I too think that chickens are great pets and feel that you have every right to be upset.
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Hello again. Now I have the problem of reviewing B. Giving her 5 stars does not seem very fair to most of our previous sitters who did a much better job all round : organised, reliable, scrupulous, and far more responsible with the chickens. If Iām honest, I should only give her 4 stars for Organised (she was rather vague with planning anything ahead, was 1 hour and half late picking me up), Reliable (ignored clear instructions, found excuses, and Iām not sure whether sheās not a bit āeconomical with the truthā) and Pet Care (disastrous with the chickens), 5 stars for Self-sufficient and Tidy. But then will it be war ?
Iām so sorry to hear how this sitter treated your poor chickens. I think you should review the sitter honestly. Your posts come across very calm and measured, despite the awful behaviour of the sitter. Even if they post a retaliatory review, you will be able to respond and if you do so in a similar tone to your posts here, it will be clear to anyone reading who is the unreasonable person.
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As others have said, be honest but unemotional @Cecilia48. One thing I will raise is the rating system is meant to be only based on the home and pets. Therefore, marking her down a star for lateness in picking you up is a little unfair as this could be considered an extra task, even though Iām assuming you lent her your car for the sit.
Iāve just looked at your listing and saved it for the future.
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Thank you very much !
Well, itās done. Gave 5 for overall, 4 for organised, 4 for pet care, and hope itās a good balance between diplomacy and honesty. There were more issues that just lateness at picking up, and she blamed all sorts of problems on mobile phone issues till I indicated that as a house sitter she should really have a reliable phone. Anyway, enough of āI said - She saidā. I was angry but Iām trying to see things from her perspective, and perhaps my instructions were not clear enough. We can all learn !
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@Ken
I really like your profile, it looks very genuine and you say very clearly what you offer and what you expect. Unfortunately my French is too rusty to venture to France right now, but who knows what the future may bring? 
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Regarding your comment that āas a housesitter she should really have a reliable phoneāā¦.Iāve got a reliable phone (Apple iPhone 13 Pro) but the wifi at my housesit is pretty crap atm! So home owners should really have reliable wifi
Hmm. A phone could break. S*** happens. So should a good pet/house sitter have two phones with one as a back-up?
A good homeowner should have a landline 
, anyway weāre way off the subject of chickens! 
Youāre right. We need to respect the pecking order here. The post is about chickens, so weāll stick to them now 
Thank you; kind words. As for your French being rusty! Well, let me say, and I suppose I should put it in my profile, that I have French friends who speak near perfect English. I have explained the situation to them regarding non-French speakers staying here and asked that, in an emergency, would they act as interpreters or even come to the house to help, they have said they would be happy to do so.
P.S. I will put it in my profile!
Yes, me and my chicks have a a very good wifi (fibre) plus landline in the house, my own mobile phone is very reliable so Iām easily reachable anywhere, and B told me that sheās had problems with her phone for months and she didānt quite know how to sort out the settings.
Ken, is your vet located walking (running) distance from your house? or is your vet reachable by phone, if an emergency happened āafter hoursā?
I feel sure all vets are reachable by phone, mine certainly is. āafter hoursā there is an emergency vet available around somewhere. All the local vets take it in turns to be the āemergency after hours vetā My vet is five-ten minutes away by car, so no, not walking distance.
A rather odd couple of questions! May I ask why you wanted to know?
Because I read your listing and it emphasised the need to be āquick on our feetā in case of an emergency vet visit, in 60 minutes, so was wondering if this included having to drive to a vet clinic (if said clinic had an emergency after hour practice) or if the vet was located near your home, walking distance. The language barrier is a big one, so itās good to have your friends capable of acting quick.
Perhaps there is a language:cultural thing here. I presume that you are not English? āQuick on your feetā is an English expression that means āto act quicklyā and not meant to be taken literally. Actually the 60 minutes is generous! I did have an āemergencyā with one of my cats earlier this year and I was at his door within five minutes, I must have broken every law regarding driving that exists!!!
haha no no Ken, I am not English, I am French and Canadian: I did mean to literally run with the kitty under your arm or in his box, if the vet is in your village within walking distance, and I also meant to think quick and adapt veryyyy quick to the emergency, to make sure your friend is alerted and ready to translate, the vet is alerted, all while attending to the sick or injured cat.
Sorry if that wasnāt clear!
Not a problem. You should hear some of my French!!!