I like getting stuff done. I like the feeling of getting work accomplished and crossing items off to-do lists. Nothing beats a weekend for me of getting some structure built, or fencing installed, or pasture cleared for me. It’s so satisfying to get a big job done that will make things easier as we move forward! Weird? Maybe! But it sure is a good trait to have in owning a farm!
Caring for animals isn’t new to me. I had pets growing up, and was lucky to spend time at both maternal and paternal grandparents who had animals as well. In my home when I was younger the rule was “the animals always eat before you.” I can still hear my mom saying that to me when the cats were meowing hungrily, winding around my kid sized legs. Today, I heard mom’s voice coming out of my mouth to my daughter saying the same thing!
Things just naturally tend to break into daily, weekly, and seasonal chores on the farm. Some stuff just isn’t able to get done in the cold of winter, and so it gets pushed to spring. Some things that we need to do in winter aren’t required in summer. So it all evens out.
Everything on our farm is about organization. It keeps me sane, and keeps the work to a manageable level. Without organizing the chores, sustaining our farm would be just impossible. Big clean out jobs, replacing bedding, filling large feeders, and cleaning water troughs are all night/weekend jobs. Nights and weekends are when all 3 of us in the family are able to pitch in to get big jobs done.
Weekends usually consist of a trip to the feed mill, restocking all feed in the feed cans, and filling chicken, duck, geese, and turkey feeding stations. Bedding changes for the goats, llamas, and birds happen on weekends most of the year, except when it’s really cold. When it’s really cold the bedding tends to freeze solid, so we utilize a “deep litter method” to handle it. It’s the process of simply adding fresh bedding over the soiled bedding throughout the winter months so the animals can use the fresh bedding. The soiled bedding slowly breaks down and begins to compost while still in the animal stalls and provides a slight amount of heat for them. So weekends in winter become bedding “refresh” times.
Weekends in winter and spring also are the time for bales of hay to be pulled out of the barn loft and brought into the lower part so it’s easily accessible to feed throughout the week. Both the goats and llamas get bales of hay daily since pasture isn’t growing in the cold of winter.
Daily chores are also split in our family between Aubrey and myself. Mornings outside start around 5:45am and are for feeding barn cats both wet and dry food, and making sure the cats are all in good health. Goats are checked to ensure adequate hay and water. Chickens, geese, turkeys and ducks are all let out of their coops in the morning so they can roam during the day. Their food and water gets a quick check to make sure it’s full, and anything that needs filling will be handled if required.
Llamas are fed a grain ration in the morning each llama gets a certain amount measured out based on their needs. Nursing moms get more, babies get as much as they want, and elderly (and kinda fat Peach) gets less to control her weight. Kisses and Banana get a smaller amount to ensure they get proper nutrition. I also add a dry mix to their feed of vitamins A, D & E. It helps their coats and skin, and vitamin D is good for them in winter when there is less sunshine. I stay with them while they eat to ensure everyone eats their own ration and don’t steal others, and nobody chokes on their food. With llamas (and alpacas) their long necks can sometimes get them in trouble with eating pelleted feed if they eat too fast leading to choking on their food. Choke is a medical emergency, so I ensure that I’m there to monitor.
Inside cats and dogs are fed and watered, and we get on our way to work and school by 6:45am.
Evening chores start with feeding barn cats again around 4:30pm with wet food, ensuring all the cats are seen at some point in the day by us. We have a regular crew that comes in to eat – some are friendly, some are not. Some we rarely ever see. And we know the routines of each cat. If a friendly cat who normally doesn’t miss a meal misses a couple of them it puts me on alert to check to make sure they aren’t injured or sick.
Llamas get fed a grain ration again, and the same process as in the morning. Goats are given their daily ration of goat feed mixed with vitamin mix A,D,E, and hay and water is checked to make sure it’s full. Eggs are picked from all the coops and brought inside to be cleaned. Inside cats and dogs are fed, and all the birds are locked in coops to protect them from predators through the night. Bedtime for our animals goes with the daylight. Right now in December, the birds are locked up by 6:30pm because they are all in their coops because it’s already dark. In summer, bedtime is more like 7:30pm as dusk is setting and they just start going inside their coops at that time.
