week old chickens and six 1 year old chickens. We are planning to leave the 6 week olds in a stall because it is predator proof and the chickens aren't able to fly out since we have the top of the stall netted off. The adult chickens live in the rafters and pretty much do their own thing, they can come and go as they please.
We are going to buy more 5 gallon buckets and also buy the push in style nipples from QC Supply so we can make our own waterers but we aren't sure just how many buckets and nipples we will need for each of the two age groups. I know the 6 week olds won't be full grown but I am not sure how their needs vary from that of an older bird. I would like to only have my mom watering once or twice throughout our trip if at all possible.
Any recommendations on how to water the chickens would be great. Thanks!
