Chores!

Once in a while we go out of town. We like to visit friends and family, go camping, and see new things.

We have people who take care of the farm and all the milking while we're gone. It's a lot of work and I make sure that they know how to do all the chores. Usually they have helpers. I usually do all the chores on my own.

I try to be efficient and do the right things at the right time so I don't have to spend more time than necessary. I have other things to do, too!

I prepare the udder wash in the kitchen. I like warm water to wash the udders with and there is no warm water in the barn.

I load the milker and the things that I need in the barn in the wagon. Sometimes I have to shovel the path from the house to the barn so that I can move the wagon.

Once I get out to the barn, I hook the milker up to the vacuum pump.

Then I take care of the chickens.


Today the chickens got a little treat of corn. They love it! Listen closely! Do they sound like happy chickens?

I also fill the chicken's feeder with pellets,

and fill their waterers so they have food
and water all day.

Next I fill all the breakfast buckets with the feed for the goats, cows, and sheep.

Every bucket has a label so that if I have helpers, they can help fill the buckets.

Echo's hook over bucket goes inside the barn on the fence where I milk her.

Echo gets liquid mineral in the container on the left.
The goats get a granulated mineral from the bucket on the right.

There are scoops inside the mineral bucket to help measure the right amount.

I have all sizes of scoops to help measure the right amount of food and mineral.

I don't want Echo to sneak into the feed room and find the goat's breakfast so
I have to hide them inside a feed barrel.
Echo loves to see if I've accidentally left treats out for her in the feed room.

I feed Midnight a few treats inside her little house.

Next I let Echo inside the barn and put the milker on her. Sometimes I have helpers.

Echo is such a nice cow that Xander can be right by her and she doesn't mind.

While the milker is going, I fill all the water barrels.  I put hay in Echo's feeder. Sometimes I have time to start cleaning out the stall, but I usually wait until Echo is eating outside the barn.

When Echo is busy eating the rest of her breakfast, I can clean her stall out.

Echo makes a mess in the stall every day.

I pick out all the manure.... 

and add some fresh wood shavings.
I don't want her to sleep in a mucky mess because then it takes more time to
clean her udder in the morning before I milk.

A lot of manure and wet shavings have to be taken out of her stall every morning!

I dump the wheelbarrow as far back in the garden as I can get.
Sometimes the snow is deep and I can't get that far out in the garden.

If the snow is deep, I dump the manure on the outside of the garden.

Next I feed Chuck, Curly, and Side Kick.

While they are eating, I bring in two bales of hay.
Helpers don't have to bring in hay.
Bales are heavy!

I stack the hay in the barn.
The goats and Echo eat about a bale a day.
If it's cold, they eat 1 1/2 bales of hay.
I like to have extra hay in the barn so if I'm in a hurry, or the snow is deep,
I don't have to bring in more hay.

Next on the list is milking the goats. I only milk River right now because

she gives enough milk for our family.

I also check the goat's hooves to make sure they are trimmed properly. Sometimes I have the extra chore of trimming hooves. Helpers never have to trim hooves!

River has a bucket feeder on the milk stand. The other goats have food out in the pen. When River is done, I dump her leftovers in the barrel so everyone can share what's left.

Do you think I'm done?

Nope!

I still have to bring the milk in from the barn, put it in containers, and clean out the milker.

The milk gets put in jugs.
The jugs get put in ice water so the milk gets cold very quickly.
The milk lasts a long time if it's filtered, and cooled quickly.

Some days I separate the cream from the milk. That means I also need to clean the separator!

Helpers get a list so it's easier for them to do the chores while I'm gone.

I do chores at night, too. Evening chores usually take 15 - 30 minutes. Morning chores usually take 1 1/2-2 hours.

That's a lot of work! I love it! It keeps me strong and healthy. I hardly ever get sick. Our helpers like to come once it a while. They don't want this much work every day, but they love it once in a while.

Have you done something nice today? People do nice things for me when they help out on the farm! It's wonderful!

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fancy beautiful
First Grade Wonders Unit 4, Week 4

Surviving Winter on the Farm

The barnyard is not very pretty today.
It looks like a mess!

We've had snow. We have had rain. We have had sunny days. We have had very, very cold weather. We have also had a lot of water because of the rain and snow.

How do farm animals live through the winter? They don't live in a warm house like you do. It isn't that warm in the barn. What do they do to stay warm? Do they mind the cold?

What do you think?


You already know that we use bucket heater to keep the water from freezing. If the animals have enough food and water they can keep themselves warm. I make sure to fill their water buckets every time the water is low.

This is a bucket de-icer to keep the water from freezing outside.

In the wild animals need to find food. On the farm we make sure they have food in the morning and in the evening. Sometimes if they haven't eaten all their dinner from the night before I don't feed them very much breakfast. There is no reason for us or the animals to waste food. They don't mind left overs so it's ok.

Do you remember what the goats, cows, and sheep eat? They have hay, hay pellets, oats, and corn.

Our animals also have shelters so they can stay out of the wind, rain, and snow. That also helps them stay warm and healthy.

This shed in the back of the barn is for Chuck the steer, Side Kick the sheep, and Curly the buck.

Do you remember what it looked like back here last week! It was like a small lake! The big puddle behind the barn is much smaller this morning! I don't really know why. We've had so much rain and snow that I thought it would be much deeper. Some days I think we could float a boat in the puddle! No row boats today !Some days I expect the ducks to be swimming around in it!