It sounds like a lot to do, but daily feeding is the time we get to hang with our animals and generally relax with them. It’s the time we take to love on them all, and get to know any newer additions and them us. My own favorites to manage are the cats and the llamas. Our cats who are people friendly generally don’t miss feeding time, so I can pet my favorite friends and love on them. The llamas are just relaxing to me in general and I enjoy doing their care routines. Feeding them can be stressful though if someone is crabby in the herd and wants to spit or hog all the food. I make sure I’m there for any intervention if needed, and I know who will be the problem children each day based on their mood as soon as I get to their pen. Once they are done with their grains I bring a bale of hay to them and everyone still hungry munches on the hay. The rest just kind of mill around and I can love on my favorites then too. Usually Cloud, Pearl and Prince get some kisses from us because they give them back 🙂
The seasonal part of chores all have their challenges. We are now moving into winter, when water troughs need heating elements in them, and electricity requirements are at a premium in all animal pens. One faulty heater for a trough means frozen water for those animals – and taking a hammer or hatchet and breaking open the ice to replace the heater. This usually happens when it’s super cold, and I can’t begin to tell you how much it sucks to deal with! Winter also means heavy lifting of shoveling snow paths for the humans to get to the animals, and paths for the animals to get in and out of their shelters. Heavy lifting comes in again with hauling bales of hay to goats and llamas, moving hay bales in the barn from storage to easy access, and hauling large buckets of water to all animals to fill water troughs. (side note….heating hoses are on my want list!! But even they can freeze during the harsh Wisconsin winter). And then the most annoying part of winter for me – putting on all the dang clothing layers I need before going out to do the chores! LOL!
Summer isn’t without challenges either. Warmer weather means more water changes, scrubbing troughs more often, ensuring all animals have shade and access to electrolytes in water as well. The llamas are not fans of heat at all. I get them sheared in late spring to help them stay cool in the summers. They also get large fans in their shelter, cool water misters, and periodical hosing down of the belly during extreme heat. During extreme heat everyone gets checked on multiple times a day to ensure they are doing alright.
Late spring and late fall are my favorite times on the farm. In late spring the days are longer, and it’s much easier to do any outside chores without a head lamp on. It’s also still cool, and all of the animals are happy and enjoying the temperatures. Everything green is waking up! Fall is also a favorite because of the colors in the gardens and trees. The llamas especially are fun in late fall when the air gets crisp. They love the weather turning colder, and their enjoyment shows through chasing each other and running like crazies through the pastures.
When they bounce on all fours it’s called pronking, and it’s a sure sign they are happy. It’s also so much fun to watch!
Spring, Summer, and Fall are times we use to get structural things done to the farm. Wooden fencing posts are dug in and metal T posts are installed and then fencing is run. Any additions, changes, or fixes to shelters are done during this time. Pastures are seeded a couple times during the warmer months to ensure good growth, and pastures need to be cut with the lawnmower to keep the weeds out. Summer brings growing season with it, allowing us to grow any plants or vegetables. The addition of the plants and herbs to our farm sales offerings have also added the chore list of watering, picking, drying, etc. to keep up with it. This is also the time of year that beekeeping is busy in keeping up the hives and making sure the colonies are doing well. Late summer/early fall is honey harvest time, which is a whole blog by itself 🙂
Spring is the season of BABIES on the farm! Most years we order baby chickens to arrive in April. It’s also goose breeding season, if we want to hatch some of the goslings out. This coming year we’re trying our hands at ducks and turkeys!! I can’t wait to see what that brings!
Our family enjoys being outside most of the year. Super hot and super cold times are not so fun, but normally doing the chores and being outside is the best part for us. I get asked often how we handle all the work! Some of it isn’t work to us, as you can now see. I’ll admit though, some days are hard too. Our goal is to work each year to make everything easier the next year. We are always improving, brainstorming, working to streamline things. My relaxation comes at the end of the day, drink in hand, watching the animals doing their thing. It makes it all worthwhile.