Over the past year, we’ve gone on five or six trips, and we always come back to healthy, happy chickens. I’ve learned over time not to worry so much about my chickens when I’m on vacation. Mostly because I’ve learned how to keep them safe when we’re away. And you can have a relaxed, worry-free vacay too! In this post I’m going to share with you some important safety tips for going on vacation when you have chickens.
How to Go on Vacation When You Have Chickens
- Watering system for your chickens
- Extra large feeder
- Automatic coop door
- Have someone check in on your chickens
- Have somebody collect eggs
- Tips on vacationing when you have chickens
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How to Go on Vacation When You Have Chickens
We love to travel and that was not going to stop just because we decided to get chickens!
So, we decided we were going to have to find a way to have our chickens. Which means keeping them happy, healthy, safe, and most importantly alive – and still go on all of our trips.
And here are the main things you can do to make sure your chickens stay safe when you travel.
Plus, super important things to remember before you take your trip! These will give you some peace of mind about leaving your chickens alone while you travel!
1. Set Up A Watering System For Your Chickens
The first, very important thing that makes going on vacation possible when we have chickens is our automatic watering system!
We have a rainwater system – which is essentially a rain barrel attached to the chicken coop to provide them with automatic water.
The actual roof of the chicken coop is tilted to one side. This allows water to collect into the gutter when it rains.
That water then gets funneled into a 55 gallon drum. And that is covered with a fine mesh filter to prevent the icky stuff from getting in.
In order for the chickens to actually drink the water, we have attached a spigot to the bottom of that barrel (about 3 inches up). That then connects to a 4 foot hose. And that hose connects to a 3 inch PVC pipe inside of our coop – which is outfitted with poultry nipples.
It sounds complicated I know, but it’s really not. It is actually an easy setup and ours did not cost a lot of money. I use these poultry nipples off Amazon and they have been a great investment.
Plus I use those same poultry nipples in all my 5 gallon water buckets!
By using this automatic water system with the rain barrel attached, we never have to fill up the water – including when we go on vacation! We just make sure that it is full or mostly full before we leave.
Of course, this works for us because we do get a lot of rain in Florida for most of the year – at least enough to provide our flock with water.
So if you live in a place that does get enough rain, a system like this is essential to keeping your birds happy when you go away!
2. Set Up An Extra Large Feeder
Besides the huge, 55-gallon water system, we also have a huge chicken feeder that we have installed for our flock.
This feeder is actually a trash barrel that we have repurposed into a feeder. So not only does it work perfectly, it was super cost effective!
We have attached some port feeders that allow the birds to stick their heads into the barrel. Just make sure you have enough feeders for the size of your flock!
It doesn’t really spill out tons of feed, though you do get some feeds spilling out every once in a while, the chickens still eat that too so, it’s fine.
This feeder holds about 185 pounds of chicken feed – which means we only have to fill their food up about once per month!
Making it super convenient in terms of time and cost!
It also means that we can go on vacation without constantly worrying about starving our chickens to death.
We always just make sure it is filled to the top (or mostly filled) before we leave. That way we don’t have to feed them for the entire time we’re gone.
But this actually works perfectly year round – even when we’re not on vacation!
You can see exactly how we made ours in this video.
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3. Have An Automatic Coop Door
Most of the year I open the coop and allow my flock to free range during the day.
Of course when you go on vacation this isn’t really possible unless you have someone that can open up the coop in the morning and close it back up at night.
Now, this isn’t really necessary and your flock will do just fine without roaming free.
However free ranging does really make a difference in the quality of their eggs. So I try to let them stretch their legs and forage whenever possible.
But if you’re not going to be gone for too long, keeping your birds confined to their own area is fine. Just as long as you have a decent size run for them to walk around in. This will not work if they only have a tiny run space.
However, if you’re going on a trip and want to make sure they get their free range time (and there’s nobody to watch them) then having an automatic coop door is the answer!
I will say, though, that this requires a lot of trust. And confidence that there aren’t too many predators in your area.
And I would definitely recommend against this if you’ve previously lost birds to predators.
But another alternative is using the automatic coop door and then just asking a friend or family member to “lock up the coop” at night – and essentially make sure all the chickens are in.
That way your flock gets the best of both worlds!
And if you’re a little more techy than we are, you could always set up a wireless camera (or a game camera) to monitor your flock while you’re gone. And if something does look off, you can always have someone go and check up on them!
