# When you go out of town



## Cali2013 (Jun 2, 2013)

I am thinking ahead here. We typically go on over night road trips during cooler weather. We're gone about 2 nights, sometimes 3. I leave my chickens in their coop, with several waters and lots of food. They always do okay.

What if I have 2 nigerian dwarfs? I think I would need someone to come check on them once a day? Would once a day be sufficient to feed, water and let them out of the barn for an hour or so? What do y'all do to make sure your animals are taken care of when you go out of town?


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Will the goats just be pets? Whether they need once a day care or multiple times per day would depend on what they are used for. The couple times we actually left the farm, we had a farm sitter who stayed at the house so the animals would be checked multiple times per day. But I had pregnant females and moms with babies.


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## Cali2013 (Jun 2, 2013)

Yes, these would just be pets.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Just pets would probably be okay with once a day care. Stuff the feeders full of hay, make sure they had plenty of water and minerals, and give them their grain if they get grain.


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## elchivito (Apr 18, 2010)

I remember short trips. They were fun. Until I came home.


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## mjs500doo (Nov 24, 2012)

We have to have a chore person here when we leave, which I absolutely hate. 

We have over 200 total chickens to feed, show heifers to grain, goats to milk (except late fall through spring), and cats to take care of inside. It's a scary thought for me to leave the property. Not many people are reliable enough for me to allow to do my chores. 

We have left twice for over 3 days in the last year. Both times the milkers were dry. I came back one day, and my heifer had been tied (by someone, not us) in the shed, had freaked out over something, and flipped herself and broke a wall. Cut her leg open, ripped a tag out of her ear, and when I came home I found a rope outside her pen as well as her rope halter (brand new) cut in three pieces. Of course nobody knew what happened. 

Second time I had a "reliable" cousin looking for some cash. This was middle of winter. Only instructions were to grain (already measured out in pans for the days I would be gone with labels and big tags on all the livestock with names), keep hay in front of them, and make sure to give warm water at noon, along with making sure enough water was in the tanks for the heaters to work properly. They never even showed up. I called every day and they always said everything was good, no problems. One day he even said my buck got out and he had to fix a hole in the fence. I came home to a disaster. Thank gosh we do bedding packs in the winter, this is the only thing that saved everybody's rumen. 

Nightmare!! 

Always make sure you can count on someone and always have a backup as well.


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## AmyBoogie (May 20, 2013)

mjs500doo said:


> They never even showed up. I called every day and they always said everything was good, no problems.


What a horror show!
I hope you never paid him. what is wrong with people?

I have my Mom that wants to help me. I will only schedule to leave when she's able to be here. There really isn't anyone else I trust to do this.


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## goatiegirl (Jan 7, 2013)

We plan on asking our neighbor or a teenager that lives nearby if/when we go out of town for a few days to let them out in the morning and fill water/check hay and then lock them in the barn at night and again check water and hay. If they are just going to be pets, and you only have a couple I think that would be enough and should only take someone a few minutes in the am and pm each day. But I agree, make sure it is someone you can trust and make sure they are aware of the signs/symptoms of a sick goat to let you know if there is a problem.


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## nchen7 (Feb 25, 2013)

wow...this is what I worry about when we go away. 

last year we went away had people house sit...they pretty much used and abused the house, left it SOOOO dirty, and drank ALL the alcohol. our animals were alive, but they overfed the dogs, and who knows what happened with the goats...they were at least alive when we got back, but I know they got loose as we found berries around where they weren't supposed to be.

i'm leaving in Aug for 2.5 weeks, and I worry that my bf won't stick to the various schedules with the goats. he's pretty hands off when i'm around as i'm the animal girl and he's the plant guy. guess i'll just have to trust him!

I just had a business idea...wouldn't it be great if there was a company that offers farm sitting service? like how they have dog sitting in the city? what do you think??


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

I get a 4Her to come check on the goats. It realy depends on when you are leaving. For me if I had to leave during kidding I pay them to stay the night and check on them through the night. 

If it is before the grass is coming in I put out a few bales of hay in the feeder and have them come check them once a day, summer same thing, but I don't put out hay.


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## mjs500doo (Nov 24, 2012)

AmyBoogie said:


> What a horror show!
> I hope you never paid him. what is wrong with people?
> 
> I have my Mom that wants to help me. I will only schedule to leave when she's able to be here. There really isn't anyone else I trust to do this.


