CHILD LABOUR

keep going

A comment on another thread put me thinking, those of you that have youngsters do ye work them and what do they do.those that havent what did ye do and when did you start-I'm expecting a little exaggeration. My self had jobs every evening after national school, clean out the cow byre, feed the calves ration and take hay to the cattle on auld hill outside.started milking at 12 as the father was sick and was doing everything with my mother when he died when I was 16

Reggie.

keep going wrote: »

A comment on another thread put me thinking, those of you that have youngsters do ye work them and what do they do.those that havent what did ye do and when did you start-I'm expecting a little exaggeration. My self had jobs every evening after national school, clean out the cow byre, feed the calves ration and take hay to the cattle on auld hill outside.started milking at 12 as the father was sick and was doing everything with my mother when he died when I was 16

Didn't grow up on a farm unfortunately but used to work/hang around the local farms from about 14 years of age

Conmaicne Mara

Sorry to hear about your Dad KG.

Probably my earliest memory would be when Dad left me in sole charge of a big bag of pulp and something else while what seemed at the time like all the sheep in the world descended on me. Big feckers of border leicesters too, I got knocked over lol.

Used to clean out a 40x47 6 pen sheep shed with a sharpened spade and a fork. Had to walk from home to the shed morning and evening to feed and water fattening lambs. Would have carried fertiliser fair distances and spread it, same with stakes and wire to put up or repair fences. Shearing, dosing, usual other sheep farm work.

Greengrass1

Mainly just holding open gates for the father in winter so he could get in and clean sheds.
That stopped for a while when he hit the loader off the gate and knocked me out ha.
Summer and spring time would full of moving cattle in out farms and feeding calves and then spending a lot of time in the tractor with father at silage.
Wasn't bad tbh.
All changed when we moved. Worked every evening and every evening and clearing ditches and pulling branches away.
Got put on the tractor when I was ten to wrap 500 bales and haven't left it since
Can't complain tbh

Reggie.

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Mainly just holding open gates for the father in winter so he could get in and clean sheds.
That stopped for a while when he hit the loader off the gate and knocked me out ha.
Summer and spring time would full of moving cattle in out farms and feeding calves and then spending a lot of time in the tractor with father at silage.
Wasn't bad tbh.
All changed when we moved. Worked every evening and every evening and clearing ditches and pulling branches away.
Got put on the tractor when I was ten to wrap 500 bales and haven't left it since
Can't complain tbh

Some pain the the neck looking back at 500 bales

bbam

Its a two edged sword though...
Many young lads over worked and working far too heavy jobs and operating machinery well beyond their experienced capabilities, I'm left with a degenerative back condition as a result of excessive heavy work as a child..

Then its hard to excuse the number of serious injuries and deaths among the very young working on farms..
If you went into a nightclub and seen 12 year olds gathering glasses or cleaning toilets everybody would be up in arms about it, but shoveling **** on a farm is somehow acceptable??, because its a lifestyle ?, I hear travelers being slated allot for using that excuse for "bending" the law..

But, despite everything I have fond memories of working with my dad on the farm and our trucks when I was young, particularly now that he's gone. I find myself doing mundane tasks like cleaning a shed, and I can still hear him giving advice in the back of my mind.. MY mother said that after he died suddenly the farmwork was like therapy for me.. who knows.

I have two girls, eldest is eleven, I never take them onto the farm if there is work going on. I'll bring them down to feed meal to calves or the like but I'll not be asking them to clean sheds or carry heavy crap !!

moy83

My young lad is 8 , he goes up most evenings to scrape the cubicles with the father and pick up any silage that falls around the yard out of the sheargrab . He is starting to get handy for moving cattle around too .
I would've been in the milking shed when I was 7/8 washing/dipping cows and feeding the calves . When I went into secondry school then I used to be called at six to have the milking done and showered before school . Nothing wrong with it but its a hard slog all the same on a young lad

Greengrass1

Reggie. wrote: »

Some pain the the neck looking back at 500 bales

By god it was at that age too.

allthedoyles

Before 10 yrs of age , remember weeding/thinning beet , turnips , mangolds .

