How to Move House With Chickens: Eggcellent Chicken Moving Tips

Chickens have always been popular as pets but their popularity is soaring and it is no wonder.

Chickens make great pets for kids, are very sociable, have individual personalities, keep the insects and weeds down in your garden, and provide you with nutritional food, what’s not to love about that?

Over a million homes in the UK now keep chickens, with chickens nearly 5 times more popular than hamsters as pets in the UK according to a recent survey carried out by Chickenguard.

With so many people now having gardens for the first time and looking to live the good life in the countryside, this trend will only continue.

But unless you are in your forever home, there will come a time when you will need to know how to move chickens to a new house.

This is no easy task, but as with every aspect of any home move, a little planning and preparation is essential and will ensure your feathered friends thrive in their new home.

So read on to discover all you need to know about moving house with chickens.

Can You Keep Chickens on a Housing Estate?

Yes, under UK law you can keep up to 50 chickens in your garden (any more than that you need to register with DEFRA), but that does not mean that you can move them to your new home without doing some research first.

It may be that the local council has bylaws or covenants that prevent you from keeping poultry in your garden, so be sure to check with the local council first.

Living Next Door to Chickens

It is worth checking out your new neighbours to see if they keep chickens, and if not, you will need to reassure them that your chickens will be no problem.

In fact, having chickens should be no more problematic to them than if you have a dog.

Plus, you may be kind enough to give them the odd egg, or chicken waste to fertilize their garden.

However, chickens can create quite a bit of noise and your new neighbours may be less than thrilled about your flock arriving unannounced.

They may also be concerned about the smell, or the chickens attracting rats, but if you keep the coop clean, and their food is kept in a secure location, this should not be a problem.

Chickens love to roam and forage so it would be wise to ensure that your new garden has a secure boundary so that they do not stray onto the neighbours’ land.

Note though that if your chickens see something that attracts them next door, they are more than capable of flying over the average height fence, so you may have to get their wings clipped.

Finally, it would be wise to keep the number of chickens you have to a sensible number that you have the appropriate space for.

You may also like to read: How to Deal With the Anxiety of New Neighbours. Not everyone will be pleased about living next to chickens and not only you but your new neighbours, may be stressed out about how the other will react. This guide offers lots of practical tips and advice about how to deal with the anxiety of new neighbours.

Do Chickens Get Stressed Moving Home?

Yes, chickens are prone to stress, so moving home can be a particularly stressful experience for them.

But just as hiring the best removal company you can find will take all the stress out of moving day for you, a well-planned home move for your chickens will alleviate all their stresses too.

Note: It is a good idea to seek out the local vet in your new area before moving so that if there are any issues you know exactly who to contact straight away.

How Do You Know if Your Chicken is Stressed?

Stress can literally be a killer so you need to know what signs indicate that your chickens are stressed.

The signs to look out for are:

• Aggressive behaviour
• Restlessness
• Aimless wandering
• Abnormal feathering
• Constant preening
• Cannibalism

How to Prepare Chickens for Moving Home

Like any stress-free home move, it is all in the planning and preparation.

To help reduce any stress your chickens may experience during the move it is best to:

• Introduce your chickens to a portable coop and run
• Choose a stress-free route to the new home
• Decide on the best transportation method
• Manage Chicken Stress

You may also like to read: How to Make Moving Home Less Stressful in which we look at ways to help reduce any stress you may experience during your home move.

Portable Chicken Run and Coop

Just as humans need familiar things around them in a new home to help prevent relocation depression, having familiar surroundings will help your chickens settle quicker and reduce any stress they may feel.

So a few weeks before you move home, get a portable coop and run. Introduce your chickens to the coop so that they become familiar with it.

Then come moving day all you need to do is box your chickens, pack up the potable coop, travel to your new home, set up the portable coop and your chickens will instantly feel right at home.

Plan the Journey to Your New Home

The route that you take to your new home can cause stress to your chickens unless you plan it so that you avoid noisy, bumpy, and congested roads.

The less time your chickens spend on the road the better, so plan a route with no congestion and allows you to get to your new home quickly.

The most direct route with as few bends as possible would be the best option.

Transporting Chickens to a New Home

Small, well-ventilated boxes that can hold one or two chickens at most are recommended. The boxes need to be big enough that the chickens can turn around in them but not so big that the chickens could fall over and break a leg.

If your journey is a long one, then the chickens will need access to food and water.

We will look at the various options for boxing chickens later in this guide.

Managing Chicken Stress

Many people recommend that you introduce supplementary nutrition to your chickens’ diet in the weeks before the move.

This commonly means adding these supplements, but you must always consult your vet first.

• Vitamins
• Amino Acids
• Probiotics
• Electrolytes
• Fermentation

How to Calm a Stressed Chicken

Other than adding nutrition to the chickens’ diet there are also a couple of other ways that will help calm and relax your chickens:

• Hang bunches of dry lavender in their coop
• Play classical music

Learn more about how to calm a stressed chicken at www.bhwt.org.uk

What is the Best Way to Transport Chickens to a New Home?

