We've got four hens about 8 months old. Next week, we will be moving about 45 minutes away, and I have NO idea what the best way to move them will be! We have the run already made (chain link run on top of a concrete pad, reinforced with hardware cloth around the bottom). Our coop is a hutch style that will go inside the run... here are my questions: 1. Do we move the chickens into the new run first and give them boxes for temp. shelter? Or move their coop first, and then go get the girls? 2. How in the heck do you transport chickens? We've got one alpha female, and one that gets picked on. Do we put them into separate boxes, or transport em all in the same box? I'm stressing more about this than actually packing and moving, lol. Who has gone through this, and what advice can you give me to make this a pleasant experience for both me and the girls? Thanks!
Quote:A 45 minute move is not extremely traumatic for fowl. It is stressfull to some extent and may result in a temporary halt in egg production in some, if not all, hens.The pen settup should be complete before moving them, if it is practical. The alpha hen and the low hen will not be an issue during the confusion of the move. You can move them in boxes, or as I have done, in pillow cases and will not need water or food for the short trip. They will be fine and only need a few days to adjust to their new home. The fact that they have familiar people to care for them, will aid the adjustment...........Pop
I'd put them in dog carriers or something like that, and transfer them after getting the coop together. My coop is small enough and the trip was only about 10 minutes, so the coop and chickens went in the uhaul - not an option for most people. I left them in the coop for a few days so they could see their surroundings and get used to the new place, even in the same coop, before venturing out. They seemed to do fine. I think a 45 min trip would be ok without food and water, just make sure you have some when they get where they're going and give them time to get used to the new place.
Thank you so much! I'm definitely dreading the stinky drive (they will be in a tiny sedan car, lol.) But I like the idea of keeping them cooped up for a couple days to keep them in something familiar before letting them out in their new run. I love that its a concrete pad for ease of cleaning and predator proofing- but they will not know what to think of the lack of scratching, lol. So my DH is building them a sandbox, and i plan on filling it with leaf/lawn clippings on top of the sand to keep their bird brains occupied Wish me luck!
I built a simple poultry crate out of scrap. If you google poultry crate, you'll see lots of examples, some intricate, some simple. A dog carrier or crate also works well. I haul 6-10 chickens down to Kentucky and bring others back again a couple times a year. They do just fine. Since it is dark, they sleep most the way, most of the time. I hauled a trio once in the back of an SUV. Wow. Shall we say rich? Won't ever do that again.
Quote:Yes... stinky... not quite the right word for it. I once took a couple of roosters about an hour away to try and sell them. I swear the first thing they did in my car was have nervous diarrhea... before we reached the end of my driveway. It was consequently also the second and third things they did. After that I stopped counting. I wouldn't give them food or water on the trip. I would, however, make sure you put a tarp or something similar down on your seats before putting the cage(s) down. I also tied mine to the hangers above the door with bungee cords so they didn't move if I had to make a quick stop or sharp turn. Good luck.
