Chicken deficient Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 I am going to be away for a few days and my usual chicken sitter neighbour is due to have her baby, so I can't ask her to watch them. Will they be ok if I leave them in their run for a few days? I usually shut their Eglu door at night when it is frosty - will they be warm enough with it open? It is in a sheltered spot. Also, I'm worried about their water freezing. I thought about adding some Citricidal to it, and also tiny little bit of salt, but is there anything else I can do? The sun hits the Glug first thing in the morning, so this should help. as long as there is some sun that is. From an anxious mother hen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedusA Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 I am sure your girls will be fine for a few days. I don't often shut my eglu door and my girls are perfectly OK. I wouldn't have thought adding salt to the water would be a good idea though. Maybe you could try leaving extra drinkers so that hopefully some water would be available. Sorry not to be more help. I'm sure more suggestions will be forthcoming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Hello Chickendeficient I know you can leave them for 2 days without any problems as long as you can leave them enough food and water. How many is "a few"? I don't think it's cold enough for the water to freeze at the moment so you should be OK. I tried ping pong balls/practice golf balls in December but it never froze while they were in the glug so don't know if it worked. I don't think the citricidal works . Some people leave their eglu doors open all year round so don't worry about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Put plenty of food and water out and they should be ok. Maybe get a couple of extra water and food containers. They will be warm enough at night. I never close my Eglu doors and the girls have been fine. I have read that if you put a ping pong ball in the water it will help prevent freezing. I have never tried it myself though so can't vouch for it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken deficient Posted February 11, 2008 Author Share Posted February 11, 2008 I'm going to be away for 4 or 5 nights, but my other half should be back most nights, (he works in London), but there is just a chance that one or two nights he won't be able to get back to look after them. So worst case should be that they are on on their own for 2 nights. I really worry though, and I feel really bad for leaving them all (him and the chickens and the fish) (the dogs will be ok, they're going on holiday to my parents') thank you for your help and suggestions, I haven't got any ping pong balls, but I'll put some corks in the water instead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 They'll be fine if it's just a couple of nights. I left mine for 8 days at halfterm in October and had friends seeing to them every 2 days - they were fine . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 we go away for 2 to 3 nights at a time and we keep them stocked up with plenty of food (2 containers) and 2 water glugs and they are fine Our water was frozen this morning - I had to pierce a hole before I went to work at 7am so I would definitely recommend taking precautions against the water freezing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken deficient Posted February 11, 2008 Author Share Posted February 11, 2008 Thank you all so much! I don't know what I would do without this forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 They will be fine. I never close the Eglu door unless it's really freezing. Despite living in the south, I've had frozen Glugs a few times over the winter - I believe glycerine stops it freezing? Or you could add a bit of olive oil - I haven't actually tried either. I reckon that on the worst case scenario, they will still be able to get some water out of it, even if it's frozen - and it will thaw out as the day goes on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken deficient Posted February 11, 2008 Author Share Posted February 11, 2008 Olive oil and wine corks it is then! Thanks again for the reassurance. I'm sure I'll still manage to worry a little bit...I keep telling my self that they have got fantastic built in duvets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Their body temperature is a couple of degres higher than ours so they really don't feel the cold quite the same as we do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Thanks again for the reassurance. I'm sure I'll still manage to worry a little bit...I keep telling my self that they have got fantastic built in duvets. That is right! and chickens naturally have a high body temperature ....just visit them at night and you will see how warm it is inside the Eglu! They struggle much more with heat than they do with cold. They would be fine., honestly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
