How hard can it really be?? Rant!

[NC_Quail]

I’m very sorry this happened to you, is it possible she lied to you about being a vet/ having chickens? It sounds like she is some random teenager/ 20y/o who made up a bunch of stuff to get some cash.

 

[Nellzmom]

I'm so upset. I went on vacation to visit my daughter who I've not seen since she moved last summer. I was gone 9 days. Boarded dogs and found a chicken sitter. Bonus! She is a 4th year vet student! Great! Or so I thought.

We have cameras, which I informed her of their locations.

Her jobs:
-Check and fill food dishes
-Check and fill water buckets
-Toss some treats in the compost pile in the mornings.
-Bring (friendly) rooster inside at night and back outside in the morning.
-Check one chicken's crop at night and adjust crop bra if needed.

Her compensation was an average of 10+ eggs daily and her requested $10/day.

We have an automatic coop door we open and close with our app so nights were on her own schedule and mornings I asked her to come between 8 and 9:30 am.

We knew something was off when we saw the rooster come out with the girls on the second morning when we opened the pop door. Messaged her and found out she locked a hen inside.

We could see the water bucket getting light and we never saw her open the feed cans (replay on camera) so we asked our son to check on them. Water inside coop was almost empty and water bucket in run was empty. This is where they stay from roosting time to 7:30 am so.... And the water bucket in the fenced run (which we saw swinging) was nearly empty. Food bowl down to dust. No water in the rooster's cage. So son fed and watered and would go back again to get a better look in the daytime.

He went back again to find the coop door nearly broken and he topped off the food and water.

And the entire week her average morning arrival time was 10 am.

We heard her and a friend laughing one night when she was there to put the rooster up.

This afternoon I came home to the broken coop door (which she still has yet to inform me of) nesting box door half off and not locked, water bucket in run empty, food bowl almost down to dust, one chicken sneezing with nasal discharge, another with a mostly closed eye, crop bra disheveled and some weird looking poops throughout the fenced in run among other small things.

Am I wrong to be so upset? Did I expect too much for too small compensation? This is my first time having a chicken sitter. We checked in on her periodically and she said always said everything was good so....I did pay her because she did at least get the rooster in and out for us.

Anyways, I'll be posting about my girl's closed eye next. I'm not sure what happened.

I retired October 2020 from managing a boarding and grooming business and OMG do I feel your pain! For example, we explained there were cameras throughout the building and that employees were not to use their cell phones during dog turnout. Gave written and verbal training for how to clean a dog run. There was one employee out of 15 who could/would follow those instructions. They were all paid well above minimum wage and most were college students.

I agree with the other responses: find a family member or well known offspring of friends. Hope your birds will be okay.

 

[townchicks]

$10 plus a minimum of 10 eggs a day is pretty good. Averages out to around $14-15 a day (if they were to sell the eggs).

Depends on the area, I guess. On a recent trip, we paid $45 a day to have the petsitter come once a day, to feed, water and poop scoop the cat, doves and chickens.

 

[bhawk-23]

I’m very sorry this happened to you, is it possible she lied to you about being a vet/ having chickens? It sounds like she is some random teenager/ 20y/o who made up a bunch of stuff to get some cash.

I did confirmed it after I noticed her lack of care. I know someone at the university that could. She is actually graduating this month

 

[MACCanadianCoop]

That's absolutely awful! I wouldn't have paid her.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

If I were you I would not have paid her the full amount because she did not do her job.

 

[bhawk-23]

Depends on the area, I guess. On a recent trip, we paid $45 a day to have the petsitter come once a day, to feed, water and poop scoop the cat, doves and chickens.

Oh wow! I'm paying $30/day (and supplying food of course) for boarding a 160# mastiff and 80# mutt! Definitely has to do with location.

 

[All4Eggz]

I did confirmed it after I noticed her lack of care. I know someone at the university that could. She is actually graduating this month

That is absurd.
She should not be a vet.

 

[LavenderDaFlerf]

I did confirmed it after I noticed her lack of care. I know someone at the university that could. She is actually graduating this month

If she treats chickens that badly people should not trust her to treat they're pets!

 

[bhawk-23]

If she treats chickens that badly people should not trust her to treat they're pets!

That is absurd.
She should not be a vet.

I do believe most people around here see chickens as "livestock". I get some really crazy looks when I talk about how much I love my chickens. And the shocked looks I get when they hear I bring my rooster inside and cuddle with him at night even my vet rolls her eyes and my friends make fun of me. Whatevs...lol