choreSomeone asked me recently, “What are the chores that you’re always talking about?” So, I guess if you’re not familiar with farm life, you might not know what those entail. So I thought I’d just talk about what makes up chores here.  When I was growing up, my brother and I shared in the chores. I remember that we fed the dogs and cats, when we had horses, we fed teh horses and cleaned their stall, we fed the rabbits, we may have fed the cows occasionally, but mom was usually milking and she would feed them at the same time. I think as I got older I would strain the milk and put it in bottles. Our chickens and ducks were in an aviary, so I don’t think we had to put them in, and I don’t really remember feeding them – but we would sometimes collect eggs. Mom kept track of what to do and when… if we had baby cows, mixing up the formula and giving them their bottles where often on the list. We didn’t do chores in the morning, unless it was the weekend, only in the afternoon/evening. For me it went: piano, homework, chores – then more homework if necessary.  It’s different for us here though.

countryside-panorama-morning-vector-illustration-beautiful-landscape-rural-scene-green-field-bright-sun-52053140Chores are something that you do regularly. It doesn’t have to be an every day regularity, it can also be weekly or monthly. We have everyday chores, every-other-day chores and then some sorta bi-weekly chores. We feed and water everyone twice a day, as needed. In the morning, Sue does most of the chores as I’m leaving for work. Every morning Sue chops up fresh herbs and veggies and mixes them with rolled oats, kelp, and dried worms  – this is given to all the various flocks of chickens, geese and ducks each morning. They love it! Then the feeders for the lay mash or chicken grower are checked and filled. Water is also checked and filled. For the ducks and geese, the pools are cleaned and filled. Fresh water is important for them all, especially during the warmer months. Goats are also fed and watered in the morning. They get minerals and baking soda mixed in with their green pellets, in addition to the alfalfa. Lately Sue has been giving them green Russian Thistle and other weeds, they enjoy eating those up all day long. Oh. I feed the dogs in the morning. 🙂 Unless I’m staying home in the morning, then I usually end up taking the feed to the RR#1s and/or RR#2s and changing/checking their water and pools, as well as the water and pools for the oldies, maybe the babes depending on how fast Sue is on the otherside. We generally try to finish up together.

yellow-and-green-colors-of-nature-illustration-of-the-yellow-and-green-colors-of-nature-image_csp12976174The afternoon is rather a repeat of the morning except, instead of fresh veggies and such, they get a little treat of scratch. I usually go to the otherside to do the layers, the nudie bootie hens and Vicente, and the Goat Boys. We always check to make sure they have water and such. The Goat Boys haven’t needed any extra alfalfa in the afternoon, but if they are out then they get a bit more. Sue stays on this side and scratches everyone else. If she’s still working on stuff when I get back, then I help with water for the oldies. Dogs are fed around 4/4:30, cats are fed at 6/6:30. The last thing is that we start to put everyone up as the sun goes down. Lately that’s been around 7, unless a storm is coming and it gets dark earlier. There’s a routine for that as well. I go over to the other side to put up the layers and the nudies, give the goat boys some sweet feed for a bedtime snack. Then, if Sue is having a difficult time getting the RR#1s in – because they are the worst. I go help with that. Lately we’ve been finishing up at the same time. That’s what we do every day. Lately, add to that mowing. Sue has to mow something almost every day to keep up with it during the monsoons.

what ekseEvery other day or so, Sue moves the tractors of the RR’s so they have a cleaner place to hang out if they want/need to be inside. We water the tree nursery and the Gabion Garden, unless it’s rained recently. MWF, I blog. Sometimes I get really excited and cull the web for interesting things to post on our Facebook page. Every week I crate up the eggs that are going to be delivered over the weekend (or midweek if our private customers want any) – plus keep track of the 10% that go to the food bank. Every couple of weeks we do things like, add or change hay in the coops and the goat shed, and move the RCW. There is much more, I’m sure, but that’s what we do on a very regular basis. What else? Catch us on Friday for the “what else”. Until then, as always~
Thanks for reading!

Today’s Weather: Warm today, but not necessarily hot. Phone says the high was 88°. Tomorrow we have Lightening Storms on the horizon, high of 80° with an overnight low of 62°. Currently, at 7:58 p.m., it is 72°.

Egg Report:Tuesday – zero goose, 1 duck, 28 chicken. Wednesday – zero goose, zero duck, 34 chicken.