Practical Poultry Magazine No.116 Glorious Eggs Back Issue

I read a ‘news’ item on the internet the other day about a woman who’d decided to launch a sort of ‘bed & breakfast’ service for chickens. The idea was that she’d take in and look after hens while their
owners went away on holiday. There was some video footage supporting the story, showing the ‘hotel’ in all its muddy glory! Quite honestly, it didn’t look like the sort of place that I’d want to send a bird of mine, yet the inference was that the business was doing a roaring trade. The story flagged-up several warning signs as far as I’m concerned. We all know that chickens are creatures of habit. Back garden hens, especially, thrive on their daily routine and familiar surroundings.
Throwing them into an inexplicably different environment can cause no end of trouble and stress. And what does stress mean?... diseases! It lowers a bird’s resistance to infection, and coupling this
with the close proximity of other ‘guests’ with unknown health levels, can be a recipe for disaster.
Then there’s the responsibility angle. I know we bang-on about ‘commitment’ and ‘duty of care’ a lot in this magazine, but these truly are core requirements for anyone looking after livestock, including chickens. I think there’s something fundamentally wrong about farming-out your responsibility when it suits you. Keeping chickens properly is a serious business, and you are legally liable for the welfare of the birds in your care. While I’m not saying that none of us should never take a holiday, I do think it’s essential to put the well-being of your birds right up there at the top of your priority list. If you’re desperate to get away, then the best solution is to find a trusted, knowledgeable and, above all, reliable friend who can come in twice a day to see to the birds in your absence. If you can’t do that, then you should think twice about going away at all.