Babysitting Chickens! How much to pay the sitter?

[CampClucker]

Hello there!!!

I am going on vacation for 2 weeks and I am having the neighbor kids babysit our 6 hens. I want to give them money for it, but don't know how much I should give them.
They won't have to open or close the coop run door (automatic) so they would only have to collect the eggs (and keep), make sure they have enough water and food and scrape the poop of the poop board. So only one visit. Two if the weather is to hot!
There will be three kids that will take care of them, but not all at the same time. I was thinking of making a spread sheet, so they can initial their name, just so I now who checked on the chickens and then i would pay them per visit. How much would you give them? I am also open for any other ideas! What do you usually pay/do for your chicken babysitter?

Thank you!

 

[abqferreira]

I pay $20 per day for my petsitter to come twice daily, care for our dogs, cats, and chickens, as well as do some plant watering. Maybe $5-10 per day would be reasonable?

 

[CampClucker]

I was thinking 5-10 per visit also.
Thank you so much!!

 

[aart]

I got paid only in eggs....but it was for a friend and on my way home from work.
After I lost that job, they also gave me a gas card as it was a 15 mile round trip.

Have them come over and go thru the daily routine with you.
Then also write down everything they need to do every time they come over so they have a visual check list.

Amount of pay might depend on their ages and your relationship with them.

Hopefully you have a good relationship with the parents and they can back up the kids if there's a problem, and they all have some chicken experience so they will know how to spot a problem and what to do about it.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Last spring we went to Costa Rica for a week.

We were lucky, my dad offered to come and check the animals while we were gone. I was worried because my daughter's dog was at our home while we were gone, I love that dog...but she has killed several of my chickens over the past couple years.

At any rate...all went well. Dad came by daily, collected eggs, fed the chickens, took care of the dogs, and got a lot of produce out of the garden...win...win.

He's now thinking of a small flock of his own.

My son has done several baby sitting type jobs taking care of people's homes while they are gone. He gets a list of responcibilities that need to be addressed, emergency contact information, approximate date of return and his fee that will be paid upon their return. He's gotten around $15.00 to $20.00 a day for these jobs.

 

[Gray Farms]

I'd say 5 bucks a day is pretty fair for kids.