You spend a lot of time and money caring for your birds . They ’re a day - to - day and recollective - full term investment funds . Does hold chickens intend that you could never go aside on vacation ?
No ! If you have cat and andiron , even fish for that matter , you do n’t gestate to always last out home with them . It ’s the same if you have a flock of chickens . Unlike with domesticated brute , though , there ’s a bit more tangled because chicken are n’t as usual as your medium feline or canine friend .
Although this article focus on vacation , sometimes we have to be away from our chickens for other purpose such as business , aesculapian procedure or even an emergency . While holiday may be a luxury and a alternative , exigency are n’t .
So even if you ’re not a vacationist , it ’s still good to plan like you ’ll be one . If the prison term comes that you have to be off , on vacation or otherwise , the stress of making sure your chickens are deal for wo n’t matter on you .
Time to Go
If you ’re give out on vacation by choice , here are some considerations for the sentence of yr that ’s best to be aside from your crybaby .
conditions is a big factor , and it ’s idealistic to avoid the extremes if you’re able to because your flock will likely be confine to the coop and enclosed run . Will your coop get too hot ? Does it have shade or nerveless area ? How will you ensure their drinking water stays unfrozen ? Will your chickens have a dry position to get out of the snow and search in their run ?
While give sounds idealistic for a quick pickup or a recollective holiday , baby chicks come top of head in this scenario . Chicks need circular - the - clock care . you may be away for a few hours , but anything more is flukey .
PHILIPPE MONTIGNY
If you have schooling - age fry , then you know spring break are normally at the end of March into mid - April . If you get your chicks in mid - March , you might want to go on spring break a few workweek by and by . PHILIPPE MONTIGNY
It ’s a big ask to have someonechick - pose your new flock extremity .
Think beforehand . If you ’re adding to an existing deal , you ca n’t acquaint your young baby chickens until they ’re almost adult - size of it . Using the March scenario , you ’re not combining passel until mid - June . That puts other summertime break vacationing on time lag .
PHILIPPE MONTIGNY
On a personal note , this was always a retainer for my family when it came clip for chicks . We switch plans and now get new wench in recent summer and early capitulation , when the Thomas Kid are back in school and after summer break .
Also , deliberate peak time of the twelvemonth for travel . If you need a Gallus gallus - sitter , they may be more difficult to come by during this fourth dimension .
register more : corrupt natural spring chicks ? Keep these things in head .
Juliana M Morales
Keep It Basic
Full - uprise chickens drink about a dry pint of urine each day and eat about1⁄4pound of intellectual nourishment each day . mean piddle and solid food amounts vary reckon on the weather and your chickens ’ activity levels .
For example , if it ’s hot , they ’ll go through more water system and it ’ll evaporate more quickly .
It ’s a safe stake to assume that you go out to the coop at least twice a mean solar day and occupy the H2O and food container never really thinking about more precise sum . If you ’re going to be on holiday , though , you ’ll need to plan to have enough basics for your chickens around .
When you ’re pick out food and piddle containers , keep amount for basics in creative thinker . Small containers are convenient for bear , but larger container might allow you more tractableness . fill them is initially more difficult , but they may give you the power to keep your hoot fully fed and water for a few days .
It ’s also nice to have supernumerary containers on script so you may bring indemnity food and pee to verify your cage is fully stocked . This is nice if you ’d care to get off for a flying weekend trip and redact your judgment at ease if there is an exigency .
In that case , things might get missed , but you know your chicken are OK for a bit until thing settle down .
Practice Makes Perfect
Before your tripper , practice so you could work out the kinks and cover them . Start your practice - run with the basics of water and solid food . This is a must if you ’re croak to be bequeath for a weekend with no sitter , say Friday morning until Sunday dark or Monday .
satiate up enough piss and food for a span of days . Leave it alone for that time and see how long it lasts . If that goes well , step it up and go out your chicken alone for a few days while you ’re still at home .
peep in on them from time to clip and see how things are make out . Make adjustments as needed , and recitation until things are right .
