Kids and chores

[MamaDee]

I don't know if I'm expecting too much or what.

Today it took the boys over an hour to do goats. And they had to dump 2 of the 3 girls milk at that.

I can do goat chores myself in 25 minutes. I don't expect them to do that, but I think they can do better.

Here's what they have to do:

Milk 3 does - 10 year old does that b/c he's better at it and enjoys it more

Then the 10 year old feeds and waters 3 rabbits

Meanwhile my 13 year old does his things:

Change out 3 water buckets

opens barn door

gives kids hay and grain

gives buck/does hay if they need it (usually dad or I do this at night, though)

gives the does alfalfa pellets when they're done milking

I don't know how this could have taken over an hour. They said that the first doe wouldn't come out...that took awhile. Then they said the dry doe jumped up on the stand and they had to put her back. That took "awhile". If they were milking the whole time, that's 20 minutes a goat. No goat will stand there for 20 minutes....it's no wonder they stepped in the milk.

They are not new to goat chores. It does not take my 10 year old 20 minutes to milk a goat. I can milk them in 5 (except the Kinder, maybe 10).

I had been going down with them every day since kidding in April. Maybe they've gotten spoiled? But I have six human kids of my own, including a baby. I need them to be able to do this again. The goat kids are all weaned now--it's just milking 3 easy, trained milkers. They should be able to do that, shouldn't they?

Dee

[longhorngal]

I don't think you're asking too much! I have a 10 year old (just turned 10) and what I do for her and her 12 y/o sister that has Autism is write things down in a list form in the order that they need done and be very specific about what needs to be done to complete the job.
For example on cleaning the bathroom if I don't put-pick up everything off the floor and then sweep they would sweep around the junk on the floor. Of course my daughter with Autism put everything back on the floor after she swept in pretty much the same way it was before. Toys, stuff that should have been PUT AWAY lol it was pretty funny.

None of my kids have much of a work ethic, I hope someone posts about how to change that, would be great!

[christie]

To build work ethic is to encourage... Always tell them what they did right. Accentuate on the right, and they will always want to work. Especially boys they need constant praise. Let them here you talk about how good workers they are to friends and family.
It doesn't sound like alot of work... But how do you milk a goat out in less then 10 minuts. It takes me and 1/2 hour to do my barn chores and that includes milking 1 goat. I am milking by hand... My hands get so tired, and With my ff I have to have someone hold her feet. till I trust her!

I think as long as they get it done correctly its okay they take that long unless you feel they are dawdling on purpose, or you tell them to go quickly for an reason.

[RiverPines]

My kids 8 and 10, their daily chores:
Open the chickens in the morning, feed and water them.

All the rabbits have to be fed and watered and hayed. We have a lot of rabbits too.

All the baby chicks need to be fed and watered several times a day.

Bottle 3 lambs.

Water goats.

Collect chicken eggs several times through the day.

If my kids dont chip in then we dont have any animals. Its that simple.

[madness]

My mom can do all of the goat chores in about 30 minutes. It always takes me an hour. I like to dawdle - I play with the kids. I have long talks with the does. I just enjoy myself. For me, I'm not in a rush to do anything else usually. Do your kids need to get in and out of their quick? Maybe their enjoying themselves?

On the other hand, if they are getting the milk stepped in, they might be goofing off a bit much. If they can do the chores "right" (no milk waste, etc), then you should probably give them some slack on the timing. If they are screwing things up AND taking too long, well that's not good! No advice really on how to correct that. Just make sure that correction is needed.

[Aintlifegrand]

I don't think the chores you are requiring are too much. The one thing I had to learn when raising my four was to make sure I gave them feedback whenever I gave new responsibilities..

I would go down with them the next day and watch.. you don't do anything..evaluate what they are doing, how they are doing it..make suggestions of ways to quicken the chore..show them how to work smarter not harder etc and always.. show pride in what they do right.

Also, it is important for kids to know what an intregal part they play in your family. Work ethic comes from a sense of responsibility.. you instill that in them by explaining how needed they are, how important they are to the entire family unit. It is important for kids to understand this so they will feel responsible which should encourage them to keep up with their part.

