What's a Fair Price for Chicken Sitting?

[ORChick]

If it is one of the children doing the work I would definitely pay something - eggs are not enough for a kid trying to earn a bit of pocket money. If it is an adult, and a neighbour, then the eggs might be enough, especially if she knows that you are available to take care of their animals when they go away. That's the deal I have with our neighbours - when they go somewhere (a rare occurrence) I take care of their horses and rabbits, and don't expect any payment. When we go somewhere (which happens more often) their daughters (now 18 and 24) take care of our cats and chickens, and possibly the potted plants. They get the eggs, and I pay them $10 a day + a small present if we have gone somewhere special, or have been gone a long-ish time. But I also make it as easy as possible, just one visit a day. The cats get one extra large scoop in their bowls instead of the usual 2 smaller scoops twice a day. The chickens just have to deal with not free ranging while we are gone. Their run is secure, so they have 24/7 access to the outdoors, but not to the greenery that they get when we are home. If there is more work involved for some reason then I add a few $/day to make up for it. It works for us. We just recently got home from a trip to Europe (visiting the in-laws, among other things). I brought the girls (young women now ) each a little present from Spain.

 

[Britesea]

I agree with ORchick. Neighbors should help each other without needing a lot of money. But it's a good idea to minimize the work needed- less chance of something being forgotten for one. And the idea of a small gift is very nice. That is what I usually do, plus the understanding that I will help them when they go away.

 

[pinkfox]

i do pet sitting, for the job your looking for, and the distance you say it is, (plus theyd be getting eggs) id probably charge $7-$10 a day (higher end if i needed ot make 3-4 trips a day lower if i just needed to make 2)
but im in ffc ct so pricing around here can be a little higher...

for this id say offer the kid $5 a day plus any eggs they can find during the time (and potentially a $5 at the end if they did a good job.
youl be able to get it on the "cheaper" sides if one of the younger kids are willing since once they enter mid teens they seem to get a better idea of what "going rate" is lol

 

[hoosier]

We have someone take care of our animals while away, and we do the same for them. No pay involved.

 

[cabinchick]

We have someone take care of our animals while away, and we do the same for them. No pay involved.

Agreed. Forget about paying them. Find a better friend or neighbor who is responsible and will do it on an chicken/pet sitting exchange agreement. I would not count on kids caring for my animals. I have three of them so I can say that from personal experience

 

[Beekissed]

I'd choose just one of the children...the one most interested in both your chickens and money earned and I'd try them out for a week before you ever go away. Give this one child the chore for one full week and correct any mistakes, reward good performance and give generously.

Anyone with that many kids are going to have kids that never have much pocket money and you could influence this child's life in a very good way....honest and good work for honest pay.

Good neighbors? Yes. But a job is a job and a favor is a favor. If it's once in a blue moon, in a pinch, that's a favor. If it's very often, that's a job.

Ask the youngster what they think is a fair price(realistic, of course) and then pay it...with a bonus if the job is completed properly.

 

[ORChick]

I would second the suggestion about choosing the child carefully. As we all know, some are more responsible than others. The 2 young woman who care for our animals here are, and have been for 10 years, extremely responsible, and I have absolutely no problem trusting that they will do the right thing, and that they will make a good decision in an unexpected situation. On the other hand, where we used to live, we had a neighbour with 4 boys. I wanted to hire the oldest to feed the cats while we were gone (older, more mature, more helpful to his mother - seemed like a good choice), but he couldn't do it for some reason so I hired his next younger brother, with some misgivings. Well founded misgivings - he lost the door key once, and had to get the extra from our other neighbour; he apparently left the front door open for awhile (noticed by our other neighbour). And worst, he went into my husband's office, left the door open (so the cats could go in and cause havoc), and messed with DH's computer! Needless to say, none of those boys were hired again. In fact, I fell back on the other neighbour's kindness, and we had a reciprocal agreement about caring for each other's animals/houses until we left that area. Definitely hire whichever child you choose for a short time first before having them take on a bigger responsibility, or, as BK suggests, have them do the job for awhile while you are around to supervise. And check out the condition that the family keeps their own animals in, if they have any.

 

[so lucky]

You know, since they got rid of their chicken-chasing dog, I don't believe they have any animals. I'll have to see which kid is most interested in animals. (And which one seems the most dependable--I hear you loud and clear about some kids just not being responsible enough to do a job. My kids are grown and out by now, but I sure remember some horror stories when I tried to give them responsibility. And they have to really want to do it, or they will do absolutely everything wrong. :/)