When you go on holiday....

[bosschick]

What do you do about the eggs? We make sure our chickens have enough food and water when we go away but obviously can't collect the eggs. Last week we came home to 34 fairly mucky eggs (we have 6 beautiful ladies). I washed the eggs in luke warm water and assuming they will be fine but is this right? Will bacteria have got in while the eggs were just ly8ng in the garden?

I don't think you are meant to wash them, something about removing a protective layer on the outside of the shell.

Surely you would pay someone to look after them whilst you are away?
They would check their welfare and collect the eggs.

Or do you have a friendly neighbour who would do it in return for regular eggs over the year?

Usually we have someone to check and change water/feed daily and check they are ok.
I really wouldnt just leave them unless it was overnight.
You shouldnt wash eggs,commercially its not allowed as it removes the protective anti bacterial layer .
I would bin them.
Im a bit shocked you just went off and left them tbh

We don't keep chickens anymore but when we did always asked a neighbour to check on chickens and collect eggs. Let them keep the eggs as a goodwill gesture and always bought them a little thank you gift too.

I think maybe we should have asked a neighbour. The chickens are safe though (well as much as they can be in rural area) and have a big garden to run in as well as shelter and food. If one got ill a neighbour wouldn't know what to do anyway apart from text us...

Regarding washing - I read that you should only wash if the eggs are dirty which sadly these were. It does remove the bloom though.

Quite do you always change food and water daily? Does everyone do this? Think we do it twice a week. Chickens seem happy but am worried I'm not treating them well now.

You should never wash eggs !
If they are getting that dirty then you need to improve your cleaning/husbandry .
What are they being soiled with ?
I couldnt go away and enjoy my holiday knowing no one was looking after mine.

Only put in enough food-pellets for the day otherwise you will get vermin plus mine have some corn every evening before they are locked up.
Yes fresh drinking water everyday-cider vinegar added.

My routine is as follows :
6am up, coffee then open popholes,fresh feed and water ,in winter "porridge"of warm mash with oats and supplement.
Fresh straw in nest boxes as a couple of mine sleep in there and poop
Quick look to see if all are ok.

Afternoon /early evening depending on light -handful of corn ,less in summer ,more in winter as its warming,meal worms a handful in autumn/winter
Collect eggs
Close popholes and collect drinkers,wash and leave to dry ready for the morning.
In the winter water is checked as it can freeze easily -top up with warm as required (DH works from home )
I dont feed scraps but they like chopped greens.
Worm every 6 months,check and treat for mites regularly,including chicken house etc
Thats about 15 mins twice a day

Forgot !
House/indoor run cleaned every weekend.
Fresh bedding in run-Aubiouse or Dengie
Newspaper under perches etc
They free range in orchard but have large foxproof run for bad weather /if need to be kept in .

do you always change food and water daily?
No. I feed them every day if I'm there, but if I'm away I just fill up their 5kg feeder.
They've also got a 5L waterer so there's no need to clean that every day.

I wouldn't wash the eggs. If they're gross just chuck them away. If they're not too bad, give them a flick and a wipe and use them quickly in case you've removed the bloom, or just crack them into your dogs bowl if you've got a dog. Or scramble them and feed them back to the chooks.

How long were you away, OP?

I ask one of my neighbours to feed and water, muck out (just a layer of newspaper straight into the green bin every couple of days and a fresh layer down) and collect the eggs - which neighbour gets to keep.
If neighbours child does it I give them £5-10 depending on how long it is for.

If it's just a few days I leave sufficient food and water out and don't bother getting anyone to check.

I refill the water when it's empty, mostly weekly in winter and maybe every 4-5 days in summer.
I put food out daily, but am happy to leave a few days worth out if away.

They free range in an enclosed area in my front and I don't shut them up at night.

The size if the drinker isnt the point -its fresh ,clean water.
Mine go out on the orchard and by the end of the day its leafy and murky.
All my animals have fresh water daily

Penelope we were away for a week. They have a giant feeder so had enough food but they were definitely ready for more when we got back.

Thanks everyone for the replies. I'm going to have a chat with DH tonight about a new routine for our chickens. We have ducks as well so they have a massive water bath which is changed weekly.

Mine go into boarding when I go on holiday, or if possible my mum comes to stay. I couldn't imagine leaving them alone all week. I had one put to sleep last year as she got ill and collapsed- and I had to move her quite quickly away from the others when she did (without going in to too much detail)

(I have only got 3 though, can't imagine boarding would be very doable if you have a lot!)

Sorry to hear that not
Yes they can be vicious to a weaken or ill chook.
Im the same as you ,I cant imagine leaving mine for a week .

Thanks Quite never imagined I'd feel so strongly about chickens but I bawled my eyes out in the vets! And yes, lovely as they are, they can be "very wicked" as the vet put it!

We have a Chicken Hotel nearby, they charge £5 per flock, per day. We have no-one nearby who can look in on our girls so if we go away they go to the hotel.

Thats a great idea !

No chicken boarding near us (just googled) but will get neighbour or someone to check next time we are away. And moving them on to daily feeds and water. I've been reassessing their needs today, improved their environment a fair bit.

Now wondering about the grass. When the chickens moved in they were given a decent patch of garden - about 60m sq. it was a lovely mossy lawn. Now it's mostly bare soil. Grass trying to grow but very thin. There's a patch of hay for them to scrabble around in which they like but I'm not sure how to get the grass to recover.

Do your chickens live on grass? How? Should I throw a load of grass seed down and hope for the best?

the grass will never recover!
unless you keep your hens in a vast field, they will turn any grass to mud.
The only reasonable alternative is to have 2 runs and alternate them, but that is rarely practical

My area (about 6mx9m) was grass, 10 years ago - lol.
If I let them in the back garden that stays grass, but I don't want the poop with the kids playing.

Hardwood chips are good (not bark though!) They can scratch about in it and it doesn't get smelly and slimy. As long as they are still getting greenery/veg too.

I've left mine for 2/3 days if we're away for the weekend and just made sure their food and water was full but for longer than that I get someone to come every other day to top up food/water and collect eggs.
Personally I think the eggs will be fine, I get a dozen plus eggs a day and they are quite often mucky so I often wipe them with a damp cloth (didn't realise you weren't suppose to) been doing this for years and never had any problems.
Regarding general care, I don't change the food/water, they have 2 big drinkers that i rinse out and fill when they're almost empty, once a week roughly and an ice cream tub that I top up every day and same with food, I fill all the feeders about once a week then top up every couple of days, I do give them a scoop of mixed corn every morning which they devour straight away. I live on a farm and when the chickens are out their favourite place to go is the cattle shed where they scratch around in the muck looking for food and drink out of any mucky puddle or cattle bucket they find so to be honest I think the daily fresh food/water is really just for owner satisfaction, I honestly don't think the hens care.