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Barn Chores - How long does it take you?

Off Course
#1

I am reconfiguring out employee hours and duties. I think our current staff is taking too long to do their barn chores, but I’d like to get other opinions first.

How long should it take for the following scenarios:

Scenario #1 -
Hay/Grain 16 horses in stalls and 2 minis outside
Water/Hay 4 turnouts
Turnout 16 horses
Clean/rebed (as needed) 16 stalls
hay/water stalls for evening crew (16 stalls)

Scenario #2 -
Bring in 16 horses from turnouts (leading 2 at a time)
hay/Grain 16 horses in their stalls
Blanket 16 horses
final hay/water check

#2

It may sound silly, but a couple details can add a lot of time to those tasks. For example:

How far are the turnout areas from the barn? I’ve had mine vary from 30 feet away to over a tenth of a mile away.

Do you have one hose for all the watering, or does each stall have its own pipes? (Going to guess you weren’t talking about auto waterers)

Does each horse get roughly the same grain? Or do they all have supplements? How far is the feed room from the stalls (I’ve had some in lofts) and do the workers need to make multiple trips or can they carry all grain in one trip? Do you have hay chutes through a loft or do they have to carry hay?

Are you able to pay your workers by task instead of by the hour? Maybe that is something to consider (if you can). How many people are working together to feed/water/do stalls/etc? The hours will be a lot different with 1 worker vs 4 workers.

#3

It depends on a lot of factors, such as how big your facility is.

If I had to estimate based on a farm that has feed room, hay room, stalls, paddocks all relatively close together, I’d say somewhere around four hours for scenario 1 and one to two hours for scenario 2?

But without seeing the farm and, honestly, without doing it it’s hard to say.

#4

In a similar situation, I was able to do those tasks in about 2 hours in the am, and 45-1hr in pm.

It really depends on whether they multi-task. I would always feed first. While you’re waiting for the horses to finish their feed, start cleaning stalls and filling water buckets. Once they’re done, turn out. Do the hay and water while you’re out there. Head back inside and finish stalls and re-bed, dump manure, sweep aisles, etc.

#5

Another factor in Sc. 1 is how much bedding is in the stalls. If you are on concrete and bed with 8 bags of shavings that’s gonna take a lot longer than if you have mats and bed with 3 bags of shavings.

#6

I always did the job myself first, then added 15 min to half an hour figuring the employee wasn’t me and didn’t know the “short cuts.” I have 5 horses, all on turn out --nothing as big as you --but the principles, I think would remain the same as for any employee/task:

  1. Figure out what you want done and how you want it done
  2. Do the job yourself, thoroughly and well, noting how much time it takes you.
  3. Add 15 min-20 min to the time.
  4. Write down the procedure (laminate it, put it in the barn along with emergency contact numbers) --my help was to call me for any reason during or after feeding --then I decided if a vet should come or if I just needed a look-see)
  5. Explain the procedure to the new employee and walk him/her through the job twice (two consecutive days) --I employed high school students, some had no livestock experience, others did. --First day, I did the job, employee watched. Second day employee did the job, I watched and critiqued. Asked employee for feedback --anything not working how he/she expected. At that point, we had a pretty good feel for time.
  6. Third day (or time) employee is ‘on his own’ --but I check everything.
  7. After a week, revisit the time issue --is employee taking too long? If the time is remarkably shorter, is there a “bad” reason (not allowing horses time to eat all feed) or a “good reason” --had one boy who could carry two bales of hay at a time --one in each hand --cut the time way down.
  8. If you feel employee is “sand bagging” or “gold bricking” --explain that you can only pay for 1 hour a day --if it takes longer, the pay is the same. Usually cures the laggardly. On the other hand, some workers could do an hour’s work in 30 min or 45 --I still paid them the full hour if the job was thoroughly done well. Some boys (and a few girls) who worked for me would truly hustle or bring a parent to help if there was a practice or game to get to --ok with me -but I still paid the same.

And a bit of a brag (?) here --I paid well above minimum --I gave bonuses on Christmas and employee’s birthday and raises at six month intervals. I told the workers I appreciated them, and I told parents how great their kids were. In the 35 years I’ve had high school students working for me, I never had any quit or not show up. Some, of course, were better than others. Other barn owners ask me how I keep my help (I do kick them out after they graduate high school, but all stayed 4 years and some “gave” the job to younger brothers or sisters when they left.) --when I say, I pay well --I hear, “Well, I can’t afford that much.” Ok --but money TALKS and when I’m competing with McDonalds and other places for good teenagers, money is truly, I believe, what matters to the employee.