Bright lights, turbulence, and loud noises will all cause your chickens stress, so when planning the transportation of your chickens take these factors into consideration.

The majority of removal firms will not transport your chickens to your new home and the environment inside a removal van would not be the best for your chickens anyway.

Transporting Chickens in a Car

Transporting your chickens by car to your new home is probably the safest and best way to control the environment they will travel in.

Whether you need to know how to move chickens long distances or how to move chickens a short distance, these tips will ensure that your chickens have the best chance of a stress-free journey.

• Travel at night. If you can make the journey to your new home at night it will be even easier on your chickens.
• Food and water. It is essential that chickens have access to food, water, and free-flowing air, and are shielded from light.
• Keep it dark. If you transport your chickens in small, dark boxes. Alternatively, drape a blanket over the crate ensuring that there is still plenty of ventilation. This will create the illusion of night-time and your chickens will sleep on the journey to their new home.
• Smooth and easy. As mentioned previously it is wise to plan your journey to your new home via quieter, smoother roads that have less traffic to reduce any stress to your chickens.
• Absorb vibrations. Place the chicken boxes on blankets in your car which will absorb any road noise and vibrations the chickens may feel.
• Turn off the car heater. If moving home during cold weather, dress warmly rather than have the heating on in the car as chickens can soon overheat.
• Play music. And play some classical music on the car radio as it helps keep your chickens calm and will shield them from some of the external noises they may hear.
• Crates or boxes? For short-distance home moves, boxes will be fine. For long-distance home moves, crates would be better as they are easier to provide food and water for the chickens.

You may also like to read: The Complete Guide of How to Dog Proof Your Home, Garden, and Car. If you also own a dog and are moving home, this is an invaluable guide on how to dog-proof your new home and garden so that is safe for them and to help them settle into their new home more easily.

Chicken Transport Boxes and Crates

For most domestic chicken owners there would be no need to invest in proper chicken crates as you are unlikely to be moving home regularly.

Here we share with you the best tips about moving chickens in boxes or crates.

• It is easier to put the chickens straight into their boxes from the coop and far less stressful for them, so don’t let them out into their run on moving day.
• Chickens should be transported in boxes that are small enough to keep the chickens safe but big enough so that they can turn around should they want to.
• The boxes should be well-ventilated but kept dark.
• Cut long thin ventilation strips into opposing sides of the box rather than ventilation holes as the air will flow more freely through the ventilation slits.
• If transporting your chickens in cardboard boxes ensure the top and bottom are secure to prevent your chickens from escaping.
• Add a sprig of lavender to the crates to help relax your chickens
• On longer journeys, the box should have enough room for food and water.
• If transporting your chickens long distances consider placing iceberg lettuce leaves in the box, these will provide both food and water.
• Stop every 3 hours if moving home a very long distance so that the chickens can feed and settle.
• Many people choose to use pet carriers to move a few chickens, the cat-sized boxes are the most popular for this.
• The box should be lined so that the chickens cannot slip and slide about. Paper is too slippery and wood chippings will make a mess of your car so many people recommend an old door mat (but not the sharp bristle kind) or straw.
• It is best to put one chicken per box but you could pair birds of similar temperament.
• Ensure the boxes are secure within your car, strapped onto the back seat, and no more than 3 boxes high.

Bonus tip: If you have paired up some birds it may be a good idea to take a couple of spare boxes, then if trouble does flare up on your journey you can separate the birds.

You may also like to read: Tips for Moving with Pets: How to Move your Furry or Feathery, Scaly or Slimy Animal Friends. If you have other pets then this guide offers some useful tips on how to ensure their home move is as stress-free and safe as possible.

Settling Chickens into a New Home

The most important part of moving your chickens is to ensure that their new home is ready the instant they arrive, which is why it is recommended that get a portable chicken coop and run as these are so easy to set up.

Once your chickens are safe and settled in their new home you can then think about setting up a more permanent home for them.

How Long Does it Take for a Chicken to Adjust to a New Home?

Just as you will need time to adjust to your new home and surroundings, so will your flock. Here are some top tips to help chickens settle into a new home.

• Keep your chickens within the confines of the coop for at least 48 hours.
• Then let them out into their run for a couple of days.
• After that, they should be used to their new home and you can let them out to roam if that is your intention.
• Keep an eye on your flock for the next few days to ensure that there are no signs of stress or other behavioural problems.

Some owners add extra minerals and vitamins to the chickens’ food and water over the next few days to replace any nutrition caused by the stress of moving but speak to your vet for advice regarding this.

You may find that egg production decreases or even stops for the first couple of days after the move, but it should return to normal after about a week.

We hope you found these tips for moving chickens to a new home useful.

If you have any tips to share with fellow chicken owners then drop them in the comments box below.

For more tips on how to move home safely, cheaply, and more easily, be sure to visit our home moving blog.