morning chores

I'm often asked exactly what we do when we talk about "doing barn chores". Since this is a lovely time of year to be out doing morning chores, I figured I'd start with that.

The alarm goes off at 5:00am, and this time of year, it's usually pretty easy to get out of bed at that time. Totally different story in the dead of winter, I assure you. But mornings at this time of year are cool, crisp, and filled with bird song. In March I heard the Woodcocks singing their special flight song in search of mates. In April the Barred Owls were calling to each other, babies calling from their nests to their hunting parents. Now it's the Robins and Cardinals and Barn Swallows and Orioles in search of nest building materials and food for their newly hatched babies.

The ponies are waiting at the gate for me, the mare is softly knickering to me in anticipation of her breakfast. But first I turn out the dogs while I feed and water the baby chicks and prepare the ponies' food -- supplements get mixed in with their pelleted feed, and they eat specially balanced hay cubes (rather than the lousy hay that is available to use in these parts) that need to be moistened to prevent choking.
The barnyard is very still and quiet at this time of day. The sheep are still asleep in the barn, and the chickens and ducks are quiet in their darkened coops, although they are just waiting for me to open the doors and windows and let some light in so they can get going with their day. Soon the morning farm sounds will start, but this quiet in the first light of dawn is one of my very favorite things. Even the black flies are still asleep, hiding wherever black flies hide from the morning chill and dew. I start the hose running in the 50 gallon horse trough -- we "recycle" our water here, the horse trough is filled in the morning, and the horses are very neat drinkers, so we are able to use the water from their trough to fill the other water buckets at night. (That's another commonly asked question -- how much water do we use for this many animals -- the answer is 50 gallons a day.)
My first task is to seperate and feed the horses. The mare goes up to the pony pasture, where she spends the day grazing -- I hang her feed bucket on the fence. The little guy can't have grass, as he has metabolic problems, so he stays in his dry-lot (no grass, or at least close to no grass, paddock), which is where I put his feed pan. I distribute the hay cubes in flat pans throughout the pasture and paddock -- feeding in several locations encourages more natural movement from the ponies, rather than having them stand in one place and eat out of a bucket all day. It approximates natural grazing a little better, which is important for all horses, but especially for our "special needs" little guy.
The sheep are up next. I let them out of the barn, doing a quick visual inspection of each as they come out. They get counted/inspected twice a day to make sure everyone looks healthy and doesn't need any special attention. It was this inspection the other night that revealed possible signs of intestinal worms, so last night the entire flock was wormed. Generally we worm on a regular rotational basis, but I hadn't quite gotten to it yet this spring. Fortunately, Katahdin sheep are very hardy and somewhat parasite resistant on their own. The sheep get right to work on a hay bale as soon as they are let out for the day. When their bellies feel full enough, they'll spread out across their sparse pasture to graze for the bulk of the morning. When the sun warms up the day enough, they seek the shade of the hay bales and barn to doze in. Later in the afternoon, I move them to better grass for a more fulfilling grazing session.
The chickens are next, and are always raring to go. I open the coop up, and they quickly scatter hither and yon, frantically searching out all the bugs that may be lurking about from the night, clucking as they go. The chickens are only counted at night, as they are easier to account for as they perch, but I look for any obvious problems in the morning, like a hen that doesn't want to leave the coop, or one that might have manure stuck to her butt feathers, which would need to be removed to prevent a life-threatening blockage. Usually there are no problems, just happy, busy hens.

I then repeat the same thing with the duck house, opening it up, and letting them into their wet pasture where they'll spend the day splashing in puddles and hunting up bugs and snails.

By the time all this is done, the pony trough is about full, so I turn off the hose and head back inside. This all takes just about an hour, and at 6:00 each morning, I crawl back into bed while The Map Man crawls out and jumps in the shower, then heads off to work. By the time he's pulling out at 6:30, I'm fast asleep again for another hour or so (sometimes I get lucky and get a bit more than that!) until the kids get up.