Of course every day is a challenge until they are at least 25..lol and each kid is different and they are both different from you..For instance, my one son was a dawdler no mattter what we tried, he always got the job done but on his terms and time... my youngest daughter was so well organized and always on time..she worked dilligently and fast... my oldest daughter always did the best job of them all but took more time.. every detail would be perfect, whereas my youngest son took forever because he is a perfectionist to the extreme but never complained about doing a chore...It all comes down to this..you cannot expect Kid 1 to do things the same or in the same time schedule as Kid 2 or even you...if you do you will always be frustrated.

[suzyhomemaker09]

I'm there with you....
I recently ( now that school is out ) had to give "chore lessons" to my 3 kids ( 11, 10, and 8 )
They do a huge part of the livestock chores now that school is out, that includes wrangling/ milking goats ( we have 3 fresh ) feeding and watering the poultry, we have ducks, chickens, turkeys, and quail.
We have a holding pen for the goats that are waiting to be milked..that takes the trouble out of dry does getting up on the milk stand..as there is an entire pen ( read 2 gates ) between pasture and milk room.It's a simple 3 cattle panels against the existing pasture fence with them being lashed to T-posts. I also cordon off a section of this for baby goats to keep them easy access for bottles during that time. My kiddings are far past over and my bottle babies are out in the pasture with everyone now.
My kids try to pull the same thing..taking over an hour to do the work that I alone can go out and do in less than that by far. When I watch them and they don't know it I see lots of distractions and dawdling. Perhaps a refresher course would help yours.

[nomad7inwi]

I would be less concerned about how long it is taking, and more concerned about the job being done right. If you have some place to be at after chores are done then tell them they need to start chores earlier, that is teh consequences of dawdling.

My 15 & 10 year old are at Grandma's right now so the majority of the chores are falling on my 13 & 6 yo, with help from my 4yo. I am nearly 36 weeks pregnant and doing less & less chores everyday. My 13 yo used to be fairly slow on chores, they'd get done but slow. She now can get everything done, (what she and her 15 yo brother used to do together) in half the time it used to take. Experience and routine help speed things up. She has to turn on the outdoor water hydrant, feed 2 flocks of ducks (on automatic water), feed a bucket of feed to breeding pigs, 6 rabbits fed & watered (usually done by 6yo but she checks on them), check on chickens & collect eggs (they have a large feeder & automatic waterer also, need to add feed about every 2 weeks), check feeder pigs (again feeder needs to be filled about 1x a week & automatic water), check on sheep steers & goats and milk 2 goats, then put kids back with does for the day.

When I milk I get more milk than she does, but its not much less and she does the work without complaining. She has gotten some extra priviliges taking over for her siblings. Dad does the animal chores with her at night to make sure everything has been done correctly.

[FullQuiverFarm]

I think it must be that age! I have twin 12 year old brothers who are responsible for milking one cow in the morning. That involves tying the cow, cleaning out the few piles of manure, giving her feed, washing and drying her udder, then milking, and turning her out to pasture. It can easily be done in less than half an hour, but it takes them forever! Once they get to actually milking, it's quick, but they dawdle around and argue about who has to do what. Often the end up spilling part of the milk, or it gets dirty because they don't bring it inside promptly. Now the 14 and 16 year old milk at night, and that includes milking three goats, and filling all the water troughs too...and they are still faster than the 12 year olds.

I don't know what you do with your milk, but we don't have a lot of extra, so wasted milk is a bad thing! My mom plans to eventually pay the boys a little bit for their labor, and payment will be affected by how well the milking process is completed. Maybe that will be enough motivation!

Goats are pretty quick to milk. We got it down to a science last year, and could milk out each goat in less than 3 minutes. These are EASY, well trained goats though, along with well trained milkers :P First fresheners can take a little longer, and goats with small teats, or small orifices are much slower to milk out.

[Wags]

My oldest child just turned 5 in April. She can do all of the chores by herself with the exception of feeding the cows (she isn't allowed in their pasture) the milking and the watering.

I have to hand carry all of the water for all of the goats - and she sometimes tries to help with that - but she can't carry very much at a time yet.

But she feeds all of the goats, and the chickens. And while she is getting that done I do the milking. Chores this morning took about 40 minutes. Milked one experienced doe and two does that today was their first time being milked.

She sometimes gets side tracked playing the babies, especially when we have new ones, but most of the time she is pretty good about staying on task.

