House MD 221B Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 My partner and I are thinking of moving to Italy within the next 3-5 years. This poses us with a conundrum. We have 2 chooks, and we love them very much, they're already nearly 3 and so won't be around for that particular journey, however you can't ever keep one chicken, so we always have to have 2 or more chickens, as we couldn't bare giving one of our beloved girls away. There's a few options we can think of, however we're looking for blunt, honest advice, and however unpalatable the decision, if the kindest options to our girl(s) was to give them up when it came to the move, then it's what's in the chickens best interest, as we keep them to give them the best life possible, not just for our own company or amusement, they're very important to us. Now we've looked into the importing poultry laws etc. all of that we know about and can take care of, it's ALL about the transportation method. And below are the options we have, and we'd be grateful of some honest responses with reasons for choice please. -Give the girls away to another home. -Transport them by plane to Italy (1 hour-ish flight but 2 hour drive to london, then 6 hour drive from Munich South to Destination OR maybe fly from Munich to Bolzano which would be another 30 minutes flight / 12ish hours plus check-ins and collections) -Transport them by vehicle (920 Miles taking 16 hours over 2 days, or perhaps 1 long endurance drive) -Can you think of another option we haven't yet? Now we moved them from the midlands down south which took 5-6 hours in total and we had them with us in a pet carrier in the car, and we were ALWAYS with them, they could see us, hear us, smell us, and they had plenty of food and water and they didn't so much as bwark once. But we'd be looking at over three times as long a journey. We have three years minimum to find a solution, but we want it to be in the best interest of the girls' health, we don't want to be cruel just because we want our girls with us. I have no doubt we COULD do it, but SHOULD we do it? What distances and times have you travelled? how can we improve our plan? What would you do? Any advice, tips, recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 If they were young and fit I'd maybe consider taking them by road along with a van of belongings (which I imagine would be going anyway) but I would take them myself rather than entrusting them to someone else A good long journey 'housing' option would be a wooden dog airline crate which is largely enclosed and has a wire door for hanging bowls I'd never put a chook through an airline journey, I feel it would be too stressful and also the red tape is likely to be vast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Lucky you! ... but I don't envy you this dilemma. I agree with Redwing about the journey. Older hens might find it too stressful. I imagine your best bet would be to find someone to take them on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindafw Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 I would re home my girls in such circumstances...I just think the journey is too long and stressful...but you know your girls and if they will cope. I have checked defra and can't find much about journey distance just time...adult birds must have water and food accessible after 12 hours...well duh! Its a tough decision tho...I guess once you are sure when you are going you can rehome when you get to a single bird... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 My honest answer would be to rehome them when the time comes. It will be hard, but I think the stress of a journey - even a road one with great care as to their needs - would be considerable. I also think it would impose a lot of stress on you and your partner, at a time when you will have many other things to think about. In a few years time, someone will be thrilled to adopt two much-loved chickens and perhaps start their own journey into chicken-keeping - and you can start again in Italy with locally-reared hens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan08 Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Thats a tough one, heart and head say two different things We have a dog, and would not think twice about taking him, but, chooks are different, they are a little more fragile, a little less long lived and valuable. Trying to put myself in your position, whilst I love my girls, they are pets rather than livestock, and they give me so much pleasure, I think if you have someone that you know and trust to give them a loving home I would go for that option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 I would re-home them as well. Also, are you sure you could transport them? I know there were some problems for a friend moving to France - her chooks weren't allowed in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chook n Boo Mum Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 I think I'd do the rehome route too ......I'm near Chichester, and would be happy to adopt & keep you up to date with your girls should the need arise...all of my adopted girls' previous families have had open invitations to visit...just a thought...... Good luck with your potential move! Sha x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leicester_H Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 I think I'd do the rehome route too ......I'm near Chichester, and would be happy to adopt & keep you up to date with your girls should the need arise...all of my adopted girls' previous families have had open invitations to visit...just a thought......Sha x What a nice offer. If I was in this position, I'd love to be able to give them to someone like you and be updated. The relatively short journey and a loving home must be the best option (in my view). H Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 I'd re-home and start again in Italy too - whereabouts in Italy are you looking? My family are from Tuscany. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 I'd certainly not put chickens on a plane. Animals and birds have to travel in the hold which, I believe, is not compressed and so would be extremely hard on their ears and I think (but others might correct me) that a bird's ears are even more fragile than a dog's. I do know that when birds are transported by air to zoos etc. they suffer quite a few casualties As you have 3 years to go, you could 'wind down' your flock, re-home any remaining and then start again with the exciting Italian breeds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
