What farm task do kids today know nothing about.

mbohuntr · Apr 27, 2018

Mendonsy said:
My favorite was always loading the manure spreader by hand. Just a wheelbarrow, a shovel, and a pitchfork to work with. It's been over 50 years and my back still hurts when I think about it!

Dad used to keep our yearlings in a old dairy barn stall room, and by spring, their backs were touching the ceiling. That's 3' of compacted crap mixed with hay, 12' wide, 16' long with a fork through a window into a spreader.... and no... I don't farm any more..... :cool2:

DrRod · Apr 27, 2018

A local radio personality was talking about the 20-year old he hired as an intern. After a couple months, he discovered he was behind in his bills. Turned out the intern didn't know how to mail a letter -- even with the stamp on it he didn't know where to put it.

I grew up in a small town but spent considerable time helping my grandparents with what little farming they still did. I can remember manning the gates as we loaded cattle when I was 8 or 9 years old [probably as law against that now]. I can also remember stacking sheaves of wheat on a wagon and then helping drag the sacks as they filled from the separator. But they always emphasized how in the country you had to be a jack of all trades -- help can be hard to come by or far away. So I've learned to do some maintenance on the tractor and ATVs, fix some plumbing, and do basic carpentry. My kids sort of stare in wonder at these things.

And there's all sorts of simple knowledge that they just don't have. Like putting fireplace ashes on an icy driveway. Draining the pipes for the winter. Or selecting logs to cut for firewood [no pine please and lets start with the dry stuff]. And how or when to trim a shrub, or plant one for that matter. Plus the related digging a hole with digging bar and hand-powered hole diggers.

One more comes to mind: hitching implements to a tractor. When I got my first one, the three-point hitch looked like something from the space shuttle. With some experience and some effort getting your head around the geometry of it all, it goes pretty well. But I'll bet there are very few people in the general population who can work with it.

Steppenwolfe · Apr 27, 2018

Let's see... shoveling every kind of pooh there was into a manure spreader pulled by an Oliver "tricycle", loading hay bales 40 ft up in a barn that is 110 degrees, shearing sheep ( I was the catcher ), and cultivating with an old Farmall cub that could bust a kidney loose... Yeah, those were the good ole days...

Ortimber · Apr 27, 2018

Starting a Diesel engine with a pony motor
Starting a Diesel engine on gas first
Adjusting ignition points

CADplans · Apr 27, 2018

My daughter was born in 1989,,, my wife acquired a dairy cow in 1999,,
The dairy cow was "blind" in one teat,,, but, we milked that cow daily,,
Well, my daughter milked that cow EVERY day, actually she helped, because, mom did the milking too.

We fed the excess milk to two pigs,, the pigs were slaughtered,, and my daughter was not squeamish about eating the sausage,,,

Now, my daughter has four children,,, she is talking about getting farm animals for her children to take care of,,
they already have chickens.

Streetcar · Apr 27, 2018

There are a bunch of things mentioned that you have to be sixty or older to have done

/pine · Apr 27, 2018

Streetcar said:
There are a bunch of things mentioned that you have to be sixty or older to have done

Yeah... These days...school desks don't have ink wells...!

buckeyefarmer · Apr 27, 2018

Using a fountain pen.

k0ua · Apr 27, 2018

I remember my years from about 10 years to 12 or 13 we had many beef cattle and they had to be "worked". Treated for fly's, pink eye treatments, smash the cords in the ******* of those that needed it with a huge ******* cord smashing machine called a Burdizzo. They really liked that.

Then shoot them up with huge syringes for Blackleg and Lepto and other cow diseases. And try to keep those huge needles out of your own hide, because they did not appreciate being stuck. Then gag them with some really nasty worm boluses shoved down their throat with a "gun" that was about 2 foot long. gotta get 'em deep or they will spit them up. They really loved all of this wonderful attention.

My job was to run the head catching device and put the back boards (2x6's) behind them so they can't back up. Lots of work for a little kid and we often worked at least 12 hours straight covered in cow scat working with animals that would be happy to kill you if they could. You learned quick to be quick and how to avoid getting hurt. There were plenty of opportunity's. I never got seriously hurt, but my father did.

Yep, good times, but not something a kid will ever forget. I did it for several years, I also miked several head of goats and cared for them. They aren't much trouble. Except for the billy goat. He hates your butt, and wants to hurt you if he can. A good 2x4 over his head usually cooled him down a bunch. Several of our billies would often do what they could to break one of your legs. No broken bones, but it sure felt like it a few time. As I got older I could flatten him with my fist to his ribs, but when he got up he was usually ready to go again.

Those things are mindless. I have seen them fight with the bull for some time. The bull (Angus without horns) and the goat also without horns, would fight until the bull got tired of the game, and pick up the goat with his massive head and toss him way up in the air and the goat would hit the ground with a thud. It usually knocked the wind out of him for some time and the game was over.

All of our nanny goats were gentle and friendly, and were actually like pets.