Having a heck of a time finding reliable, part-time farm help. Any ideas? I live in North Salem, NY and need someone to help with regular chores 2-3 days per week and when traveling. Have tried a couple of people but no one has been reliable. Seems like in this economy people would be happy to find work but it does not seem so!
When you find out, let me know! I cant find anyone either. No one wants to work, especially teens and young adults. I thought for sure during the summer I could find someone… Nope.
I have a suggestion. Take in a boarder. I have always handled chores on every farm where I have been a boarder. If your horse or horses are there, then the “help” is super reliable. I feed, muck and much more when owners are away. Just a thought…
Target your search and find a retired Senior Citizen. They are more reliable and often want to supplement their S.S. income.
If you have a senior center or club, put up a flyer there.
How much are you paying? How many hours of work?
Someone posted something similar about a year ago with what they were paying (hourly rate) and how far they expected someone to have to drive to get to their place (off the beaten path) and when the collective COTH powers did the math, we all figured the OP wasn’t paying enough and wasn’t offering enough work to make it worthwhile.
Let’s say you’re offering 12 hours a week (4 days of work, 3 hours a day) and are paying $120. Let’s also say that on average potential applicants have a 10 mile commute each way to get to your place, and it takes them about 20 minutes each way. So that’s 40 minutes of driving + 20 miles of driving.
Let’s say they get 20 miles/gallon to their car, and it costs them about $5 to do your commute (gas + minor incidental wear and tear) They’ve added 2 1/2 hours of driving to their lives + 80 miles a week to their car for $100. That’s really not that good a deal (especially given barn work is physically demanding and dirty) You add in a slightly longer commute or higher gas prices or fewer hours…
I think if it gets written off as “people don’t want to work” you’re discounting real concerns potential workers may have. People who aren’t experienced barn help may realize after a couple of days that the work is not worth the paycheck, especially since there is a real risk of injury working around horses.
The problem I’ve had with working at different farms is the level of care they give is not up to my standard and I spend 3 hrs stripping stalls, scrubbing water tanks, bringing them in and out, etc… The owner only wants to pay for one hour, barely over minimal wage at that, and doesn’t understand why I take so long making sure everyone has fresh water, finished dinner, fly spray, clean stalls. Mind you this is for 12-15 horses. After a few times like that you get burned out, especially when the check doesn’t clear. Ask your vet or feed store for someone that works with them that would like extra hours. Facebook is great for listings as well.
this
[QUOTE=littleum;7692422]
How much are you paying? How many hours of work?
Someone posted something similar about a year ago with what they were paying (hourly rate) and how far they expected someone to have to drive to get to their place (off the beaten path) and when the collective COTH powers did the math, we all figured the OP wasn’t paying enough and wasn’t offering enough work to make it worthwhile.
Let’s say you’re offering 12 hours a week (4 days of work, 3 hours a day) and are paying $120. Let’s also say that on average potential applicants have a 10 mile commute each way to get to your place, and it takes them about 20 minutes each way. So that’s 40 minutes of driving + 20 miles of driving.
Let’s say they get 20 miles/gallon to their car, and it costs them about $5 to do your commute (gas + minor incidental wear and tear) They’ve added 2 1/2 hours of driving to their lives + 80 miles a week to their car for $100. That’s really not that good a deal (especially given barn work is physically demanding and dirty) You add in a slightly longer commute or higher gas prices or fewer hours…
I think if it gets written off as “people don’t want to work” you’re discounting real concerns potential workers may have. People who aren’t experienced barn help may realize after a couple of days that the work is not worth the paycheck, especially since there is a real risk of injury working around horses.[/QUOTE]
and also this
I get to say on a near daily basis that horse people (not necessarily OP as I don’t have a clue what she’s offering) are the cheapest people in the world. And clueless. And you can do the math for them, but they still don’t care, because they are also stubborn. FWIW I am cheap and stubborn haha but I also clean my own stalls.
The problem I had with part time (2-3 days/week) work was that the chores were sloppily done, or not done at all on the other days. I always ended up doing a full week’s work for three day’s pay.
