This week was a little boring so I thought maybe I should tell you what exactly "boring" is. Everyday has mandatory requirements of things that need to be done... aka... chores! Now these chores don't seem like much to me anymore mostly because I do them everyday but to an average non-farmer they might seem a little more than normal. So let's begin.
I usually get to the farm around 730 and get everything ready for the day. I start chores by checking on everyone then I proceed to make the milk! Yes I make the milk! We do not have any cows on our farm as you may recall so that means we use a substitute for the real thing, milk replacer. It comes powdered so I add water and with our homemade tank it gets all mixed and ready for the boys!
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| Doesn't he look hungry to you?! |
When the milk is ready, usually about a 10 minute task, I grab my pitcher and get to work! I measure out milk for each calf and feed them their breakfast! After an hour give or take I'm done with milk and then I feed them grain to get them transitioning to a solid diet instead of just liquid. Morning chores including milk and grain usually takes anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours.
I usually have an hour to kill before my next big chore and usually I can pass the hour by giving shots and bedding the huts as needed.
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| Smores loves a clean home! |
By then it is usually lunch time for me so I get a break to return later. Most days I usually leave the little calves for lunch and don't return for a few hours unless I have vaccinations to give, sick calves to treat, houses to bed, or calves to move. Those few hours available I tend to go check on the rest of the herd or try to help in other areas of the farm.
Then around 330 or 4 I am back to the farm to feed the calves again. Another hour to two later, I am done and ready to go home.
One thing to note though before I had my lovely homemade milk tank I used to carry all this milk in five gallon buckets. Eight five gallon buckets per round were needed and milk weighs eight pounds per gallon so forty pounds a bucket. Which means that just in milk I could carry 640 pounds a day! Thankfully I got a tank as a late Christmas present, but I definitely got strong fast before the tank!
My job requires a lot of manual labor but the calves appreciate it and I enjoy it all the same. Any thoughts are questions leave them for me and I will respond next week!
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| Smores likes the sunshine even if it is just on his nose! |
Hope your week goes well and you get a little sunshine to enjoy just like Smores!
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