I’ve farm sat in the past, from Friday to Sunday. I got $150($50) per day, with cleaning stalls, giving hay, grain, filling water, walking dog, etc. A client is asking if I could come once a day at dinner time to check on the horses, give them grain and fresh hay(about 2 days sat and sun) The horses stay outside with an automatic waterer. They also would like a week in spring. How would you charge? I was thinking about $25 to come once a day and for a whole week $50 a day for 7 days. Is that too much?
I get 125 a day for three dogs, three horses, three cats, bird feeding and watching the plants.
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To start - it really is area dependent. But I’m not sure why once a day would be more or less expensive if done for more than one day.
I would charge $50/day for each day. Even though it doesn’t sound like a lot, you are showing up, checking horses, checking the property, tending to things that need tending - like retrieving fly masks or scrubbing a tank if necessary, cleaning buckets that get pooped in, etc. whatever.
Personally I think $25 isn’t even worth showing up for, unless you live next door.
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since you spoke of this as client relationship rather just doing something out of the kindness of your heart for a friend …in the 1980s when I had a service business I charged a minimum service call fee just to show up and it was $45 back then (well there were times when I charged nothing since the client was retired on a Limited fix income and the problem was easily corrected), if the repair took longer than 20 minutes then there was an additional labor charge (just check that $45 in 1980 is now $155) This was my Business and I had to charge enough for the Business to remain profitable, if it were a hobby then maybe charge nothing?)
(We have watched two German Shepherd Dogs for ten days whose owner did not want to put them in commercial kennel…was not any big deal to us as what are two more which the herd of animals we have here… we were not charging a thing as the dogs were no big deal to care but the dogs’ owner insisted on paying commercial boarding rates… we compromised at 2/3rd the rate which was a thousand dollars for the two rather than the $1500 they were going to pay)
$25 a day unless paid in one dollar bills is not much which then makes a small pile of ones
I was quoted 200.00 a day for 2x a day care of my two horses, one pony with meds, 2 goats. Not staying overnight either. I might be getting the high quote, but fully insured and good references.
It’s cheaper for me to field board for 30 days than leave my farm for more than 5 days so there is that.
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I wouldn’t pay anyone less than $50 a day to do anything at my farm; even if it’s for a few minutes,
You have to factor in not just the time that it takes for you to do the task, but also the fact that by taking on this smaller job you have ‘lost’ money from not taking on a more involved one.
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How far away is this? I’d calculate gas + time to drive, and get an estimate of time spent at the farm. Decide on an hourly rate that is worth you NOT doing something else, and add all that up. There is your rate! (Say 15 min driving each way, an hour at the farm. That’s 1.5 hours, plus gas cost.)
Whatever you charge for a day of work shouldn’t change whether it’s one day or 30 days. Be consistent.
If this number seems high and this is a friend or client you’re doing a favor, feel free to round down but don’t undervalue your time!
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When we went away to horse shows and I had our neighbor take care of my 2 ponies and elderly dog, she would come to our place 2 x a day and muck 2 stalls. It would take a max of 1hr a day but its someone’s time and they have to schedule it and make their day around these times etc.
No one would ever give me a set price, but I would happily pay them $75 a day, and she lives right across the street from our farm and has a dog walking business, so she is home quite often. We were all happy with pricing/costs (plus my husband plowed her driveway all winter and will help with some projects at her place from time to time).
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Let me just say that I don’t know that $50/day is enough. But my point is that if the OP thinks $50 is the going rate for her area, I would never do it for $25/day.
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How much will it cost you to perform this task? How many miles will you drive, how much time will it take, how much does the insurance cost that you need to have?
Farm sitting when you are taking responsibility is different from showing up to clean stalls with the owner present. If anything goes wrong, like a horse gets out, you are taking on that liability.
I pay $35 per visit for a farm sitter to feed and water the horses cats and chickens (and I think she is underpriced, especially with the recent increase in fuel prices.)
How many horses?
How far is the drive.
For my horses I pay $10 per trip plus $5 per horse. I currently have 2 horses, so $20 per trip, $40 per day. When I had 4 horses it was $30 per trip, $60 per day.
I have offered to raise her rates but she turns me down. (It has been raised once in about 30 years)
The horses have free access in and out, and lots of pasture, so most of the time it is not a lot of work, but she also handles any veterinary issues (feeding pills, soaking abscesses). It includes one time when we though one of the horses had a broken leg, but luckily it wasn’t.
This makes the most sense to me. The big difference between what you charge and what others are recommending you charge is where you live. That will determine your costs somewhat. The biggest thing is don’t shortchange your self.
Include the time you drive to & from in your hourly wage ( as noted above) Sometimes we forget that.
Many fast food jobs here in my rural area are at $14-$16 an hour, to start. Your skills are worth more than that and the responsibility as well.
In rural, inexpensive MO I pay at least $40/day. That is a local person coming by twice a day for about 20 minutes.
If the person is spending the night (which means we’ve left the dogs at home to be cared for as well) then I up it to $50/day.
There is more driving with scenario A, and more animals with scenario B, but I certainly wouldn’t cut my $40/day to $20 if they only had to come once/day. I’d likely keep it at $40 and be happy for the peace of mind. Because theoretically my chores are super easy, but I’m also paying that person to be there if/when things aren’t (injury/colic/broken water line/etc.).
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3 horses, and 2 cats
It’s about a 25 min drive
$50 bucks/trip minimum, assuming it’s quick job of checking water, throwing hay, making sure they all look normal.
Anyone who wouldn’t pay that to make sure their animals are properly cared for is either taking advantage or so tight for cash they should consider downsizing.
$75.00 a visit (once a day) - remember you are their eyes - insurance and their “911” person for ALL scenarios.
They are lucky to have a trusted substitute care keeper in you.
I pay $25 per day for a farm sitter to just feed and check on 5 horses. She’s right across the street so no travel required. If I’m going for several days and want her to muck out the yard, I’ll pay extra for that (usually an extra $50 for the week because it just takes a few mins). According to her, this is more than she is paid at other farms.
I charged $50/hour, pro rated, including travel time to and from the job, but I was a bonded and insured FT professional farm/pet sitter.
