Hello,

Do farmers and ranchers take vacations? How can a person go on vacation from the small farm if they have livestock? How do you manage that if you do not have farmhands other than the owner? Please let me know your ideas and sugestions.

-- Ruthlynn (rmuhoberac@yahoo.com), July 17, 2001

Answers

Yes you can go on vacation , trade off chores with a neighbor or hire a person for a week to do chores.

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), July 17, 2001.

I trade off with a good friend. When he leaves for his, I water/feed his horses, in return he takes care of our dogs. Always schedule when the gardens can be left untended.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), July 17, 2001.

We are off camping for ten days,the mare is being bred at another farm,the yearling horses I boarded out( they get into too much trouble alone)Meat chickens to the butcher,rabbits too.Litter of kittens went to homes ...perfect...cept for the 120 lb dog,who tends to molest other campers.He will stay home and a friend does the hens and cats that are left.Holidays are real important to my kids so we do plan butcherings and breedings around vacation times.and trade off with other folks.I would like to find aome wannabees to come and stay here ,or some city people who would like to get away.I would have loved too,when we were city people.

-- teri (mrs_smurf2000@yahoo.ca), July 17, 2001.

We pay a local homeschooled young man to come once a day and do all the chores, he comes ahead of time to learn step by step what is to be done, and I write EVERYTHING down in great detail so there are few questions. It takes him about 20 minutes to get here, and about an hour and a half to do the chores most days, and we pay him 20 dollars a day. He has farm animals himself so is familiar with "critters" and their troubles that may happen, plus we leave a list of phone numbers of vets, friends to ask for assistance, our phone number (cell phone), my parents phone number, etc., and the directions to the farm from the nearest fire station. We usually call after 3-4 days to see if everything is OK and if there are any questions, then every 3-4 days following, just to ease my mind my critters are fine!!!

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), July 17, 2001.

Hi, Ruthlynn. It's been ten years or so since I missed a milking. I don't mind it too much because it's a way of life for me, but I can understand that it isn't the norm for most of the population anymore. It's only really a problem when I'm sick, but that doesn't happen too often and when it does it's just as easy to feel rotten in the barn as it is to feel rotten in the house. :)

Jennifer L.

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@imcnet.net), July 17, 2001.

A good relation with your local 4H can help with vacation time. Being friendly with neighbors also help. For me not having enough money for a vacation usually solves the problem.

-- Gary (gws@redbird.net), July 17, 2001.

Vacation? What's that? Actually, we had one this year! It's been seven years since our last one. Friends of ours who have livestock did chores for us TWICE a day while we were away for almost three weeks and then we did theirs twice a day while they were gone. That's GOOD friends! And we live 17 miles apart. We really set things up so that they could have come by every other day (but they really like our little llama!), which is what we do if we want to go away overnight or a weekend. We just leave extra hay, extra waterers and fill the feeders very full. We have sheep, goats, llamas, chickens and cats. The dog goes to his "cousin's" house or with us. But, if you milk, obviously you'll have to hire someone. I think the 4-Her idea is good, maybe even a homeschooler that you know. Also, we label all the feed and put it near the pens - make it as easy as possible for the caretaker. Hope this helps!

-- Jean (schiszik@tbcnet.com), July 17, 2001.