Foxglove

#7

I always did the job myself first, then added 15 min to half an hour figuring the employee wasn’t me and didn’t know the “short cuts.” I have 5 horses, all on turn out --nothing as big as you --but the principles, I think would remain the same as for any employee/task:

  1. Figure out what you want done and how you want it done
  2. Do the job yourself, thoroughly and well, noting how much time it takes you.
  3. Add 15 min-20 min to the time.
  4. Write down the procedure (laminate it, put it in the barn along with emergency contact numbers) --my help was to call me for any reason during or after feeding --then I decided if a vet should come or if I just needed a look-see)
  5. Explain the procedure to the new employee and walk him/her through the job twice (two consecutive days) --I employed high school students, some had no livestock experience, others did. --First day, I did the job, employee watched. Second day employee did the job, I watched and critiqued. Asked employee for feedback --anything not working how he/she expected. At that point, we had a pretty good feel for time.
  6. Third day (or time) employee is ‘on his own’ --but I check everything.
  7. After a week, revisit the time issue --is employee taking too long? If the time is remarkably shorter, is there a “bad” reason (not allowing horses time to eat all feed) or a “good reason” --had one boy who could carry two bales of hay at a time --one in each hand --cut the time way down.
  8. If you feel employee is “sand bagging” or “gold bricking” --explain that you can only pay for 1 hour a day --if it takes longer, the pay is the same. Usually cures the laggardly. On the other hand, some workers could do an hour’s work in 30 min or 45 --I still paid them the full hour if the job was thoroughly done well. Some boys (and a few girls) who worked for me would truly hustle or bring a parent to help if there was a practice or game to get to --ok with me -but I still paid the same.

And a bit of a brag (?) here --I paid well above minimum --I gave bonuses on Christmas and employee’s birthday and raises at six month intervals. I told the workers I appreciated them, and I told parents how great their kids were. In the 35 years I’ve had high school students working for me, I never had any quit or not show up. Some, of course, were better than others. Other barn owners ask me how I keep my help (I do kick them out after they graduate high school, but all stayed 4 years and some “gave” the job to younger brothers or sisters when they left.) --when I say, I pay well --I hear, “Well, I can’t afford that much.” Ok --but money TALKS and when I’m competing with McDonalds and other places for good teenagers, money is truly, I believe, what matters to the employee.

Foxglove

#8

In all honesty feeding and cleaning and turnout for 16 horses plus managing everything in the paddocks would be a full time job for several people. My suggestions would to make the employees salaried.

#9

I’ve done very similar work to Scenario #1. It took anywhere from 2.5 - 5 hours depending on condition of the stalls (these horses were only in overnight in bad weather, but that would really quadruple the time spent on stalls). This was in the winter, with ice/cold/freezing, which also just naturally makes things take longer.

There are too many variations here to really say - how barn/turnouts/feed/hay areas are laid out, how long horses are inside, how messy they are in stalls, what tools are available (doing stalls with a large spreader or gator vs many trips with a manual wheelbarrow etc)

I have seen many cases where BO pays for a certain number of hours per shift, and if it takes longer than that then you just have to continue and complete it for same pay. In my case, I found that the allotted time was just enough to get everything done in ideal conditions (and I am efficient and don’t goof around). On the days with a foot of snow and very messy stalls it could easily take twice as long.

#10

I agree that it really depends.

Feed- Does the person have to make beet pulp? Do the horses all have different supplements? Do some horses get soaked feed?

Turnout- Can you lead multiple horses at once? Do they wear boots/blankets? How far are the turnouts?

Water- Do they have to lug hoses all around or are the troughs already set up near hydrants? Are the troughs scrubbed daily/weekly? Are the stalls bucketed or do they have auto-waters? How often do they have to dump/clean those?

Stalls- How far away is the muck pile? Are the tools in good shape? How far away are the shavings? Are the stalls bedded on mats or on dirt?

Etc!!
It really depends on the setup of the farm!

#11

Okay, so hearing that it depends based on the facility makes perfect sense, so let me give some info on that.

  1. All stalls are matted
  2. Manure pile is right behind barn (about a 50’ walk) and we much using wheelbarrows (not a spreader/tractor)
  3. 10 stalls are 12x13
    6 are small box stalls (take about 1/2 the amount of time as the larger stalls)
  4. We bed on the thinner side, so usually not more then 1 load per stall and shavings are located in a bay in the barn.
  5. Hoses/pumps very close to all turnouts (no dragging hoses)
  6. Horse do not go out in boots, but sometimes blanket (there is a blanket change AM/PM)
  7. Feed is very organized. All horses get a combination of 2 different feeds. We do beet pulp, but soak for 30 minutes only (obviously can be doing other things while its soaking). Only 5 horses are on supplements and they are smartpaks.

Hopefully that gives you all an idea of our set-up.

Thanks

#12

One farm I help out at pays by the horse for morning chores.
Standard horse: feed (prepared) grain, turn out, check all fences/troughs, fix/fill if needed, clean stall, empty water bucket, re-bed, fill water bucket, place PM hay in stall. Sweep, empty spreader. $3 per horse Extra pay is given for additional complications
Complicated horses with blanket changes/boots ect $3.50 or $4

PM person: bring in, top off troughs & check fences, prepare PM feed, feed horses, prepare AM feed, refill hay cart, sweep. This is done at a flat rate hourly rate and takes 1 1/2-2 hours. Won’t pay more than 2 per day, unless there was something out of the ordinary which has to be noted on their pay sheet.

