- Thread starter
- #771
Satan's army is another story. :/ It's breeding season and they have almost killed one another. I"ll be glad when they decide who is going to have what girl and stop the madness. The grab a hold to the other one's wing and they run around the property like that all day long non stop, attached like Siamese Twins. They are getting on my nerves!!!
This is going to be my first ever breeding season with my pair of geese. They are too fat to outrun me..
I've been meaning to ask you, how long does it take you to do your rounds every day? Do you work full time elsewhere? I admire you
Thank you.
This is what my daily schedule consists of:
Monday – Friday
4:30 AM – 5:30 AM:
Wake up and change into my old worn out work clothes. I open the garage door and let out the cats that want to go out and let in the outside cats so that they can eat. I am currently house sitting 2 cats (since November 2013 until April 2014), so I feed and water them. If I am incubating any eggs, I check temps and humidity to make sure eggs are ok. If I have any new hatches, I have to check brooders, give feed and water and change bedding. If I have to bottle feed any new lambs, I have to prepare bottles, go outside, grab a chair and feed any rejected baby lamb. Now that I have broilers, I feed and water all of them. I have to fill up their (6) gallon waterers and put down about 35 lbs of feed now. I slip into my rubber boots and grab the flashlight and I head outside to check on the animals. I feed (grains) all of the sheep and make sure their water is ok. I check on all of the pea fowl (9 peas in 2 different pens on the property) to make sure they are ok and their food and water is ok. I then go and check on the goat (Blue Boy) to make sure that he is ok and that his food and water is ok. I acquired 2 new ducks about a month ago, so I go out and let them out of their house and make sure that they have food and water and their pool has clean water in it for the day. I then open up and peak into the chicken house to make sure everything is ok and make sure no snakes or other predators have broken in during the night. If any birds are broody and sitting on eggs, I check on them to make sure that the eggs are ok. I have 5 chicken coops and 5 chicken stalls that I shine the light in to make sure all of the birds are ok. I also have to open up the chicken coops to let the birds out for the day. I try to make sure all feeders are full of food the night before, so that I don’t have to feed in the morning. This saves me a lot of time. I make sure that all of the waterers are full and that the ducks and geese didn’t have a splash party the night before and splashed all of the water out of the waterers. If there was a splash party, then I have to refill waterers. I have about 20 waterers placed in different locations in the chicken yard and I have 10 pools that are dumped and filled with fresh water daily. I then go to the feed storage building to make sure that no predators are in there trying to get into the feed. I then go to the rabbit shed and make sure all of the rabbits are ok with their feed and water. I try to make sure that I fill everything up at night but I still check to make sure no accidents happened overnight. I then walk around the property to make sure that no predators hit the night before and are not still on the grounds. When I’m done with all of morning chores, I go in and take a shower.
5:30 AM – 6:00 AM – When the weather is bad or daylight savings brings the dark morning, I go to the gym.
6:00 AM – 7:00 AM – Workout at the gym. (When daylight savings time changes and it gets light outside, I will run or bike for an hour in the morning on my street. My street is exactly 1 mile long, so twice back and forth and I’m done.)
7:00AM – 7:30 AM – Shower and dress at the gym and head out to work.
8:00 AM – 4:30 PM – I work a full time job Monday – Friday. I have a 30 minute lunch break, so I will sometimes conduct my farm business during my lunch break (customers pick up eggs, fertilizer, wine, etc.) I may also pick up my Craigslist finding during this time if it’s not too far from my job. I will also answer emails on my cell phone during this time from customers who want eggs, animals, farm tours, etc.)
4:30 PM – 5:00 PM – I will sometimes go back to the gym to get either a 30 minute workout or 60 minutes.
5:00 PM – 6:00 PM – Gym
6:00 PM – 6:30 PM – Travel home from the gym
6:30 PM - until I’m done. This can be as early as 8:30 PM to as late as 10:30 PM – I will do the same thing that I did that morning. Feed cats, clean litter boxes, feed broilers, fill up waterers for broilers, go out to the chicken yard and fill up feeders for all of the animals. Dump out any dirty or soiled water and give them fresh water. Dump out pools and give them fresh water. Make sure sheep and goat have hay. . If not, I get the wheelbarrow and haul hay to their pens and put in their hay feeders. I pick eggs in the chicken house and a few other locations that they sneak and lay eggs. I check on broody birds that are setting on eggs. If it’s incubating/hatching season, I have to check on eggs and new hatches. After everyone is fed and waterered, I lock up the chicken coops.
Depending on what time, I come in from the chicken yard (could be as early as 8:30 PM to as late as 10:30 PM); I come in and prepare any egg orders for the next day. I check my email again to see if I have any emails or text messages from customers needing anything. If I have to ship any hatching eggs to anyone, I have to package up the eggs to take to the post office the next day on my lunch break. Have to check on my wine batches and do whatever I need to do with that. If I have to start new wine, I get my fruit and ingredients together and start my new buckets of wine.
Take my shower.
Prepare for bed
Watch TV until I fall asleep.
Saturdays and Sundays
I try to sleep in late (6:30 AM). Depending on the weather, I may go run or ride my bike or get on my elliptical machine for an hour. When I’m done, I go out in the chicken yard do everything all over again. If it’s a cleaning weekend, I clean all of the chicken coops. I bag up the fertilizer and let it sit in the rabbit shed until it’s time to sell it. The weekend is a busy day because I have customers that like to drop by to buy stuff or just talk. I also have parents that stop by that want their kids to see the animals. I have a group of mothers that have children with learning disabilities (Autism, Down’s syndrome or other learning disabilities) and they regularly come over so their kids can get the mental, physical and visual stimulation that they need to make their day and have an impact on their lives. The kids run or walk around and sometimes just roll all around on the ground in the chicken yard but their moms are okay with it because their child is having a good time, so they don’t let a little dirt or poop get in the way of what may be their only smile or laugh for the week.
Once a month I get 1 ton of feed from the feed store. I come back and I unload all of the feed into my feed storage building in my 55 gallon plastic trash cans. If hay is needed, I pick up hay and bring it back home and unload it. If I have too much to do, I will call my brothers or male relatives and ask for a hand. They enjoy coming out and seeing the animals, so they are always up for whatever it is I need for them to do. On weekends, I will also go to the local farm implement stores or glass companies, and get the extra lumber or pallets or shipping crates that they set out to be thrown away. I will load it up in the truck and take it home. This salvaged lumber is saved for any upcoming projects I may think about.
In between all of that, I find the time to clean my house, wash my clothes, eat, drink, catch a matinee at the movies, stalk Craigslist for FREEBIES or other good deals, log on to BYC and chat with some good people with great conversation. It seems like a lot of work and sometimes it can be but for the most part, it’s ok. Being able to workout at the gym keeps me sane. It relieves any stress from my full time day job or from the farm. The gym provides massage chairs and hydro massage tables and I take full advantage of it EVERY single day. Oh and the home made wine helps me sleep at night.
Last edited:
It's just a site I've been checking out to travel abroad myself, but most people want singles, not married couples so I've let the idea go a long time ago...
That cost is not bad at all. What are your feeding plans? Splitting an order with someone sounds like a great idea. I wish I would have done that. :/ 
I have to steal that and re-post. That is too funny !!!!!!!!!!!!! That's how I feel all of the time when I hear people complain about having to do this and do that how they are so tired. I'm like, "SERIOUSLY"???? Why don't you hang out with me for the weekend. :/ 