If your volaille sitter is new , close and uncoerced , have him or her come and take care of the chickens with you , before you leave behind for vacation . Show the sitter your routine , and let your chickens get to experience the setting hen . If you’re able to , let the sitter handle your chickens exclusively for a day and see how it goes . Juliana M Morales
engineering can be your friend and add to pacification of psyche . If you may , set up a camera that you may check into from your smartphone to give you an supererogatory layer of protection and reassurance .
Give this a practice run , too . Sometimes Wi - Fi can be wily in a backyard .
Lessen the Load
You ’re o.k. with big volaille chores , but when you ’re away , it ’s best not to burden your Willem de Sitter with large task — that just increases the chances something will go wrong . Before you go , satiate all your container with brisk water and food .
Also , give your cage and run a good cleanup and refresh all your bedding . That way your sitter only has to make do with small cleansing Book of Job if they ’re involve .
If you ’re just starting your poulet - keeping journey , think ahead while you ’re setting up your chicken coop and its accouterment and take the people that will handle for your chickens while you ’re on holiday .
Will your volaille - broody be a young or senior individual ? If so , is your chicken coop located in a smirch with easy approach ? What about the nerve pathway to your coop ? Will it become unmanageable to take the air in rainy weather ? mayhap you should install something lasting to avoid this .
On a personal banker’s bill , we located our first coop on a small hillside . My parents are older and fell judge to sweep that pitcher’s mound in the rain while taking charge of our crybaby . We have since relocated the coop .
Is your hencoop far away from a water source ? Again , suppose of the soul that might have to carry that pee . Is your provender store in your garage ? That may give your sitter admission to the rest of your house and add together another job of lock up .
If you make your casual Gallus gallus - safekeeping easier , it ’s going to be easier for your chicken - sitter , too .
Planning for vacations can also be done while you ’re piece wimp stock and quantity . If you subsist in an surface area that ’s really raging in the summer and you sleep with that ’s when you ’ll most belike want to holiday , beak heat - hardy breed such as Leghorns .
Conversely , if you hold up in an area that gets passing cold and you like a January ski vacation , pick cold - sturdy poulet .
The turn of chickens you keep and their size can also have an shock on your vacation . More chicken be more work and less flexibility . For example , six grownup poulet can easily be moved from your coop and kept in your service department or basement or your chicken - sitter ’s home where it ’s easy to care for them .
It ’s even light if those six chickens are bantams !
This may sound extreme , but I ’ll give you a actual - life model . As I bring up , my parents are older and got tired of trekking to our coop while we were hold out . During one saltation break , we want to get away for a few day and only had eight crybaby .
We put up a temporary cage in our service department using dog - run panels . All my parent had to do was satisfy up the chickens ’ body of water from the utility sink that was just a few feet away and get food from a refuse can we sat next to the coop .
It was spring , the garage did n’t get spicy , we did n’t have to worry about piranha in a unattackable garage and my parents had almost no work to do . The most unmanageable part about the whole affair was cleanup afterwards , but with some preplanning , even that was n’t dread .
scan more : Here are some pointers for choosing the correct crybaby run for your flock .
Final Instructions & Medical Care
Even if your setting hen is well - known to you and your volaille , will a note with teaching on their Clarence Shepard Day Jr. - to - Clarence Shepard Day Jr. care . That way , something does n’t get missed . admit the number of razz you have and their stock .
This may vocalise like overkill , but if you ’re observe more than one of the same stock , it can be difficult for a novice to do a head count . Keep it simple for your sitter . Here ’s an example :
While it ’s something you should have on hand already , carry up your wimp first - aid kit before you go and leave it in a place that ’s easily accessible for your sitter . leave behind contact information for your vet in your instruction Federal Reserve note and your medical kit .
If something happens , you do n’t want to exit your baby-sitter with no remedy . Do n’t forget to depart your contact information so your sitter can reach you .
It may sound like a lot of body of work , but you utterly can take a holiday while keep chickens . Plan ahead , be flexible and then have fun sipping margaritas on the beach !
This article originally appeared in the July / August 2021 issuing ofChickensmagazine .
