What is wrong with people?

[AllCoop'dUp]

I'm so

WHY is it that everytime I have to go out of town the person who is suppose to be taking care of my chickens always seem to let 1 or more die? This time it was my absolutely beautiful EE hen that had just started laying. WHAT is wrong with people?? I feel like I can't trust anyone to take care of my chickens the way that I do. I just sat down and cried

when I got home and found her. The sitter apparently thought that it would be OK to let the chickens out to free range while he was working on another project. What he didn't do was make sure that ALL of them had gone back into the coop before he let the dogs out and left. I found my other 2 EE's huddled together on the fence. So..I'm suppose to be grateful that all 3 of them aren't dead? I'm just so disappointed by people who don't give a @#$%@# about things that aren't theirs. I never want to leave my home again.

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

Maybe he just didnt know he had to make sure they all went back in?

 

[Mahonri]

I doubt he did it on purpose.

Some folks are just dumb.. that or they don't have a lick o' sense.

 

[featherbaby]

"Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity"


All you can do is leave a written and verbal set of expectations so there are no 'judgement calls' to be made by someone else.
Call it micro management if you wish, but I value my birds enough to make sure there are no misunderstandings about what I want done.
I know it's no guarantee they will do what I have asked, but I never assume they 'just know what to do', and it's worked for me so far.

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

Quote:
I agree

 

[Imp]

I'm so sorry you lost her.

Imp

 

[twentynine]

Not sure if I understand.

From the wording of your first post it sounds as if you have employed this sitter/caretaker before and on that occasion you also ended up with a dead chicken/chickens.

If that's correct----

Why did you employ them again?

 

[AllCoop'dUp]

Quote:
Sorry if it wasn't clear..traveling in June - sister and daughter in law taking care of chicks/ducks...2 dead - Traveling in July - boyfriend watching chickens...1 dead. This person has watched the animals since August, probably a total of 6 times over the past 2 months. All instructions are clearly posted and are in detail. I think he decided on his own that since he was familiar with my routine of letting the chickens out in the afternoons, locking dogs up, putting chickens in for the night, letting dogs out...that he could do it too. I always double check to make sure that ALL my chickens are back in the coop by walking around the entire area, looking in all their favorite places to dust and look for bugs, then I make a second head count to be sure.

If I were asked to take care of someone elses animals, I would make sure I didn't deviate from what I was told to do. Growing up, I was taught to always make sure that you leave things in the same condition or BETTER than what you found them.

He was well aware that my dogs would kill if given the opportunity. Like I said...people just don't care for your things like you do..

 

[thaiturkey]

Quote:
Good point.

I don't trust anyone to take care of my animals unless either they already know exactly what to do or I give them a written checklist and call each day to ask what's going on. House sitters get calls on the land line so that I know that they are in the house. You can't expect others to do things the way you would unless you supervise. No-one would get a second chance with me if they made a serious mistake like that but I would have to accept that is was me who was responsible.

 

[denim deb]

Not everyone who watches animals will be that careless. It's just a matter of making sure you find the right person. I have a few people that call me to care for their animals when they're gone. And, unless one is sick, I've never lost an animal. And, if the animal is sick, they get a call. One time I even had to have a vet out (after calling the owner) to have a horse put down. There was nothing I could have done, nothing she could have done either.