Hi there, a host had about 20 chickens and a rooster in a coop (24/7) that was the attached size and it was pretty filthy with eggs always having some poop on them. After speaking with a veterinarian, I leaned that a coop for that many birds should have been more than double the size it was. I have experience taking care of chicken coops but I’m not a veterinarian or expert so I kept the birds properly fed and watered; however, one chicken suddenly passed away during my two week sit and the host essentially blamed me and her disparaging review about this is now causing all hosts to reject my application. It’s unfortunate that after around 20 fantastic sits and 5 star reviews, one grieving host who indirectly was the cause of her own chicken’s death, is the reason I’m considered a dealbreaker for all other hosts, including for hosts with no chickens or knowledge about chickens whatsoever. It’s also unfortunate that THS won’t do anything and the community is continuing to lose sitters because of these types of issues.
Have you tried to reply to her review to you? Without playing the blame game, you could acknowledge that, despite your care, a chicken died, an unfortunate side of animal husbandry, however you may be able to reframe it, especially if you know what it died of. For instance, chickens are notorious to go crazy when they see blood, a poor hen could die in a matter of hours pecked to death. Or said chicken was already poorly, but you hadn’t been given any specific instructions, and it went fast as they are known to do (most people would not be happy to foot the bill to treat a sick chicken anyway, even if you had noticed the signs on time.)
I’d hope that most people who read that review realize that chickens’ lives are more fragile (and their end comes naturally quickly when sick) than cats, dogs and other farm animals, also because most owners don’t bother with the vet and such for them.
We’re on a sit with mainly chickens right now. We’ve lost two to the falcon, the cockerel to a coyote and one keeled over from old age. (They lost 11 to the falcon the month before we arrived) Chickens die all the time with no rhyme or reason (even if you don’t have predators as above!) and their lives are precarious. All chicken owners know that. Write a response that says something like “It was sad to lose a chicken during this sit but as all poultry owners know, they often pass away unexpectedly. I did my very best to care for these sweet birds despite cramped quarters & limited space for them all. I would suggest the host rehouses them long term.” It shows understanding, responsibility & confidence that it wasn’t your fault. #chickencare
I have responded in an understanding and professional manner but most hosts don’t really spend time reading all of that and mainly just see and judge based on the negative review and mention of death of a pet. The host didn’t have any other applicants and I’ll be deleting my account soon because of her so I do hope she continues to have trouble finding someone to sit for her and pick up her indoor chicken’s poop every 15 minutes + get blamed for her poor outdoor chickens’ coop conditions.
(edited by Forum team to remove specific location in line with Community Guidelines)
That’s disappointing you are no longer going to continue sitting through THS @Ally2. Do the hosts who decline your application actually mention the negative review and death of the chicken as the reason for your decline or are you just guessing? Remember, if you’re one of 5 applicants, each applicant only has a 20% chance of being successful so most of us face declines just like you. I am assuming you left a review for the owner to deter other sitters from applying. All the best in whatever you do.
I didn’t get a chance to leave a review for the host actually and yes, the folks who decline (who have no chickens themselves) have specifically mentioned it saying it’s a dealbreaker and that I should considered deleting and redoing mY profile. One sit I completed and then was going to go back and sit again for the same host strangely messaged me after super positive interactions saying they decided to go with someone else for the second sit and cancelled my confirmed sit and I am 99% sure it was because she saw the review. It’s very unfortunate. I hope hosts realize this is what they’re causing, especially the next time they have difficulty finding free labor.
@Ally2 What do you mean you did not get a chance to review her? You had 2 weeks to do so! And did you actually respond to their review of you? If you have not done so you should- unemotionally & factually- because no response from you, and no host review from you, does you no favours and does not help future readers at all in seeing the whole picture.
You’ve let yourself and other sitters down @Ally2 by not finding time within the 14 days to review this owner. As @Lokstar says, hopefully you have responded to their review of you in a calm and factual way so future owners can understand what happened from your viewpoint.
Our first THS sit had 10 hens . When showing us the chicken coop and secure outdoor area ( which was palatial ) our host said sometimes chickens die -if it happens , don’t worry about it . She then told us who to contact if it happened so they would deal with the dead chicken .
Fortunately none of the hens died on that sit, we returned a couple of years later and there were now only 3 hens .
Chicken owners will know this - was there anything else said in the review that might be putting off other hosts ?
That’s outrageous… do you have no recourse to respond to their review, and have your concerns addressed via THS?
I find the issue with 3rd party sites like this is a distinct lack of support for those at the sticky end of the bargain. Maybe you could tactfully and unemotionally refer to such incidents obliquely in your bio to reassure prospective clients?
I didn’t know you could “delete and redo” your profile…? Is that a Thing?
If TH lets people do that then anyone could delete a profile with bad reviews that they deserved, and start over leaving new hosts (or sitters) unaware.
Your hosts may not have “difficulty finding free labour” another time, because future applicants will also be unaware of potential trouble because you didn’t leave a review. It is unfortunate, as it also seems you didn’t reply to their review of you?
As others pointed out, you have an 80% chance of getting declined anyway, if they get 5 applicants. Maybe try applying for “low applications” or “last minute” or sits near home till you get a few good reviews. Hope you find some better sits.
Both parties can respond to reviews at any point, there’s no time limit to it. Unfortunately @Ally2 didn’t review her bad sit & it’s too late to do that, but she can respond to their review of her. Factual, unemotional & brief is best but definitely worth doing. Doubly so as she believes the poor review is currently a blocker to securing more sits. #itsgoodtoshare
There should be a little box under the review that says “respond now” and you click and write in there. It’s one for you and one for them on yours not one each (if that makes sense?!)
I was wondering about that too, especially as sitters in the US get vetted. Leaving those aside, I’m assuming all you need is to create a profile with a different email address? Sounds easy enough, but a bit deceitful.
OHHH. So it’s on the app. And then eventually I found it on the website as well. I went to “view your profile” from the dashboard to get to reviews, and there’s nowhere to respond there. Didn’t think about that page being like the public view and not editable. So, thanks, and @Silversitters as well.
Yes, I guess you could do that. Doesn’t TH check your ID though…? And address, contact details etc.? It’s a few years since I joined and I don’t remember well but think I had to upload a driver’s license….?
And you’d have to pay another membership fee and maybe forfeit however much of the year was left on your existing one.
Then again with the stuff that gets “though the cracks” (violations of terms etc.) I suppose one might have a good chance of not being noticed.
Anyone from TH want to weigh in on whether this sort of thing is ever identified as happening, and whether you have means to prevent it?
I see that others have addressed this comment to some degree, however of greater concern is that you flippantly shrug it off saying you “didn’t have a chance” as if your time is so solidly booked that you couldn’t find 30 seconds over a 2 week period to write a paragraph worth of words which may very well have neutralized the ramifications of an deserved negative review. Yet somehow you found the time to start a thread and complain about the experience on the forum.
Sometimes we’re our own worst enemy due to our lack of accountability, inflexibility and ability to learn from past mistakes because we blame others and never consider the real source.
To be honest, I didn’t take the time but I also didn’t really want to leave a review because I’m scared of retaliatory reviews or being seen by other hosts as being critical. I also didn’t know at the time of the review period that the chicken coop was considered overcrowded and dirty on an objective level (I learned that later after doing some research and speaking with a veterinarian). I didn’t spend 5 hours explaining exactly why I didn’t leave the host a review so excuse me for not explaining myself to you but those are some of the reasons.
