Chicken Tending

Ranch chores continue here near Bridgeport, Nebraska.
The project:
Replace water and feed the chickens, gather eggs, check on their well-being.

Time:
10 minutes (but it could have been done in 5)

Why bother?
These chickens provide ample eggs to our host, their family and friends. This is another mundane chore to our hostess, but fun and easy for us. The girls particularly enjoy checking for eggs throughout the day, washing them and putting them away.

Worth it?
Yes. Once again, it took another little load off our hostess, who seldom gets a break from daily chores. Plus the girls had a blast with it. Yep...we're easily entertained. Is that such a bad thing?!

Taming of the Kids

The project:
Spend time taming goat kids.

Time:
Two hours or so. (Repeat daily with sessions ranging from 20 minutes to two hours.)

Why bother?
Our hosts raise dairy goats for their own family use. They also sell share their milk with friends and family. But dairy goats beget baby goats, and if you plan to use them for anything other than feral lawnmowers or meat they need to be tamed which is merely a matter of time and patience. As visitors, we had plenty of both.

Worth it?
Yes. We all learned more about these goofy, inquisitive animals, and the girls were entertained for hours. Farm life = simple pleasures.

Ranch Chores - plenty of deeds to be done

We're in Nebraska this week on a ranch. There are PLENTY of opportunities to help out. While many are repeated daily, I'll detail them one at a time over the next few days.

The project:
Milk the goats.

Time:
Nearly an hour. (We're not particularly proficient.)

Why bother?
Our hostess has a host of medical problems, not the least of those which cause her constant back pain. She does a lot of chores every day, and milking isn't exactly spine-friendly. The girls enjoy this chore, and we all benefit from the product.

Worth it?
Absolutely! The girls love the chore, and our hostess is always amused at how quickly our family jumps in to help with what has become mundane to her. Plus, there's really nothing like fresh goat's milk. (If you've had goat's milk from the store, don't give up! There IS better milk out there! Find your local goat herd and give it a try!)