No I absolutely downright refused to pay. They had no excuse. I have since de-owned them as my cousin.


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## AmyBoogie (May 20, 2013)

mjs500doo said:


> No I absolutely downright refused to pay. They had no excuse. I have since de-owned them as my cousin.


I don't blame you. I would disown them too.


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## Cali2013 (Jun 2, 2013)

My parents would be able to come check on them once a day but not twice because they live about 25 miles away. I think it would be too much to ask them come 2x/day. I have no neighbors that I trust enough to take care of them. Hopefully just once a day would do good. They would have free roam of our large horse barn while we are gone. I wouldn't trust them to be out while we are gone. I hope this would work out. I don't want to give up our road trips.


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

I don't go out of town. I have not been off my place overnight since the girls got here 5 years ago. It's not worth it to me - too many things can happen. I live a hop, skip and jump from the BNSF railroad tracks, and just beyond that is a very busy 4 lane highway. I am also surrounded by alfalfa and grain fields to the east, west, and south. If someone should forget to chain a gate and the girls wandered out there, it would be a disaster. They are my goats, they are my responsibility.


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## mhoward2 (Jun 30, 2012)

I am blessed enough to live beside my parents. My dad always takes care of my goats and chickens while I'm away. My dad hung the moon by the way!


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## enchantedgoats (Jun 2, 2013)

go out of town? you mean without the goats? unless you have family members and i do mean immediate family members, you will probably only be going to goat shows from now on. goats are like children and dogs.


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## katlovesaandw (May 30, 2013)

See, this is what bothers me too! Hard enough to find a reliable person to do the chickens and ducks....most of the time they are idiots, do a crap job and I never hire them again. Last time it was over Thanksgiving, hired one of my daycare kids parents as they have chickens and live nearby. Not only were my chickens uncared for, they got out and our home was burglarized(not by the parents) AND they didn't notice or check when they noticed backdoor was open....just thought we got home early....
We got away twice a year for 4-5 days. When we go this Summer, we are trying a new person for a 2 nighter as it is a quick family trip we have to do(parents 50th anniv) and we will give new person a try. IF they do well, we will hire them for our late Summer vaca. If they suck....back to looking....
Now, if I add 2 penned mini goats to this mix.....they HAVE to come and be reliable. 
Jeez, I was a pet sitter for all the neighbors growing up and I not only went as directed but left house is better condition. I took out trash, vacuumed, etc. Pets were happy and cared for.


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## katlovesaandw (May 30, 2013)

Has anyone taken their goats with them on a trip, like camping?
We take the dogs, this year we are taking the rats as I would prefer nobody have a key to the house....
Just wondering if anyone has taken their goats(if you have a couple or so) on your trip?


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## Calmom (Mar 21, 2020)

I have two very hardy male goats as pets. They are fenced in on about 2 acres on our property. Since we have absolutely not rainfall this year, they have munched every single thing in the pasture to the ground. I am now feeding them orchard grass hay. We leave for 5 days and was wondering if I can just put a whole bale out in their pasture while we are gone. they have a self waterer so no issue with that. 
I can have a neighbor check in make sure they are still standing but they are super independent and healthy. Is the bale ok to do?
Thank you


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

If your neighbor can throw them a bale of hay if they run out.


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## Mike at Capra Vista (Nov 30, 2017)

enchantedgoats said:


> go out of town? you mean without the goats?


LOL That's exactly what I was thinking.


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## Mike at Capra Vista (Nov 30, 2017)

I wouldn't trust anyone who would not be willing to come over and go through my routine with me once or twice before hand.


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## Calmom (Mar 21, 2020)

ksalvagno said:


> If your neighbor can throw them a bale of hay if they run out.


Good idea. It’s ok to give them whole at once then 👍


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## tiffin (Mar 3, 2021)

We love the goats but they sure are a hassle if we want to take a trip. Went away a couple days last year, had a couple from church take care of them, we did worry quite a bit although turns out they were well cared for. We're always wishing we had some grandkids that WANT to be farm hands but they don't seem so inclined. City kids - all of them. Husband and I would love to take off for a week but I don't think there is any way we could do that. They are our responsibility and we willingly took it on but they sure can be a hassle finding someone reliable to take care of them. 

