What do you do when you go on vacation?

[sourland]

I hire a very competent (farm background) pet caretaker who comes by once or twice a day to care for my animals. Even with that, I am never completely comfortable when I am away from home. I could probably get away with self feeders and waterers, but I want my animals observed on a daily basis. I provide her with a number where I can be reached, My veterinarian"s practice and private number, and the number of a local friend who can be contacted in case of emergency.

 

[Beekissed]

What is this "vacation" of which you speak?

When I have to leave for 4 days, I just leave enough water and feed and let the dogs do the rest.

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

In the past I've hired a house sitter. Unfortunately, one night she went to the bar before dark and didn't come home till closing. She didn't have my ducks locked up until 2:30 am. A fox killed one of my hen call ducks. I am going to Orlando in January for a week. I think I might try one of those automatic poultry doors and just have my mom stop once a day to feed and water everything. Otherwise, she would need to be here when the sun comes up and at dark. She has her own flock so that's not going to happen.

 

[luvchicks8]

No vacations here so I don;t know..

 

[MsRiderUp]

Yeah,

My DH went to Florida by himself for a week, and I didn't go with him because I had to care for our chickens! Ugh!

Am trying to network & meet others with backyard flocks nearby. DH won't pay for 'chicken sitter' to come by.

Our coop is sort of small, but everyone free-ranges during the day in a secure, chain-link fenced area, so it works when I'm here to let them out in a.m., and put them up in p.m. Haven't lost any of our 20 pullet/layer flock, thank goodness.

Need to find a solution. Not so much a matter of enough food and water, as letting in and out of coop 2x/day, and gathering eggs. Welcome ideas also.

 

[Beekissed]

Yeah,

My DH went to Florida by himself for a week, and I didn't go with him because I had to care for our chickens! Ugh!

Am trying to network & meet others with backyard flocks nearby. DH won't pay for 'chicken sitter' to come by.

Our coop is sort of small, but everyone free-ranges during the day in a secure, chain-link fenced area, so it works when I'm here to let them out in a.m., and put them up in p.m. Haven't lost any of our 20 pullet/layer flock, thank goodness.

Need to find a solution. Not so much a matter of enough food and water, as letting in and out of coop 2x/day, and gathering eggs. Welcome ideas also.

Roll away nests and a selfie door closer......

 

[Degalisto]

Too right what IS a vacation..hahaha.
I leave...my husband stays...he leaves...I stay. We have chickens (15) and horses and dogs. It is hard to find reliable livestock sitters..pet sitters maybe but not livestock. We have been the gamut with livestock sitters with some disastrous results. But we had cattle then too. Still looking for one in our new location..I don't mind but my husband wants to do a bit of traveling.
I have an automatic door(not hooked up) and I have a separate wire with a hook attached from ceiling to waterer and feeder so neither can be knocked over. Also stops mice from getting at food..with feeder suspended from ceiling. I have a run but some of the chickens end up flying out. 7 ft high with single wire strands cris crossed over top.(originally to keep hawks off baby chicks) I have Australorps, Black Jersey Giants and a couple a Dorkings. They have the run of the place...18 acres. Vacation who needs one!!! Well my husband apparently!! Guess the horses and chickens are more important!! hahaha

 

[K0k0shka]

If you don't have your coop yet, and if you want to go on extended vacations (hey, nothing wrong with that!), I would recommend planning for that when building your coop. Get an automatic chicken door so you don't have to lock the birds up in the coop (or get somebody to visit twice a day at very inconvenient times to let them in/out). Get large capacity waterers and feeders that can last for a while. Get closed bucket waterers with horizontal nipples. That way the water can't be spilled or dirtied, and will last longer. And look for people nearby you can hire or pay/bribe to come check on your birds.

I don't have my chickens yet either, but I know we go away on vacation for 3 weeks every summer to see out-of-state family. All of us travel together and this is non-negotiable, so the chickens have to fit within this lifestyle. To prepare for that, I built an extra-large coop, planning on large run, will install an automatic pop door (which I can monitor from my phone), large closed no-waste feeder and large closed nipple waterer. I also checked with the pet sitting company we use for our cat, and it turns out they care for chickens as well. So somebody will be coming by to tend to the cat and the chickens.

 

[Degalisto]

I have a farmsitter - she comes 2X day to feed horses & barncat so she also makes sure chickens have water & feed and locks the coop at night.
I pay her for the horses and she gathers eggs for her "chicken pay"

If I'm gone in the Summer when the days are longer, I tell her to let the chickens out into the fenced yard only so she doesn't have to round them up before dark.

If you don't have family (mine is 2000 miles away) nearby maybe a neighbor could fill in.
Or ask around at neighbor's farms to see how they handle it.
Maybe call your vet's office to see if they know anyone.

Lucky duck(hahaha) Good Livestock sitter worth their weight in GOLD!!! And about as hard to find as hen's teeth!!

 

[Folly's place]

We have friends nearby who also have chickens and horses, and a neighbor who will check on things too. Sometimes we have a family member who will house sit, which helps.
We have boarded out dogs, very occasionally, but otherwise rely on our small network of farm friendly friends. We arrange that at least two different individuals check up on things, because it's so easy for something to go wrong!
Everyone has our phone numbers, and the veterinarian's (different for the horses, cattle, and pets) and it's worked out.
I took a friend's horse to the university one Thanksgiving, when he had an eye injury, and was unable to reach the owner until the next day! It all worked out, but that's what can happen, and we all know it.
Mary