Our chickens are kept in a large secure area, fenced all around and over the top (due to a visit from Mr Fox last year :( :()
We have recently started to leave the pop hole open at night as it has been good weather, so the chickens can come out at the crack of dawn and go to bed whenever they like.
When we went away for a few days earlier this month, we made sure that the chickens had plenty of pellets and our neighbours just popped round early evening, to collect the eggs and give them fresh water. This system seems to have worked OK, both for us and the chickens.