The Chicken Sitter

Roxanne at Dusk

Wanted: Someone willing to watch a small flock of backyard chickens. Must be prepared to rise early, feed chickens, muck out chicken coop, and watch for predators while chickens are free-ranging. Candidate must be responsible, have a sense of humor, and be eager to learn. No prior experience is necessary; the chickens and I will train. Pay is highly competitive.

Going on vacation or away for the weekend becomes a little more complicated when you have chickens. The chicks are fine on their own in the summer for a few days, but winter is a different matter.

Recently my under-employed college student nephew agreed to take the job. When we leave, he stays at the house and, to his mother’s amazement, he dutifully gets up early to feed the chicks and let them out to range. I think he rather enjoys the strange reactions he gets when he tells his friends “Yeah, I’m chicken sitting this weekend.” He said they actually find it amusing with reactions such as “What an odd profession, you should put it on your resume!” To “How many eggs do you get and what colors did you say they were?”

Last year a wonderful neighbor boy would bike over in the dark before school just to take care of the chickens. It’s great to have caring relatives and friends but just in case, I’ve tucked away an ad I found in our local newspaper: Pet care, including livestock, reasonable rates. I only hope this livestock sitter is available when the neighbor boy leaves for college and my nephew gets a real job!