Echo loves to stay in her stall during the bad weather. That is great for her, but it means that I have a lot more cleaning to do every day. Cows don't know that they should go to the bathroom outside. They go where ever they are standing. Yuck! I have a big wheel barrow that I fill with manure every morning. Some days it's very hard to move the wheel barrow through the snow to a good dumping spot.

All that manure will make great garden fertilizer next year! Moving all that manure makes me stronger every day! Pushing a heavy wheel barrow on a cold morning is a great way to stay warm because it's hard work.

Animals have thicker coats in the winter to stay warm. All the animals start growing their winter coats in the fall. They don't have to think about growing a winter coat the way you think of putting on a coat and mittens. Their bodies grow thicker coats as soon as we have less sunlight. Dogs and cats grow a thicker coat, too.

Side Kick has a very thick coat this winter. 

Look at all that wool! The wool keeps the sheep warm in the winter. We shear it (cut it off) in the spring. We can use the wool to make sweaters, hats, scarves, mittens, and socks to keep us warm, too. I wear wool socks all winter long so my toes stay toasty warm.

Chuck doesn't look like he has a very thick coat.
His coat is definitely thicker in the winter.  

When you get close to the cows you can see the extra fur they have.
Echo sheds a little every time I pet her.
She will shed a lot more in the spring.

The goats look very fuzzy in the winter, too.
I love fuzzy goats!

Sheep definitely grow the thickest, fluffiest coats on the farm.



Chickens grow extra feathers in the fall to help them stay warm all winter. It's hard to tell that a chicken has warm feathers. They look the same because their outer feathers always look the same.

This chicken decided to drink out of the puddle today.

Sometimes farm animals will eat snow instead of drinking water. We let them decide. We make sure there is plenty of water for them to drink out of buckets and feeders.

Horses' winter coats aren't as thick as a sheep's winter coat. Their owners like to put blankets on them so they stay warm. They also have a barn to use when its windy, snowy, or raining.

Midnight the cat has a cozy spot in the barn.

She is old so I bought her a little house that heats up.
She doesn't use it yet.
I put treats inside it because I want her to get used to it.
She loves going inside for treats! One of these days I'm sure I'll find her
sitting warm and snug inside her new house.

Water is life in the west. This year we are doing very well with all the rain and snow that we've had.

Do you remember when you learned about maps?
Maps can show us more than where we want to go.
This map shows us how much water we have had this winter.
You can find the map here.

What did you do for someone else for Valentine's Day? Was it fun to do something for someone else?

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find food start warm

Wonders Unit 4 Week 3

More Snow, Quacking Ducks, and Gardening Indoors

Are you enjoying all the snow! I am!

This is what it looks like when I open the big door on the back of the barn!

JJ doesn't mind the snow, either.
She has a very nice winter coat on.

This is what the back of the barn looked like after the rain last week.
Mucky, sloppy, yucky mess!

Thankfully the inside of the shed is higher than the outside of the shed. Chuck, Curly, and Side Kick still have a dry place to sleep out of the wind and the rain.

I would rather have snow than rain. Rain makes puddles and mud. When the snow melts we have puddles and mud, too. I'm not looking forward to all this snow melting. I think it's easier to feed animals in the snow than the muck and mud. I really don't like it when my boots get stuck in the mud!

I am looking forward to all the water from the snow in the mountains. There will be plenty of water this summer for growing gardens and watering the pasture!

It has been a lot of work to carry bales of hay through snow that is above my knees. I'm strong and healthy because I work in the barn every day.  Other people like to go to the gym to work out. I like working with the animals. I always have to do chores, every day, rain or shine, snow or sun. It's easy for me to be too busy to go to the gym. We all have to find what helps us exercise and stay strong.

Did you know that exercise and hard work also help your brain work better? It does! Exercise helps your brain and your mind work better. Do you want to be smarter and do better at your school work? Play outside, play a sport, jump on the trampoline, go for a hike, ride your bike, dance, do things that move your body and you'll be able to learn better, too!

Get out of your seat and get onto your feet!

Shoveling snow is good exercise, too! 

Did you notice that many of your spelling words are in blue today? Did you know that memorizing your spelling words is also a good way to exercise your brain? It is! Memorizing things is like using your 'brain muscles.' If you memorize things even when it's hard, that also helps your brain stay healthy and strong.

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Many animals have different voices depending on if the animal is a boy or a girl. Goats all sound alike. So do cows and sheep.

Boy ducks don't sound like girl ducks. The next time you're at a pond or a lake and you see some ducks, listen closely to each duck. 

The big duck that sounds like he's hissing is a Muscovy duck. They have a very different sound from regular ducks! Regular ducks are also smaller than Muscovy ducks. Female ducks are usually smaller than male ducks, too. 

Do you hear some real quacks, and some softer quacks?
The 'quack, quack, quack' noise is from the female ducks.

The softer quack is from the male ducks.

(Quin thinks the boy ducks sound like they have a broken quacker.)

Another way to tell the difference between male and female ducks is by looking at their tail.
Male ducks usually have a little curled feather on their tales.

Here are other ways to tell the difference between male ducks and female ducks.

Did you know that ducks like to eat grass? Our ducks like chicken food in the winter. They also like dog food. They also like to eat hay when the other animals are done.

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Do you remember what my little garden looked like a few weeks ago?
Look how much the plants have grown!
I keep an eye on them, add water and fertilizer when the screen tells me to,
and the plants keep growing!

Wow! Look at the roots of the plants!
The roots love growing down into the water and soaking up
the fertilizer.

A little garden inside is like spring all year round, even when the weather is freezing and snow is on the ground.

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Wonders Unit 4, week 2
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