[Nellie]

I dunno, I have 5 boys, and I'm convinced they can't do anything TOGETHER. It takes 3 times as long if there are two doing the same job, as when there is one doing it himself. Unless there's a jackhammer involved.

[luvzmybabz]

Originally Posted by Nellie

I dunno, I have 5 boys, and I'm convinced they can't do anything TOGETHER. It takes 3 times as long if there are two doing the same job, as when there is one doing it himself. Unless there's a jackhammer involved.

This is so true even my 3 year old and 5 year old are this way they fight over the good jobs and argue over who has to do the fun ones. I am working on training them both to milk so in a few years they will be able to do it but themselves at least any first fresheners I have they have the right size hands for it.

[kreddish]

I believe kids need responsibility... so they learn what true awards are like. My philophy with my stubborn 13 year old DD. If you do it... you get prase... if you don't do it you sit in your room, and think about why not? Well this year something FINALLY clicked in her head, and she did fantastic in school. If I may brag - 1st Place Young Author of GA, 1st place JR Science Fair, 1st place Arts, Honour Roll and 1st place at local Daisy Festival for ceramics and oil pastels. I am very proud of her.... However, at home she need to feed/water the goats, thin and water the garden, help around the kitchen, and make sure her laundry is up to par/as well as her room. What you are asking is not too much... it may take them an hour... but they will get faster

[lamoncha lover]

I have found it is easier to do it myself! BUT knowing that that does not teach responsibility I refrain from taking over. I would not mind if it took hours to do a chore IF it was done right. What I keep finding is..example .I say please water the dogs now, then a bit later I check and it is not done. When asked if they watered the dogs the child will say yes. And i will say they have no water you did not water them. OOPs caught. This is a serious matter. With temps of 90 its pretty important the animals have water. I am tempted to leave the grand kids to bake in the sun a few hours and with hold water so they know what it feels like. I have threatened to gather up the stale algae infested water and serve it to them. This has happened NUMEROUS times one time when we were going to be gone overnight. Had I not checked my dogs would have been dead when we came back. It is not only the welfare of the animals it is the lying.
The worst offender is almost 13. His sister is 11. I see NO reason why children that age cannot be given responsibilities and actually follow up. I am tired of having to double check everything they do because I cannot trust them to complete a simple job. Perhaps the children will survive learning responsibility,,,maybe:>)

[The Tin Mom]

It takes me 15-20 minutes to milk one doe - but when I first started it took over an hour! I am getting faster & faster but I am very grateful that my doe is patient.

For me to milk 1 doe, individually feed 3 others (training them to the stand & getting used to being handled), water the goats, put out hay and feed & water three rabbits it takes about an hour to two hours (depends on how things go). Your kids are pretty speedy!!

I agree with the other posters - as long as they are doing things right (would be concerned about the milk not being usable, etc) I wouldn't worry about the time. If you have to have them finished by a certain time you could either have them start earlier or do the goat chores with them & keep them focused. If they aren't goofing around too much, it doesn't hurt to let them dawdle & enjoy the animals.

This is something I have wondered about which could perhaps be another thread. My doe has stepped in the milk twice & it galls me to throw it to the dogs. Could it be used for goat milk paint or soap? (found recipes for both - but not experienced enough to know).....

[MamaDee]

Thanks, everyone.

It's good to know that others' kids have the same chores.

I will try to be more forgiving of the time.....I can now that we are done with school. The problem comes when I need them back in the house for school by a certain time...or like the other day when we had to leave. Then I get upset b/c it takes so long (and always when we need to leave, it seems!)
They can do it faster when THEY have something they want to do.

I think, like others have said, that it's hard for boys to work together. They are not spending so much time b/c they are loving on the goats. Well, maybe my 10 year old, but not the 13 year old. They like the goats, but don't want to do work, it seems. They take a long time b/c they are dawdling or fighting. If the chores are done properly, then I can forgive alot of that, but it gets old.

So...what do you do when things aren't going right? The last time, I suspending video games until things improved. The next time they milked, things went fine.

Now today.......they didn't even make it out of the garage. My 10 year old couldn't find anything to put on his feet (left his boots and crocks in the rain)so 13 year old was crabbing at him. Next thing I know the younger comes into the house crying.....his older brother got mad and said he was just going to go without him. He opened his umbrella (while being all mad) and ended up wacking his younger brother in the face with it--gaving him a fat lip.