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4. Have Someone Check In On Your Chickens
If you can’t do any of the other things we mentioned earlier, you will want to have someone check on your birds.
This is especially true if you’re going to be gone for more than a few days. (And a huge part of how to go on vacation when your have chickens!)
If you’re going on a trip that is a bit longer and you don’t have all these safety measures in place, I would highly recommend you get someone to check in on your flock.
This could be your parents, siblings, friends, or a trusted neighbor.
Just be sure to leave them instructions on how to handle your chickens. Including how much to feed them, a reminder to check and refill their water, and to ensure the coop is locked up come dusk.
Ideally, this person would be comfortable around chickens. You know, in case something does go wrong and they have to chase a flock member down the street!
But we take weekend trips all the time and we kind of skip on this one since we have all other arrangements made already.
However, on a more extended trip it is super important to have somebody to check in on your birds.
On the last trip that we took, we went to California, Oregon, and Washington. We did an entire road trip down the west coast, which was amazing.
And since my dad was already house sitting, he went over to our property and checked on the chickens. He collected eggs, checked their feeder, and all of that good stuff.
That way, I had no worries at all.
If you’re not sure about the safety of your chickens when you’re away, your safest bet is to have someone to look after your flock. Doing this will ensure that:
- Your flock is well-fed and watered
- Security is beefed up
- Your eggs are collected
- Your chicken coop is clean and dry
5. Have Somebody Collect Eggs
As a good chicken keeper, you should be collecting eggs on a regular basis – ideally daily.
Unless you want a few new baby chicks of course!
We have come back from trips, even after three or four-day trips where we were not collecting eggs, and have found a broody hen sitting on them.
That was a great experiment – and definitely something we weren’t expecting.
Our hen had gone broody when we were away and we let her keep her clutch of eggs – and she actually hatched out some chicks! (You can watch the full video here.)
But if you’re not planning on adding to your flock anytime soon, you’ll probably want to have someone collect eggs while you’re gone.
Or you’re going to have to toss those eggs when you return.
If I’m just gone for two or three days, I’m perfectly fine with just tossing them.
But if it’s more than that, there will be lots of eggs waiting for you when you come back – no an ideal situation!
Leaving eggs in the nesting box for too long has undesirable consequences such as:
- Inspires broodiness in hens
- They may be accidentally cracked
- They invite predators
- Cracked eggs inspire a habit of chickens feeding on them
Plus, most people are more than willing to go over and collect fresh eggs while you’re gone – especially if you offer to let them keep those eggs!
It’s a win-win for the both of you!
Tips On Vacationing When You Have Chickens
Here are things to keep in mind to help you relax on vacation.
- Chickens are very hardy- if you’re worried about the temperatures, don’t be. Chickens are pretty adaptable. We get crazy heat sometimes in our area and chickens find shade or shelter when it rains. Chickens have lived for thousands of years, which should be a good indicator of just how hardy they are.
- Make sure your coop is predator proof- or else sneaky predators will have lots of time to figure out a way in while you’re away
- Make sure your birds are healthy – if you have a sick bird that’s not in isolation from the rest of your flock, you won’t be happy coming back to an entire flock that is sick – or worse. Separate that one bird and care for it before leaving. Ensure there is no trace of illness that can run rampant while you’re away.
How long can chickens stay in their coop?
Chickens can stay in their coop indefinitely if they have what they need – access to fresh water, plenty of food, shelter from the elements, access to sunlight, and (very importantly) ample space for them to run around in.
Usually when someone refers to a flock “staying in their coop” without free ranging they have a spacious outdoor run that allows space for the birds to walk around in.
This is essential to give each bird space to get away if they’re being pecked on.
It’s also super important if you have more than one rooster in your flock – and can actually prevent chickens from killing each other!
Do chickens need daily care?
Chickens are a very low-maintenance backyard pet. They do require several things on a daily basis (like food, clean water, and shelter) but those things can be provided in bulk so that you don’t need to do chicken chores every day.
Ideally, you would interact with your flock on a daily basis to ensure they are all in good health and monitor for any signs of disease. And of course to keep them friendly towards people!
But if you decide to go away for a few days and have made arrangements for all of their daily needs, chickens need no human intervention.
Which means you can enjoy your vacation in peace!
And for more chicken keeping info, don’t forget to check out my FREE Simple Start Guide to Raising Chickens in the Suburbs!
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