Out of town for ten days

[sparkles2307]

We'll be out of town for a wedding for ten days in June... jsut when egg laying gets into full swing. I'll be getting 40-50 eggs a day. I'm not sure what to offer someone to take care of the egg situation while we're gone. In the summer we dont feed or water, since the chooks free range 100%, but I cant come home to hundreds of eggs that I'll have to toss because who knows which ones have been set on etc. So, what would you say to entice someone into picking eggs for you? BESIDES free eggs, which is the obvious.

 

[Teach97]

um...pay...

sounds like a real operation just about there...cost of doing business..split money from sale of those eggs...

 

[dawg53]

Put an ad in your local paper. "Free eggs for 10 days, you collect." If I lived closer, I'd be coming to collect!

 

[sourland]

Where do you live that there is enough forage to support a flock of 50+ chickens without any feed being supplied? I want to move there. It costs me $35/day to have someone come and care for my animals when I go away. I consider it cheap at twice the price. Hope my "pet sitter" is not on this forum.

 

[Engteacher]

Can you check with your local 4H club and see if you can find an ambitious and trustworthy high school kid to take on that responsibility? It's a big task and one I wouldn't trust to someone I only knew through craigslist, if you know what I mean. It would also be a great opportunity for a young person who enjoys this time of work. My son would love to help you out, but we're in southern MN.

 

[The Kibble Goddess]

Hire a pet sitter. It's worth the money. Professional Pet Sitters have trained themselves to spot problems and deal with them, and you know Murphy's Law will go into effect the moment you leave town. You 'might' be able to fine a trustworthy, dependable, knowledgeable teenager, but do you really want to risk your flock to "might"? I'm a professional sitter and you wouldn't believe the horror stories clients tell of friends and neighbors that don't show, don't know how to handle the animals, don't know how to handle househole emergencies (busted water pipes, tripped circuit breakers, tripped alarms, furnace or AC units dying....). You do not want to end your trip by coming home to a disaster that needs to be cleaned up or buried.