House MD 221B Posted February 17, 2012 Author Share Posted February 17, 2012 Hi all, thank you very much for all of your replies, we've discussed different ways and we're slowly coming around to the unfortunate conclusion that we may have to give our girls away when it comes to it. I could get the vehicle journey down to 15 Hours from start to finish but that would still be a long time for two of them to be in a large pet carrier, even with us, and plenty of food and water. The other option we're looking into is a train journey and how long it would take to get them there by train if Sally had them with her, and I drove there setting off the day before so that everything would be set up when they arrived, as we could pack and take the cube, leaving the small eglu behind and have family members sell the eglu for us. But I don't know journey times yet so this may not be possible either. It's not for a few years yet, who knows maybe I'll win the lottery, get a private pilot's license and then the whole thing could be a 2 hour journey for them instead without having to put them in a hold. lol Thank you all for your time and replies, they have been very helpful. Thedogmother, we are looking at Bolzano-Bozen in Northern Italy. Chook n Boo Mom, thank you we shall bare this kind offer in mind when it gets closer to the time, we'd certainly want to make sure they were going to a good home, and would want to arrange a visit first to check it all out. But thank you, we shall remember this. Thank you all for your replies and advice. As much as it pains us, I think we will have to re-home, unless something megical comes to mind or would decrease the journey time dramatically. But ultimately the girls wouldn't leave our side if they came with us, I wouldn't trust anyone else with them when it came to transportation. To be honest I'm dreading going there on Holiday (fact finding mission) in October, because we'll be gone for 11 days, and the last time we went away our eldest passed away either the day before or the morning we arrived home, and as we have just two girls now, if anything happened while we were away, we wouldn't be able to do anything. Luckily we have family who will drop by daily, but they wouldn't be able to procure another girl if one was on her own. Ho Hum, we'll have to cross that bridge when it comes to it. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 ........... Thedogmother, we are looking at Bolzano-Bozen in Northern Italy. Ahhh, the Tyrol - very pretty area but further up than where my mother's family come from. Generally speaking, if you transport hens in a dark and well ventilated box, they will go into roost mode and relax during the journey. 15 hours isn't really longer than they would be roosting for over night on long winter nights. I did a chicken transport once for a friend and they were in their box (the chickens, not the friend) for about 6 hours, but it was well ventilated and I'd provided a few apples for food and moisture, but they didn't even bother touching them. Depending on which season you intend to travel in, it could be very hot though - we used to drive down through France and into Italy to see the family when I was younger and it can be stinking hot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
House MD 221B Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 Cheers Dogmother, it's really a difficult choice and to be honest it's not one we can make until nearer the time, but to give you a clue at how desperate we're getting, I looked at what it would cost to hire a private light aircraft for a direct flight from our local airfield (not even airport, airFIELD lol) direct to Bolzano and it's £9,500 lol so back to the van idea it is. To be honest, if we can't afford to (or it's not possible to) buy a house at the time we want to move or if we don't have guaranteed jobs at the time of the move, we may have to rent while we job hunt, in which case it's a moot point, as we won't be able to rent anywhere with chickens, so we'd have to give them away. If we're fortunate and we can buy before going over there and have jobs lined up etc. then I prefer driving at night anyway so to be honest so long as everything else was packed, and the girls were in the eglu / pet carrier, they could be loaded up with us in the cab when the sun was going down (I drive with the windows down all the time anyway so there'd be plenty of fresh air) and if that was say 7pm We could be there by mid day the next day and the girls could be out in their new garden, whilst we set the run and cube up before they went to bed that night. There's no doubt about it it's difficult and it's tricky and it would be very hard. And ultimately it would have to be in THEIR best interest. If we thought we could make the journey and it be one long roost-mode snooze with a bit of a forced lie-in for them, then that wouldn't be the end of the world, but if we had to stop somewhere over night and finish the journey the next day that'd be unfair. It would be so hard to give away our girls (even though these are girls we don't own yet) but it may just have to be done. As I say it's a decision for down the line and dependant on many factors. But I really do appreciate all the advice, ideas, and time that's been shared, thank you. By all means if anyone has more then we're always grateful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 I guess that you've researched feed suppliers etc over there? You will find that they take quite a different view of their livestock compared with over here, and you won't find the variety or availability that we have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
