Our alarm goes at 3:54 a.m. every morning. After hearing news and weather, I am out of bed a 4 a.m. to do chores. We are dairy farmers and chores are at 4 a.m. and p.m. I generally head for bed around 8:30 p.m. and DH generally around 9 p.m. unless we are at church activities and then it may be later.
What Time Do You All Wake Up And Why?
- Thread starter WhiteMountainsRanch
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WhiteMountainsRanch
Loving the herd life
These are all great!
So why the stigmatism that just because your a farmer you have to get up at the buttcrack of dawn? I mean the animals can be fed at say 8 am and 8 pm instead of 6 and 6 right?
So why the stigmatism that just because your a farmer you have to get up at the buttcrack of dawn? I mean the animals can be fed at say 8 am and 8 pm instead of 6 and 6 right?
ourflockof4
Chillin' with the herd
I think a lot of it depends on how you define a "farmer" Having a few animals/pets to take care of doesn't make someone a farmer in my opinion. A farmer raises agricultural produces, grain, livestock, fish, ect to sell to earn money. It could further be defined that a farmer 100% of his income by farming, and a hobby farmer has a day job & uses it for supplimental income.
Another aspect of it is based on tradition more then modern agriculture. Back in the day when the majority of farms in the US had diary cows, or other livestock, and grain farmed. You had to get the field work donw when you had daylight, so milking the cows came before dawn. When you making hay in the summer you need to work with the dew. If you don't start milking until 8 it's hard to get that done & get out to the field & get the whole thing rakes before the dew burns off. Even with all the lighting on new tractors it is still easier to get field work done when it's light out. Production livestock produces better when on a schedule. It's easier to mantain the schedule when it is first thing in the morning before you start anything else.
But yes, if all you had to do was livestock chores you could do them whenever you wanted to. A lot of dairys milk 3 times a day, every 8 hours. I know one local guy that raises 30 head of beef cows, he doesn't do his monring chore till 8-9am. It seems to work for him, he only feeds once a day also.
Another aspect of it is based on tradition more then modern agriculture. Back in the day when the majority of farms in the US had diary cows, or other livestock, and grain farmed. You had to get the field work donw when you had daylight, so milking the cows came before dawn. When you making hay in the summer you need to work with the dew. If you don't start milking until 8 it's hard to get that done & get out to the field & get the whole thing rakes before the dew burns off. Even with all the lighting on new tractors it is still easier to get field work done when it's light out. Production livestock produces better when on a schedule. It's easier to mantain the schedule when it is first thing in the morning before you start anything else.
But yes, if all you had to do was livestock chores you could do them whenever you wanted to. A lot of dairys milk 3 times a day, every 8 hours. I know one local guy that raises 30 head of beef cows, he doesn't do his monring chore till 8-9am. It seems to work for him, he only feeds once a day also.
Stubbornhillfarm
Ridin' The Range
4:50am so that we can get all the morning farm chores done before we go off to our real jobs that pay for the farm. 
Cricket
Ridin' The Range
My first thought was, 'well, duh, who wants to be out doing chores at 8 at night when it's been dark for 3 hours and it's 20 below and the wind is howling. Much better to get it done at first and last light'. Then remembered where you live--not an issue, is it?
I think a lot of it, too, is just habit--I feel like the whole day has passed me by if I'm not up at first light. (But about 2 when I'm taking a nap it doesn't bother me a bit!)
I think a lot of it, too, is just habit--I feel like the whole day has passed me by if I'm not up at first light. (But about 2 when I'm taking a nap it doesn't bother me a bit!)
SkyWarrior
Loving the herd life
My animals hate me.
I get up somewhere between 11 am and 1 pm. But then, I finish up with them somewhere around midnight to 2 am.
Ah the life of an author/publisher!
I get up somewhere between 11 am and 1 pm. But then, I finish up with them somewhere around midnight to 2 am.
Ah the life of an author/publisher!
Mamaboid
Loving the herd life
I WAKE up at 5:30 am every morning. I GET up at 6. My DH leaves for work between 6:45 and 7:15. I feed and let the animals out sometime between 8am and 9am. Depends on if I am milking at the time and how many. We put the animals to bed about 10 minutes before dark, whatever time that is. My DH goes to bed around 9:30pm, but I am a night owl so I am always up until at least midnight or later. I need very little sleep, which is good cause I sleep fer crap.
Canadiannee
Chillin' with the herd
We're generally up at 4am Mon thru Fri, and not because we want to! Beloved husand has to be on the job site at 6am, and because both barns are out of town, he's our ride and drop off on the way (I don't drive anymore) Horses are fed and out by 6am, then we hustle down the road to feed livestock at 7am... weekends are a bit different... we delay night time feedings and turn in by an hour to get an extra hour sleep in Saturday and Sunday morns!
Even if beloved husband didn't have a "crack of dawn" job, I think I'd still be a 4am riser... I like getting feed, turn out and barn chores done before 9am, and then having the rest of the day to do whatever suits my fancy!
Even if beloved husband didn't have a "crack of dawn" job, I think I'd still be a 4am riser... I like getting feed, turn out and barn chores done before 9am, and then having the rest of the day to do whatever suits my fancy!
