How hard can it really be?? Rant!

[LavenderDaFlerf]

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

Still, they should be treated with the same amount of care as a pet.

 

[All4Eggz]

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

Don’t listen to the haters.
Snuggle them all you want! They’re just jealous, lol.

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

That is really disappointing. I would suggest getting someone else and paying more. I do half hour pet "checks" (hang out, water and feed them, cuddles) and I charge $25 a visit, which is pretty average cost here. I am not sure where you live but I hope someone else would be keen to do a good job next time, and I'd say have them come by and do some training with you ahead of time to make sure they are confident and responsible. Hope you're feeling okay!

 

[lomine]

Hate to add to your worries, but if she did such a bad job of caring for your chickens (knowing you were watching) it's very likely her chickens aren't well cared for. She very likely didn't take any time/effort to maintain biosecurity. It's highly likely she exposed your birds to something, which would explain the discharge you mention. Might not hurt to give everyone some probiotics and electrolytes to give them a little boost.

 

[countryladyNH]

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 would have been very angry. You paid what she agreed to. She has no business being a vet. She couldn't even handle chicken sitting tasks /responsibilities! You have every right to this rant!

 

[igorsMistress]

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.

You’re not wrong to be angry. I wouldn’t pay her a penny for her services and definitely wouldn’t take my animals to a vet she works for.

 

[Vicker]

I'd be upset. I rarely go away for more than 2 days at a time. I don't have an automatic door. It's just too much trouble to have someone come twice a day for chickens. Sometimes my neighbor will come and check on them and collect eggs.

 

[saracarver3]

Sounds like she did a terrible job. Just FYI, pay may be a little low. I pay my sitter $40 per night for all my birds, two cats, and to sleep at house. The house and cats pretty much watch themselves lol.

 

[lisacraig]

For cost of boarding the dogs, you might do better with a house sitter staying at your house and taking care of the dogs and chickens. We have auto door, and cameras inside the coop which really helps us confirm they are where they should be each night. What do you think happened to the door? When your son saw it, was there concern you had a predator?

 

[sandburRanch]

Work ethics of today aren't the same as they were as little as 40-50 year ago. What % of college age students have ever had a job of any kind . My guess would be < 1% .

Obtaining references has never been more important and i see no mention of actual on the job references .