How do you find reliable help?

[clumberfam]

Had to be away for almost two weeks so I 'hired' a 4H/FFA kid to care for my birds during that time. Showed this one around, even have detailed instructions hanging on the fence. Checked in occasionally (I'd said to take the eggs home) to see that all was going well. She said they were fine but egg production had dropped off. She was only getting 2 or 3 eggs per day rather than the 7 or 8 we usually get. I thought that was odd but being new at this thought maybe they were beginning to molt or some other reason I didn't know. Got home after almost 2 weeks to find that they hadn't had anything to eat!!!! The girls came running and pecking at my shoes, pant legs, whatever! Strange behavior for them as they're usually sweet and quiet. Went inside to find their feeder filled with cracked corn and oyster shell!!!! The kiddo had rummaged thru everything and found it in obscure locations, totally ignoring the can full with a brand new bag of pellets by the door. Am I angry? you bet! and of course she expects to be paid for her work in caring for them. Said she's sorry and if they die she'll get me more. That's not the point!!!! This kid is a senior in high school!!!
Last kiddo I had do it for a few days was only 10. Same process showing her around and posting detailed instructions she could read. She was feeding them and collecting eggs, but didn''t give them water so they had almost none when I got home. Her mom drove her out each day but never thought to check to see she was doing it right.
We live out a ways so whoever comes would need a ride - nobody close by. Any other options???

 

[_-Captain BRM-_]

Wow. I have a close friend look after mine, she is a neighbor though... Craigslist sometimes has animal sitter adds.

 

[SilverBirds]

I also have trouble with finding people to watch my animals. I try to have my friend who also has chickens come help but normally she isn't available.

I'd be afraid to find someone online that I didn't know to watch my birds. Might just be me but I wouldn't want a stranger taking care of my animals.

Hopefully you can find a reliable sitter.

 

[Battlepants]

I genuinely hope that kid never gets a pet. I find it disturbing how disconnected they are from the fact that chickens are living creatures and not just a toy you throw away and get another when it breaks. Maybe I'm over-reacting, but I really don't like when people have the response of "I'll get you a new one" if they injure or kill a creature.

Back in my training days, one solid way to train someone in how to reliably do a task is to do the task yourself with them watching, have them write down the steps, then have them do the steps themselves while you watch and confirm. This SHOULD stop any errors from occurring. And if they still forget, they can just reference the sheet that they made.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

If you're going to hire kids to look after chickens maybe put up an add at the local farm store and do a couple interviews. Make sure these kids have at least helped their parents look after animals. The younger people I work with personally have a problem asking for help or advice. I don't know why. Its the weirdest thing. They would rather do something wrong a hundred times and shrug their shoulders than ask an adult *ahem* how to do it correctly. I blame social media for their total lack of communication skills.

 

[citymeetscountry]

Hmm. I am so sorry. We have a neighbor kid (well he’s 17 now) watch ours usually when we go out of town. His mom voluntold him but he loves to come see the goats. We pay him even though he doesn’t expect it. He’s on the ASD and the mom said he’s motivated and wakes up on his own when he’s on duty for our animals. The only issue we ever really had was losing a duck to a racoon (not his fault) and him throwing the carcass in our trash can

 

[Lemon-Drop]

I’m so sorry. Where are you located? I’d help if I could take care of your animals. (I’ve taken care of 15 equines, sheep, goats, ducks, chickens, geese, cats, dogs, etc)

I would see if a friend or close neighbor is willing to take care of them.

I find it helpful to do a ‘trial run’ where they take care of them for a day while you’re there.

 

[AGeese]

Thankfully I have good neighbors and we help each other. It sounds like you need to set up as much automation as possible for your birds.

Leave the very basics to the big brained humans. Such as opening a door to look in and count. Otherwise it might get complicated.

 

[RosemaryDuck]

I just went on vacation recently and had a fully grown adult watching my animals who couldn't follow detailed instructions on paper. So it's not even about the pet sitter being an adult sadly.

https://petsitters.org/

You can use this link to search up professional pet sitters in your area. I used to use it years ago so it may have changed a bit, but it was always very reliable.

 

[Lemon-Drop]

Agh. This is honestly making my blood boil.

Hopefully this doesn’t sound rude, but people who volunteer to take care of your pets NEED to be able to take proper care! If they don’t care about the animals, then they should find a different job.

Maybe you should let them know how much time it’ll take? Like say 30 minutes.

When I was taking care of a farm, I could finish the jobs fairly quickly (within an hour, including hay nets, water, grain, etc.) and I’d still choose to spend extra time with the horses.