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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First Grade Wonders Unit 4, Week 4