Just wonder about the rest of you. A friend who has goats said they don't lock theirs up at night but we have coyotes around. Do you all lock yours up at night or trust your fences to keep coyotes out?


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## tiffin (Mar 3, 2021)

My oldest also has goats (unfortunately lives too far away to take help take care of ours while on vacation) but they fed theirs a big round bale through the winter, just parked the big bale outside and their two goats ate their way through it. My husband was worried it would go bad from being rained on but their two pygmies didn't eat the bad outside stuff, they ate through the middle.


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## AndersonRanch (Oct 18, 2020)

If they eat a bale every 5 days I would put a bale and a half out just to be on the safe side. 
Give your neighbor a list of what to watch for that points to a problem. Off by themselves, tail down, hunched up and so on and a number to someone you trust to evaluate and treat them. 
And one thing that gets missed is water. Depending on if you want the neighbor to water or not fill up a LOT of extra water troughs. If something is going to get spilled, broken, or go wrong in some way, if you have my luck, it will be while it’s on someone else’s time. I’m OCD enough I think I have ever been gone twice since I have had goats…….almost 12 years


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

Just putting out a bale, they will eat some, lay on it, poop on it and then have nothing to eat. 
It would be better to have someone come over on a daily basis and toss a couple of flakes of 
hay to them. Check water for poop etc. Birds are notorious for fouling water. Daily care is 
pretty important.


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## Cedarwinds Farm (Dec 2, 2019)

It strikes me that there should be regional groups or something, where we could arrange to care for each others' livestock. I haven't been off the farm for more than a day trip since I started milking. My sister would do it, but there's just so much work, I hate to ask as she is such a busy person with her own livestock, gardening, small business, etc. I have farm sat for several friends and neighbors...it would be nice to have people to swap work with. 
I figure, if I want a vacation, I will probably have to plan several months in advance and dry most of my goats off.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

For many years we took separate vacations lol. I just had no one I could trust to take care of the farm like we do. Hubs would take the kids off for 3 days to a week, once they were gone 2 weeks. I stay home and take care of farm chores on my own. It was alot of work for one person and a stray winter type storm always seems to hit even when we waited until March lol. We planned where no one needed milked and kids were either far from due date or on the ground already. So it was feed, hay, water ect.. then in August I took off with my sister for a few days of sister time. Now most all my kids are grown, on their own and have their own lives. When hubs and I were going to fly to Alaska to visit our eldest daughter and grand kids..it took 3 of my adult children to juggle the week. We were grateful but it took planning lol. Farm life can be seen as a prison or a refuge. We tend to think refuge. We prefer a few hours off farm and then get back home over a full long day or more. My 15 year old is the garden dude. He frets if gone too long..especially past watering time lol.


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## brigieboo (Apr 8, 2021)

We have friends that live about 5 minutes away. We do their chores, they do ours, never been a problem. We've been friends for a long time so there arent any trust issues there. When one of our families is going on a trip we'll go over to the others house and they'll show us their current routine and then we go over twice a day to feed and water animals, water plants, collect mail etc. We'll be gone for a week and the only problem when we come back is the grass needing to be mowed haha 

If you dont have any neighbors that you'd trust you could maybe see if theres anyone from your church that would be interested in coming to your place a couple times day, or yea, maybe getting in contact with the 4H club from your area to see if the leader of the club can send out an email seeing if anyone was interested in helping you out. One thing i would never do tho is put an ad on facebook or something, then random people who want money might respond and they'd come over and all to see how you do things but they might do a trashy job because they'll never see you again and who cares what you think of them and the job they did.


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## friesian49 (Jul 2, 2018)

I have to travel for work and stay overnight, not a lot, but enough that I worry about this same thing. Thankfully my mother lives about 20 minutes away and she stays up here and takes care of everyone. Once we get back to traveling at work, I'll need to get her spun back up. I also happened to find a pet sitting flyer at a local feed store and I've been stalking her FB page and I have a friend that knows of her. So I may test the waters with her, see if all goes well and everyone gets along. It's scary finding someone new that you can trust. I had the best pet sitter in Chambersburg (anyone need a referral, let me know!) I just had my cats, but the one got diagnosed with diabetes and she was up for giving the twice daily shots - I wish she'd move out to western PA!!


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