17 days of chicken/ fish sitting.

Date sort Score sort
B

brutus91

In the Brooder
Joined
Jul 1, 2019
Messages
5
Reaction score
32
Points
21
Hey all,
I am chicken/ fish sitting for 17 days. The house I am sitting for is about 48 minutes from my house so, I have been staying at the house I am sitting for. From the house I'm sitting at to work is a 30 minute drive that I do twice a day 4 days a week and come from my house (48 minutes) on the other days. There are 30-40 maybe more chickens. I'm changing/ cleaning a total of 3 big water dispensers everyday, collecting, washing and weighing 3 dozen or more eggs a day, throwing grain once a day, filling 2 feeders each day, cleaning 2 large coops every other day, and putting coop bedding in 20 coop beds every other day along with refilling the feed, grain and saw dust tins as needed. The barn floor also gets pretty dirty with hay and chicken poop from going in and out that I clean up. I have also sold 8 dozen eggs to regular costumers. Aside from the chickens I have 3 plants and 3 deck flower baskets that need watering and two fish tanks with fish that need feeding each day. Again I am staying at this person's house so have also been keeping up with normal house chores. Getting the mail, taking the trash out, dishes etc. I washed the bedding and remade the bed I was sleeping in, took trash out/ recycling back, swept and moped kitchen and mudroom floors. Each day the chicken chores take me about 2 to 2 and a half hours and then another hour from the house and flower chores. This is everyday. The owner asked how much I would charge but had no idea nor did they. The owners were going to do some research so I figured I would see what others thought and leave this for them to take into consideration. How much should I charge for this sitting job?
 
Last edited:
I think the wage should have been settled ahead of time. How many hours per day do the chores take? First you said 2 coops, then you said 20 coops, which is it? I know it sounds like a lot of "things to do" but it doesn't sound all that time consuming, so I would base wages on actual hours spent. How much do you make at your other job? Perhaps that hourly wage times the hours worked?
 
They did. But I told them I had no idea what to charge nor did they. The people I am sitting for said they were going to do some research. So, I thought I would see what others would charge and leave it for them to take into consideration.
 
ValerieJ said:
I think the wage should have been settled ahead of time. How many hours per day do the chores take? First you said 2 coops, then you said 20 coops, which is it? I know it sounds like a lot of "things to do" but it doesn't sound all that time consuming, so I would base wages on actual hours spent. How much do you make at your other job? Perhaps that hourly wage times the hours worked?
Click to expand...
2 large coops with 20 coop beds. The chores take me about 2 to 2 and a half hours with just chickens and then maybe another hour with house chores and flowers.
 
brutus91 said:
They did. But I told them I had no idea what to charge nor did they. The people I am sitting for said they were going to do some research. So, I thought I would see what others would charge and leave it for them to take into consideration.
Click to expand...
Ten dollars a day...maybe 15.
 
brutus91 said:
2 large coops with 20 coop beds. The chores take me about 2 to 2 and a half hours with just chickens and then maybe another hour with house chores and flowers.
Click to expand...
Then 20 bucks a day.
 
Then multiply 3 1/2 hours by whatever hourly wage you want. When I leave for a few days I pay a neighbor to come do my animal and bird chores $50/day. But, I base that on the fee I would be paying the dog shelter just to take in the one dog I have. They take care of my chickens, cats, dog and my neighbors cats who I also care for. It is very good pay for them. Not sure anyone else would pay that much but it's important to me that everyone is properly cared for. I'd say they are making in excess of $25/hr working for me. Normally the going wage around here for helpers is $10-12/hr.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom