what if you go away?

[mummygogo]

DH and I have decided it would be lovely to have some chicken lickens and are planning on having the run all enclosed etc so they dont need bringing in every night.

The only spanner as we see it is that we do like to nip off for short breaks away so my question was do you need to check them daily, if not how long can they be left? We reckon if we go away for a week it'll be no problem getting someone to look in on them but if we went for a long weekend would we need someone then too?

I pay qualified pet sitters to come in twice a day and let them out/in, feed them, refresh water and clean any poop up.

It costs about £8 a day and they're very nice people.

Some people leave their chickens for a few days without attention, but I can't because mine need letting out/in of their coop and fresh food.

As long as you can organise the water, they should be fine. My bil has his set up with a spring that trickles through a dish and out, but we don't have a spring in our garden. A large drinker which hangs up so that they can't knock it over should do it,

Thank you all very much. Large drinker sounds the ticket

I bought a large drinker that's like a bucket on its side (from eBay) as my chooks were emptying their water bowl while I was at work in the day. I have 6 girls and a full 'bucket' lasts a good few days if need be. Could look into that sort of thing too, maybe...

The chicken house will need closing up every night to avoid draughts and predators getting in. If you intend to make your enclosure from chicken wire foxes can easily chew through this, climb over or dig under and if the chooks aren't locked up they will be killed or traumatised. There are battery operated automatic pop-hole closers that are available that work on daylight levels or timers.
Personally I wouldn't be happy leaving mine unless someone is going to check them at least once a day, not only to check that they are alright but to change their water, put out fresh food and collect any eggs. It is particularly important that their water doesn't freeze as they drink vast amounts each day.
I rehomed six ex-battery hens 15 months ago, not realising just how much work is involved in keeping them. Lovely in the summer but in the winter is a whole new ball game. Cleaning them out, which has to be done regularly as they poop for England, when it is blowing a gale and freezing isn't a lot of fun. Hellebore1

We look after our neighbours chickens for them and get to keep any eggs. I agree with them needing to be shut up though - our neigbours have a double fence (one electric) and are closed in at night and have STILL had fox attacks

Some chicken breeders will take them back for holiday sitting and you will find that neighbours are more than happy to open and lock up for you.

We're lucky in that our cleaners live in when we are away so that they can tend to the hens and cats

A neighbour comes round two or three times a day when we are away. She brings her grandson and he loves helping. She keeps the eggs, plus I regularly give her eggs throughout the year.

I wouldnt go away unless I could guarantee that someone could check on them daily and also close their house door at night time

Also, chickens can get suddenly very ill and it would be cruel to leave them unattended.

I wouldnt rely on an automatic door. What if one decides to stay out late? Our oldie is always the last one to go to bed, often an hour or two after dark. What if it malfunctions?

They need minimal, but regular, looking after and you may find a neighbour is happy to help