Very tough to find reliable ‘help’ `` my solution do it myself ~
Very tough to find reliable or any barn ‘help’ for small private barn `` regardless of $ or hours or type of work. IMHO
adding
I never ask anyone to do anything I don’t do …
I continueto look everywhere . vet clinics, feed stores, networking and have called high schools …
my solution has become keep the work to the amount I can complete myself on a daily basis
though my house cleaning :eek: may suffer :lol::winkgrin: … my equine and feline friends are always my priority 
Jingles you find someone who ‘fits’ and ‘helps’ ~
I actually lucked out and found a young woman who does the billing for our local vet clinic. She lives right around the corner and can do the clinic work on a very flexible schedule, so is able to come here 5 mornings a week. We pay 15 an hour, couldn’t imagine anyone doing it for less.
[QUOTE=luvmyhackney;7692530]
The problem I’ve had with working at different farms is the level of care they give is not up to my standard and I spend 3 hrs stripping stalls, scrubbing water tanks, bringing them in and out, etc… The owner only wants to pay for one hour, barely over minimal wage at that, and doesn’t understand why I take so long making sure everyone has fresh water, finished dinner, fly spray, clean stalls. Mind you this is for 12-15 horses. After a few times like that you get burned out, especially when the check doesn’t clear. Ask your vet or feed store for someone that works with them that would like extra hours. Facebook is great for listings as well.[/QUOTE]
This. And then I worked 32 14hr days with no day off and then the water company shows up to cut the water off while the farm owners have gone to Aachen for WEG and I have 35 horses on the farm…And…and…and. Yeah, that is why I keep my horses at home and no longer work in the barn management side of the industry.
OP, I may have a solution to your problem! I PM’ed you. It’s not a forever fix, but hopefully it helps you out!
The better question is how much are you paying and is the amount of work fair/reasonable?
IMHO and IME ( speaking as a BM here ) people don’t want barn jobs because BOs are cheap and unreasonable, boarders are controlfreaks, messy, obnoxious, unreasonable and make a barn worker’s life difficult, and the horses are unreasonable/difficult.
It not a matter of a bygone era of hard workers. It’s a matter of the increasing difficulty a barn grunt faces dealing with these people. This kind of work is labor intensive and unrewarding.
What works best is having a boarder or working student do several days.
I pay well. Most people in most skilled hourly jobs don’t make as much per hour as I pay. I’ve put a lot of money, blood, sweat and tears into my horses and I have no intentions of saving myself a few dollars on inadequate help and then regretting it. I will pay a little extra to KNOW things are being done safely and correctly. The amount of work is pretty minimal considering that it’s a horse farm. It was just built in the fall and ease-of-chores was a major design consideration since I do it all myself…365 days a year…every year of my life.
I would never be able to tolerate a boarder, but I like the Senior Citizen idea. I’ve had a couple of older women help me in the past and they sure take pride in their work. It’s just a matter of finding one!!
Anyway, I got a recommendation through a friend for a woman that will hopefully work. I’ve asked my vet, my friend’s vet, etc. If this lady doesn’t work out I suppose the next stop will be the feed store. My husband is going to KILL ME if I can’t ever take a vacation again!
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone.
I occasionally look at CL and the like, I’d like to think I’m the ideal “part time help” person (responsible, know horses, reliable transportation etc) BUT most people seem to want someone to work during the time I’m at work. Ads tend to read something like “3-4 hours of work, 7am-12 and/or 2-5.” I would happily muck stalls, dump grain, and whatnot for some pocket money for a person who is ok with it being later than they might prefer, or only on weekends. I can imagine it being extremely hard to find good help who doesn’t already have a “real” job.
Have a bunch of kids? It works out pretty good until they hit the late teens.
OP, call your local high school and ask for the FFA coordinator. Usually they will have several kids who are interested.
Currently I am what you would call, “reliable farm help.” I am a boarder that works 4 nights a week in exchange for greatly reduced board. I’ve been trading boarding for work for a couple of years now. It’s a win+win for me because I know what level of care my horse is getting, and saving some money too.
I think it is most important that you and barn worker’s values align. I couldn’t ask for a better situation as of now. I did not reply to an ad for barn help, I found a barn that I wanted to board at and inquired about trading work for board.
As OP said she could never “tolerate” a boarder, working or otherwise, I imagine being the hired help would be equally uncomfortable.
[QUOTE=ladyj79;7699025]
As OP said she could never “tolerate” a boarder, working or otherwise, I imagine being the hired help would be equally uncomfortable.[/QUOTE]
I thought the same, just didn’t want to say it!
