Moving

[Mandolin]

Well looks like i will be moving to Grande Prairie, AB at the end of April for a summer job. Luckily we have landed a place that will allow us to bring Kameko. But now comes the questions. I know lovies like their homes and they tend to stress out when moved. So how do i go about this? Kameko should be off her eggs by then... just. It is about a 6 hour drive from here. She has been in the car before, but for no more than 15 minutes at a time. Is there anything i can do to make the transition easier for her? We will also be going for a weekend trip to just make sure the place is ok and everything is all set up but i am pretty sure that will be before her 23 days after her last egg was laid so should i leave her here or would i be bets to bring her to GP with us. No matter what she will not be able to stay at home but she would be able to stay at Sean's house which is 10 minutes away. What would be less stressful, a 6 hour drive or 10 minutes but not being with Sean or I for a weekend, and being away from home in both instances. Will this make her leave her eggs? Thanks in advance for the advice, i am sure there will be more questions to come :).

[mjm8321]

Congrats on the job.

For the actual move, it really shouldn't be all that bad. If she is done with her eggs, she will travel well as long as you account for a few stops during the trip to let her get out of the cage or carrier to move around, get a drink, some food and attention. If you are doing the move at night, you might get away with her sleeping fairly contentedly through it, but I'd still check on her throughout the trip. For the weekend trip, you do have the two options, but I guess it's up to you to decide what will be best for her. If she'll be staying with someone else while your gone, she might very well decide to abandon her eggs (which if they aren't fertile isn't all that bad unless she decides to start a new clutch once she gets back to her/your house). It might be a bit of a long trip for just a weekend, but some birds travel better than others. It's your call. If it were me, I'd probably let her stay with the friend for the weekend. Just my :2cents:

[Mandolin]

Well we really don't want her to replace her clutch so we want her to be as happy as she can with this one. I am concerned with her being at my boyfriends house without either of us there ebcause she will be in a strange environment without anyone she recognizes. It would really only be one full day where she wouldn't see us, but still. They also have budgies and i would be concerned with her immune system being somewhat suppressed due to her eggs. There is the option of just leaving her at home with a light and having no one here so as to not disturb her and her eggs. I don't know how comfortable i would be with that, although my dad could check in on her but there would really be no interaction other than checking on her. My dad would have to be in here to feed my fish anyway. I just want to do whatever everyone thinks will be the least disruptive for her so she doesn't leave her eggs and feel she needs to replace the clutch during the move.

[graushill]

Hi Mandolin,

I thought I would just say that I don't really think you would have to worry about her laying a new clutch of eggs "during" the actual trip as the new places, people and environments she would be encountering are actually pretty good egg dissuaders. Hens usually need to feel very comfortable with their surroundings before they will decide to lay a clutch. We once took a road trip with Pontus and Nemo, driving from Sweden to southern Germany during the summer and it was a blast, although we did have to plan for more pit stops than we probably would have if we hadn't taken the birdies. Once we got to our final destination, we did leave the birdies in the cottage we were renting if we were going out sightseeing during the day. Even if they're rather good travellers, car trips always involve some stress for them, and we thought it was better for them to be on their own in a quiet place. They are two though so it doesn't matter so much for them to be on their own. I guess I would consider leaving Kameko with your boyfriend's family during the weekend, but if you're worried about quarantine and the stress of strangers, then I'm sure she would do okay if you left her at your place, provided your dad can come and check up on her and give her fresh food and water those days. A little quiet time is usually not that bad and since it's just a day or two I'm sure it wouldn't affect her either not to be out of the cage.

Just my :2cents:.

Gloria