This works well for this facility as horses are in and out all the time, in for training for 1-2 months, sometimes a week tune-up, then gone for 5 days to a show. I am fairly certain there hasn’t been a weekend since spring that at least one horse has been horse showing.

#13

I will add that, at this farm, historically, it is pretty easy to get 4 horses done in an hour if you hustle and make 12-16 per hour. Or you can turtle and make $6 per hour. As long as stalls are done & set up by the time horses come in at 3 no one cares. Customers seldom show up prior.

#14

Well, I have two on staff who feed 32 horses (28 inside and 4 outside), blanket as needed and turnout our 12 (the rest are rough boarders), clean, rebed and hay stalls, clean auto waterers, remake grains, feed lunch. There is usually another ‘project’ like doing cobwebs, bringing in hay from the trailer, raking the indoor track, scrubbing outside waterers that takes about a half hour each.
They take a total of 7 man-hours with a pay of 10/hour.

#15

Teach me your ways! Busting my tail multi-tasking and working at top speed I could do the above scenario #1 with EIGHT horses in 3 hours without blanket changes.

Even doing a speed picking at 10-15 minutes per stall came out to at least a hour and a half for mucking. Adding in more shavings, dropping hay, sweeping back shavings from stall door, refilling water buckets, blowing out the barn, easily added another 30 minutes. Turnout, checking outdoor troughs, blanket changes, and grain prep was 30-60 minutes. It also wasn’t a big facility and had easy to manage horses.

#16

Our chores consist of:

  1. Hay, grain, water 10 horses.
  2. Clean paddocks (stalls don’t get used unless the weather is really terrible).
  3. Feed, water, clean 2 duck / chicken coops, including 3 kiddie pools.
  4. Feed, water, clean 2 dog kennels.
  5. Feed, water, clean 4 cat areas (barn cats, and 3 sets of rescue cats)
  6. Feed / water 2 emu pens.

Including various cleaning around the barn area, this takes 2 people approximately an hour.

#17

[QUOTE=GraceLikeRain;8365595]
Teach me your ways! Busting my tail multi-tasking and working at top speed I could do the above scenario #1 with EIGHT horses in 3 hours without blanket changes.

Even doing a speed picking at 10-15 minutes per stall came out to at least a hour and a half for mucking. Adding in more shavings, dropping hay, sweeping back shavings from stall door, refilling water buckets, blowing out the barn, easily added another 30 minutes. Turnout, checking outdoor troughs, blanket changes, and grain prep was 30-60 minutes. It also wasn’t a big facility and had easy to manage horses.[/QUOTE]

Really, 16 horses at 5 minutes per stall (which I feel is usually inadequate unless they’ve only been inside long enough to eat) is already 80 minutes. At 10 minutes per stall you’d be pushing 3 hours on stalls alone, nevermind anything else.

#18

As others have said, it is so so hard to estimate because little things can make a huge difference.

I would rough estimate 5 hours for Scenario #1. If your horses are good, can be walked in multiples, and don’t get a huge breakfast, I could potentially do it in 4 hours. Similarly, if your turnouts are set up poorly, horses are pigs, or some need to be handled one at a time, 6 hours wouldn’t be unreasonable.

Pay also plays a factor. I would not expect someone new to my facility to handle my horses two at a time. If you’re paying $12+ an hour, you can probably find someone who is comfortable will that and will be ok taking two at a time quickly. However, if you’re looking in the $7-10 range, you need to time it taking one horse at a time. I take a lot of risks with my horses that I would never expect an employee to take.

Generally I budget 5 stalls per hour, and we muck into a barn cleaner or skid steer, so only shavings and being wheel barrowed around. And when you time yourself, time yourself like a staff member: read every single feed chart, double check every supplement, fumble with the blankets a bit, etc. And then STILL add the extra 15-30 minutes mentioned above.

#19

We have 16 horses in our barn currently. Stalls are 12x20 with attached paddocks and bedded with sawdust. Feed, turnout, cleaning, and prepping normally take one person 4 hours/day.

#20

OP, I am familiar with your facility so maybe this will help:

When I was doing those same chores for 14 horses, with a similar distance to turnouts, waters, etc this is what it looked like:

AM chores:
Prep grain and feed 14 stalled horses and 4 outside horses
Move outside horses to daytime field, put hay in paddocks and fill waters for other 14
Turn out 14 horses (2 at a time usually), maybe change blankets as needed depending on weather
Muck 14 stalls and re-bed as needed (on rubber mats, not bedded super deeply)
Dump water buckets and re-hang
Prep PM beet pulp
Put PM hay in stalls
Sweep/blow aisle
Estimated time for 1 person: about 3 hours

PM Chores:
Fill water buckets in stalls
Prep grain for PM meal
Bring in 14 horses, move outside horses to PM pasture
Feed grain
Check water for outside horses, dump waters for outside paddocks
Detach all hoses and bring in (if going to freeze)
Blanket change for inside/outside horses as needed
Estimated time: 2 hours

Late Night:
Fill waters
Give late night hay if needed
Change blankets if weather not cooperating
Estimated time: 1 hour or less

Hope that helps

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