Transporting Ten Chickens

[ccoscina]

My landlord recently decided to sell his house so I will be moving soon. I have a flock of ten chickens and never really transported chickens before. I drove 12 baby chicks home from tractor supply, and also one time I transported a rooster in a cardboard box to a rescue farm an hour away, but that's my only experience. So transporting ten adult chickens will be a very new and challenging experience for me.

Depending on which place I move to to drive would be two hours or four hours. I found this article that suggests using bankers boxes with one chicken per box:
https://montanahomesteader.com/how-to-transport-chickens/

My chickens do have a bit of a pecking problem so have 1 per box may indeed be better than using large transport crates that would have multiple chickens per box. I plan to have my friend help me because he has a big cargo/work van. I have a Toyota corolla and could probably transport 5 chickens per trip if my friend isn't available, could get them all moved over within 24 hours or so if I took two trips.

Would it be possible that they could die if they go without water for 4 hours? Bankers boxes wouldn't be suitable for even small waterers and for a drive of 2 to 4 hours I think they would be okay. Of course - they will definitely get stressed out from the move, but stress is acceptable in this situation. This will be a very complicated and challenging moving process and some stress is inevitable - both for myself and the rest of the flock. The main thing I want to ensure is that they survive.

 

[sourland]

4 hours without water will not kill them. Just make sure they do not overheat.

 

[nchls school]

My landlord recently decided to sell his house so I will be moving soon. I have a flock of ten chickens and never really transported chickens before. I drove 12 baby chicks home from tractor supply, and also one time I transported a rooster in a cardboard box to a rescue farm an hour away, but that's my only experience. So transporting ten adult chickens will be a very new and challenging experience for me.

Depending on which place I move to to drive would be two hours or four hours. I found this article that suggests using bankers boxes with one chicken per box:
https://montanahomesteader.com/how-to-transport-chickens/

My chickens do have a bit of a pecking problem so have 1 per box may indeed be better than using large transport crates that would have multiple chickens per box. I plan to have my friend help me because he has a big cargo/work van. I have a Toyota corolla and could probably transport 5 chickens per trip if my friend isn't available, could get them all moved over within 24 hours or so if I took two trips.

Would it be possible that they could die if they go without water for 4 hours? Bankers boxes wouldn't be suitable for even small waterers and for a drive of 2 to 4 hours I think they would be okay. Of course - they will definitely get stressed out from the move, but stress is acceptable in this situation. This will be a very complicated and challenging moving process and some stress is inevitable - both for myself and the rest of the flock. The main thing I want to ensure is that they survive.

When we moved from WI to TN we used large rectangular cockatiel cages and large dog carriers for the flock. One Japanese bantam was brooding at the time in a cat carrier. She made the trip successfully and hatched her eggs the day after we arrived in Tennessee. We did not leave food and water in the cages while we were driving. At stops, water was quickly offered and then removed. It took us a lot longer than 4 hours to make the trip. We had no losses. You need not worry.

 

[SilverBirds]

Maybe just putting 2-3 in a moving box together. Punch holes in the top so they can breathe. Don't worry about it being dark in the box. The dark makes them calmer and travel easier.

You don't need to put food and water in with them. Four hours isn't that long to go without food and water. If you are worried you can make a pitstop for a snack break.

I know how hard and stressful moving is. Hopefully everything goes as smoothly as possible!

 

[ccoscina]

I also read that transporting chickens across state lines can be illegal depending on the state. How much trouble can you get in for this sort of thing? Obviously I'd do my best to drive careful. I imagine it's more to prevent bird flu or mareks in commercial farming rather than harass people with pets. But still it's a concern for me.

 

[SourRoses]

Bringing our new girls home some distance recently, I found they overheated more easily than I expected. We had the AC blasting, they were in the backseat, and I made a lot of holes, but still when we arrived, they were panting and I felt horrible.
If I were to transport again, temperature would be my primary concern and I would have a probe style thermometer in at least one of the boxes as a representative sample at a glance.
I'd also box them individually, because when braking, accelerating, and turning they were readjusting their footing a lot and it sounded like standing/leaning on each other from the complaints.

- Thermometer
- Individually Boxed. Banker Boxes sound perfect. Maybe a bungie to secure lid.
- Even more holes up high to let heat out, some low for CO2 exchange (it sinks), but none on top to keep things dark.
Those were my takeaways.

 

[Acre4Me]

I make cages from cardboard and chicken wire and zip ties. When I sell at auction, I don’t have to stay to get my cages back, plus it’s inexpensive. Depending on my pecking order, I’ll separate them into appropriate groups.

Most recently, I had two toilet boxes, so they were large. One was used with largest side as the bottom, and I got 6 full grown chickens in that one with a domed chicken wire top, lots of shavings in the bottom, and a few more chickens could have comfortably fit. The other toilet box was used standing up, with a divider so that two roosters could be placed in there without fighting. And it was tall enough for them to fully stand upright, or to sit if they wanted. Chicken wire covered only the cut- open front.


But, many options with sizes of the boxes. Easy to make. Good luck with your move.

 

[ccoscina]

The move was successful and the chickens barely made any noise on our journey. It was difficult getting them in the boxes but after that it was smooth sailing. The bankers boxes worked like a charm, one chicken per box. We had tons of holes in them all over and used duct tape to secure the lids. I brought a frozen quarter watermelon with me in a cooler and when we arrived I gave it to them immediately to help cool them down. It was only 75 degrees that day and we only had to drive 2 hours so it wasn't too bad. When they met my landlady's giant yellow lab they freaked out but since then they have been warming up to him.