How hard can it really be?? Rant!

[The Renaissance Woman]

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'm so sorry that happened to you and your birds. That is the fright of someone else, whom you are entrusting your valuables to, coming in to take care of things as you hoped and expected. Unless a person has farming background of some kind they just don't get it. I had someone who promised to water my newly planted cedar trees for the month I was away. Assured me everything would be just fine. Came back to all dead trees! The excuse was... I don't have a green thumb!! ASK MORE QUESTIONS and STRESS THE IMPORTANCE OF TAKING CARE OF THINGS.

I've tried to set things up so if I'm gone for a few days everything is on automatic. Although, you still need someone there to check on things. What a bust and a sense of betrayal.

 

[DRussell]

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 be mad too!!! Evidently she is not a responsible person, and neglected your chickens.

 

[icy_flames]

Ugh I'm sorry that happened. She clearly didnt give a ....

Honestly someone properly caring for my hens is what keeps me from vacations. I don't trust people, not even my own husband

 

[Lor]

I would have been angry too!
What exactly happened to the doors? Did she even explain that?

 

[tdlee]

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 hope you confronted her about the way she treated your babies. I wouldn't want her for my vet.

 

[bhawk-23]

Ugh I'm sorry that happened. She clearly didnt give a ....

Honestly someone properly caring for my hens is what keeps me from vacations. I don't trust people, not even my own husband

Yep! Same here but it was a chance to see the area I would like to move to. But, most importantly, to see my daughter for the first time in 8 months. I missed Thanksgiving, Christmas and her birthday. She is the first kid to move so far so it's been quite the adjustment.

The door was kick out by her. I said a phone call would have been appreciated and to always look for an inside pull for situations like that. I'm assuming that did not occur to her because only after I mentioned the pull did she add it to the story. I've checked it every time I've gone outside by them since being home and it works perfect every time.

We saw a raccoon on the camera for the first time while on vacation. We figured it was the dogs being gone but when I saw the door I wondered if the combo of no dogs and a broken door kept it coming back. Fortunately, it did not get in and has not been caught on camera since last Sunday.

For the advice of paying more I would have if it was asked. I said eggs and negotiable pay for exactly what I listed here. Her asking price was $10/day. I ended up giving her extra instead of stopping for smaller bills. But I dropped it off on my way home from the airport, before seeing the full extent of the damage. So she actually make $14/day plus eggs but I figured that was not important info because it was not part of our original agreement and unexpected for her.

 

[bhawk-23]

I hope you confronted her about the way she treated your babies. I wouldn't want her for my vet.

No, I didn't. I asked her about the door but that is all. I am treating the flock for sneezing and worms. I believe they were just really stressed with the whole situation. But they are all happy, laying, eating and excitedly calling for me when the back door opens just like the normal lively happy healthy flock I left. And the roo is loving his scrambled egg and cuddles at night If I ventured to guess I'd be inclined to say he actually may have missed me

But I have learned a valuable lesson for the future.

 

[livesimplecolorado]

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.

Sounds like my last vacation lol

My neighbor has 4 kids and they love the chickens, so I asked if she would like to have the kids watch the chickens for 10 days. The kids are younger so I assumed that she would be with them to make sure they did things correctly. Nope.

Same thing, auto door, auto feeder, large auto waterer. Feed was empty, chickens were pecking at the empty bin, no water, etc.

Same frustrations. Watching chickens is not that difficult. Just go and make sure they have water and food, let them out as needed. No brainer.

No, you are not out of line to expect someone to do something so basic.

 

[Crzy Chi Lady]

I actually have a real good chicken sitter. She works with rescue animals. Has animals of her own. Also she is a good friend. I try to make the chores easy as possible. But she goes the extra mile anyway. You would think if someone has animals of there own they would be good sitters. This proves that assumption to be untrue.

I would be angry to.

 

[Judy Todd]

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.

Everybody is so kind with their replys. Not me, I would march right up to her door (guns blazing) just kidding, and demand an explanation, then report her to the vet school. Also post her work ethic on the same board so no one else gets suckered.