Chores for livestock are a daily activity. It is not a normal clock-in, clock-out type of job; it is a lifestyle. Morning routines and evening routines of feeding, watering and checking the herd/flock are just the beginning of caring for our animals. Let’s walk through a normal day on our farm. Our crew heads out to tend to the livestock. The Hen house chores consist of feed in each coop area (we have 3), water for the chickens, fresh water in the pools for the ducks (until the pond is built), and feed and water for the rabbits. Observation and clean up is incorporated into the normal routine as you are doing the chores. As we walk around the hen yard, we look over the flock, health, anything off? Is there anything that needs to be fixed? Is everyone ok? Once we assess that everything is fine, we move on. If not, we set to work on fixing whatever we need to fix.
The same routine is seen for the barn chores (goats and sheep). Feed and water in each of the paddocks, observation, clean up barn, assess – if fine, move on. If not, figure out what needs to be fixed and fix it. Sometimes the morning chores move along quickly, some mornings not so much. Most people can relate to that- some days go smoothly, some just don’t.
Next come any tasks that need to be done to improve the farm. Building fences, building structures, fixing fences that may have worn out, the list can go on and on. When you have land and livestock, there is never a shortage of tasks to accomplish.
Evening brings another round of checking the livestock, and hay available? Water available? Is everyone ok? Close up the animals into their nightly enclosures or paddocks for safety, and we are done for the day.
