What are farm sitting rates?

Farm sitters aren’t given enough credit. It’s a tough gig to run a farm as it is, but when the responsibility of someone else's business is on your shoulders, the pressure is on. So, how much should you pay for professional farm sitting and what’s the going rate of a farm sitter? Let’s stride through the logistics of farm sitting to understand the average cost of a paid pet sitter when dealing with farm animals. 

What are farm sitters?

It’s important to spell this out before we run through the costs. Farm sitters are experienced professionals whose job is to maintain and run your farm when you need to be away. Their chores include everything from daily feeding, watering, mucking out, enrichment, check-ups, and security checks. Farm sitting duties can also include milking, egg collecting, or sheering, depending on their training or previous farm-related adventures.

What do farm sitters do?

A farm sitter knows they’ll be expected to do more than a cat or dog sitter - it’s a physically demanding day job where experience is almost always mandatory. Here’s a glimpse into what their daily routine might look like: 

Animal care

Farm sitters make sure that every member of your farmyard family is well-fed, watered, and cared for. From chickens clucking for grains to pigs snuffling for root veggies and cows mooing for their hay, everyone gets exactly what they need, when they need it. 

Administering medication

As well as monitoring the general health of your farmyard friends, most sitters are able to handle basic medical needs like giving flea tablets to your dogs or adding supplements to the animals’ feed. However, for more complex procedures like administering injections, it’s best to call the vet to ensure your animals get the care they need.

Crop management 

Depending on the season, farm sitters might also get their hands dirty with planting, watering, and even harvesting crops. They always follow the farm owner’s instructions to make sure the plants stay healthy and strong. 

Other tasks

Depending on how long you’re away for and the nature of your farm, you may also ask sitters to take on other chores such as cleaning the stalls, collecting chicken eggs, and taking the dogs for a walk. Some sitters with farming experience may also be able to handle more specific tasks such as milking cows, harvesting crops, and other general farm maintenance. 

What’s the average rate for a farm sitter?

So, the average cost of a small-scale farm which would require only one farm sitter to conduct full-time care, you’ll be looking at about $75 to $100 a day (£70-100 or €80-120). This price will depend on your location, how accessible you are to the farm sitter (if they’re not staying onsite), and how much is required each day. For example, a bovine flock might be a bit more straightforward than a combination of farm animals.

Of course, if you become a TrustedHousesittes member, you won’t have to pay anything! Our verified farm sitters are part of your plan, so no extra costs are needed. Speaking of extra costs…

Extra costs for paid farm sitting

While some farm sitters will include all animals and chores within their daily rate, others may add on additional costs for extra cleaning jobs, grooming, or handling of more than a certain number of livestock, horses, or goats. For cleaning, like hosing down stables, farm sitters may add on an extra $10 / £10 a day. Grooming might be at an additional cost of $20 / £15 a day or per animal, and some might charge another $10 or $5 (£10 or £5) per farm animal.

It’ll completely depend on the company, your location, and the type of farm you have. A pet parent with a few goats in your garden probably won’t have to pay more than their base rate, while a person with several horses, sheep, and chickens on acres of land with (understandably) pay more for the service.

Alternatives of paid farm sitting

Ever heard of TrustedHousesitters? Even before you decide to join our pet loving community, you can begin your search for farm sitters near you at no cost. Once you’ve realized how great we are, you’ll choose and pay for an annual membership to become part of our community. As a member, you’ll have unlimited access to all of our trusted, verified sitters who can specify if they have farm sitting experience.

Farm sitters will have further details on their profile about the types of animals they’ve cared for, external references from other farmers, and past reviews from previous sits. This can help you decide who could be right for your farm even before you’ve contacted them.

When you’ve selected a sitter, set your upcoming farm sitter up for success by offering a training day and welcome pack to make sure they’re as prepared as possible (check out this chicken sitting checklist if you've got a flock at home). It’s just as important for them to meet the animals as it is to meet you - familiarity can help reduce stress in the farm family and also help settle your sitter in before you leave. Leave with peace of mind knowing you’ve left your farm in capable, trustworthy hands.

Whether you’re a full-time farmer or a pet parent with a flock of feathery, furry friends, have a look at which of our trusted sitters are located nearest to you. Not sure if TrustedHousesitters is right for you and your farm? Head to our Community Forum to connect with other farm animal advocates and ask them how farm sitting with us went for them.