4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Dolly]

I've read / heard that it's ok to leave our 2 girls over a weekend and they'll be perfectly happy as long as enough food and drink is available.

 

But...... I've also read that leaving eggs uncollected is not a good idea because they could get damaged and then be eaten, causing problems with the hens breaking them on purpose in future.

 

Our weekend away was booked BC (before chickens!) and in fact, I really don't like the thought of leaving them now!

 

Does anyone have any thoughts or experience of leaving them home alone for a couple of days? We may be able to get someone to look in on them, but I'm worried in case we can't.

 

Thanks!

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Have you friendly neighbour who could pop in & check them for you - with the offer of keeping any "gifts" by way of thanks? That's what we did when only had 3, now we have 11 maybe we'll have to think again!!

 

Sha x

[C&T]

We have left them several times for a weekend (Fri night to Sunday afternoon/evening), with no adverse affects. Only when it was really cold and I was worried about frozen water did I ask our neighbour to have a quick check in the morning to ensure they were OK.

 

In the summer, I may ask a neighbour to ensure they have enough water if it is hot.

 

To be honest, had we not felt able to do this, we would not have got our chickens!

[Busybird]

Like C&T I wouldn't have got chickens if I hadn't thought we could leave them as we like to go off camping when the weather allows.

 

With this in mind I got 2 glugs and 2 grubs with the Eglu and extended run. Before I go away I make sure the run and Eglu are cleaned out then leave one grub full of pellets, the other full of a mix of pellets and corn and the glugs topped up with fresh water. There has always been plenty of food and water left when we have returned from a weekend away along with a full complement of eggs in the nest box, none broken. This arrangement has worked well for 2 and 3 night stays way.

 

We did one 4 nights away trip and this seemed a bit long to leave them as it was an early morning to late night trip. I asked my in laws to check on them on day 3 but they had difficulty accessing the run so did little other than collect the eggs. The girls were fine although the water had run low and was mucky by the time we got back. If we do more than a weekend away this year then I will try to find a local 'chicken sitter'.

[alih]

I agree - we leave ours for up to 3 days without anyone coming. Longer than that they need to check on water and food but the eggs have always been fine.

[mountainboarddude]

i leave mine alone for long weekends with plenty of food and water and have never had any touble.

[Dolly]

Thank you all for your replies - I feel much better about leaving them now! Will make sure they have loads of food and water etc. before we go.