After I tended to him and he was o.k., I sent him down with a walkie talkie in case there was trouble. They're still down there, but I haven't heard anything from them yet.

I don't even know what to say when they get back. I am just sick of it.

Dee

[The Tin Mom]

Originally Posted by MamaDee

Thanks, everyone.

It's good to know that others' kids have the same chores.

I will try to be more forgiving of the time.....I can now that we are done with school. The problem comes when I need them back in the house for school by a certain time...or like the other day when we had to leave. Then I get upset b/c it takes so long (and always when we need to leave, it seems!)
They can do it faster when THEY have something they want to do.

I think, like others have said, that it's hard for boys to work together. They are not spending so much time b/c they are loving on the goats. Well, maybe my 10 year old, but not the 13 year old. They like the goats, but don't want to do work, it seems. They take a long time b/c they are dawdling or fighting. If the chores are done properly, then I can forgive alot of that, but it gets old.

So...what do you do when things aren't going right? The last time, I suspending video games until things improved. The next time they milked, things went fine.

Now today.......they didn't even make it out of the garage. My 10 year old couldn't find anything to put on his feet (left his boots and crocks in the rain)so 13 year old was crabbing at him. Next thing I know the younger comes into the house crying.....his older brother got mad and said he was just going to go without him. He opened his umbrella (while being all mad) and ended up wacking his younger brother in the face with it--gaving him a fat lip.

After I tended to him and he was o.k., I sent him down with a walkie talkie in case there was trouble. They're still down there, but I haven't heard anything from them yet.

I don't even know what to say when they get back. I am just sick of it.

Dee

Oh, my!!

Sounds like my house. I am there with you. This morning I let them all sleep because I just didn't want to deal with them. We start school back today & I really need to get them up - but I dread it!!

[MamaDee]

So yesterday was delt with......the fat lip was an accident, everybody apologized.....life goes on.

Today the boys couldn't find the barn key. The extra was on my hubby's ring at work. They are locked out. Sigh.......

I am having them take back over the barn chores b/c I need them to so I can take care of everything up here at the house. Having them do it is just turning out to be more frusterating.

This morning all at the same time:

2 yr. old DD was crying at the table b/c I gave her "too much" cereal

11 mo. old baby is crawling around crying b/c she got up too early
and the dog is trying to eat the poo out of her droppy diaper as she crawls

7 yr. old DD is crying b/c 5 yr old DS squeezed her arm

5 yr. old DS is crying b/c he wet the bed again and needs me to put him in the tub

And THEN they boys need me to figure out how they can break into the barn somehow in the pouring rain

So I called my husband, whose answer was to sell the goats. I just wanted him to say, "Wow, you are having a rough morning. I'm sorry." Instead he says he's sick of the problems with the goats and me being in a bad mood about it so we should give up.

Ugh.

Dee

[suzyhomemaker09]

I feel for you....

Are you in such an area that you nee to keep your barn locked ?

If this is the case perhaps a couple of spare keys on a special keep at home ring would be a good back up plan, keys cost about $1 each...lot less than busting a good lock.
With my crew they get allowance and " house dollars" according to how well they perform their given chores. There is a grading scale on the jobs they do, and if any major tasks are not completed they get a fail for that period...fails get no house dollars which are used for video game time and TV time or other special treats. If they get a fail on a day they also receive no cash allowance for that day, again the cash they get is awarded for what they do, my very soon to be 12 year old ( tomorrow is his birthday ) milks 3 goats..he has the capability of earning $1 a day for his chores, the girls who do lesser work, moving goats to and from stand and feeding poultry, giving baby goats bottles, get incrementally less per day.
During school days I take over morning milking, but the goats are put in a holding pen, and feed is put in the bucket of the milkstand. Water levels are checked so no one will run out in the course of a school day. toss a bit of cracked corn for the birds and all is set.
My DH gets annoyed and frequently suggests we give up our goats as a veiled threat occasionally also. I know he loves the idea of having goats more than I do

[Alice In TX/MO]

Remember the song....

Life on the farm is kinda laid back,
Ain't nothin' an old country boy like me can't hack
Early to rise and early in the sack,
Thank God I'm a country boy.

Did he ever raise a passle of kids on a farm? ROFL:banana02:

Sounds like one of those normal transition times from school session to summer.