Used to wear short trousers to school , with the track of the wellington on my calf muscles .

keep going

My 2 lads are 8 and 9 are doing a few jobs but nothing too heavy, they would move cattle with me and bring home the cows themselves the odd time, feed a few calves but I feed with 20 litre buckets so they are too heavy for them.dont have much piking work any way and I am buying a electric power washer as they could handle that and it would be a handy job to get them to wash a few things.I want to train them to work whatever they do cause there isnt much point in me working hard if they are useless and blow everything and if you are happy working its half the battle in life

PucaMama

children should not be made work in the ways im hearing on this thread. an 8 year old moving cattle? a child getting knocked out? back problems? what ye are doing to your children is disgusting.

Zr105

Would have been up the yard with dad from a young age, generally up in the tractor out of the way
Then started to drive around 11 or 12 and often ended up being dropped somewhere with tractor and haybob to turn 20 acres... Spent most summers at that till 17 when i got phone call from contractor to go wrapping, did it for 5 years then went to put crew.

Still cant turn my head as far to the left as i can to the right from the bloody wrapper and the left knee is a bit rough from sitting sideways in the seat and pushing the clutch at a funny angle....
Used to love spots were you could back the wrapper around to the right so you could see it handier.

Being honest wouldn't change it for the world, always worked and earned what ever money i had and appreciate it a lot more as a result i think!

Reggie.

Greengrass1 wrote: »

By god it was at that age too.

Remember back in my innocent days I would wrap upto 10000 bales a year. Neck wouldn't be right after a few days straight of wrapping

irishgrover

PucaMama wrote: »

children should not be made work in the ways im hearing on this thread. an 8 year old moving cattle? a child getting knocked out? back problems? what ye are doing to your children is disgusting.

why is it the people on the internet feel it is appropriate to whole sale generalise and blanket abuse people...? Is it trolling, ignorance, stupidity or just lack of basic communication skills....

Reggie.

Zr105 wrote: »

Would have been up the yard with dad from a young age, generally up in the tractor out of the way
Then started to drive around 11 or 12 and often ended up being dropped somewhere with tractor and haybob to turn 20 acres... Spent most summers at that till 17 when i got phone call from contractor to go wrapping, did it for 5 years then went to put crew.

Still cant turn my head as far to the left as i can to the right from the bloody wrapper and the left knee is a bit rough from sitting sideways in the seat and pushing the clutch at a funny angle....
Used to love spots were you could back the wrapper around to the right so you could see it handier.

Being honest wouldn't change it for the world, always worked and earned what ever money i had and appreciate it a lot more as a result i think!

My knee is at me the last few years and never thought of the way your turned in the tractor while wrapping.

Sam Kade

PucaMama wrote: »

children should not be made work in the ways im hearing on this thread. an 8 year old moving cattle? a child getting knocked out? back problems? what ye are doing to your children is disgusting.

I did plenty work as a child never did me any harm. However there is a limit to the type of work a child can do.

Greengrass1

Reggie. wrote: »

Remember back in my innocent days I would wrap upto 10000 bales a year. Neck wouldn't be right after a few days straight of wrapping

And the wrappers eye?

J DEERE

I was milking cows, feeding calves and foddering on my own when I was 4

Greengrass1

PucaMama wrote: »

children should not be made work in the ways im hearing on this thread. an 8 year old moving cattle? a child getting knocked out? back problems? what ye are doing to your children is disgusting.

When I say moving cattle it would mainly be calves which are not that hard to manage to be fair?
Would it be better for us to be sitting inside watching TV all day?
Nothing wrong with giving a hand
Have loads of memories of spending summers having the craic with the sisters and the parents doing silage and hay
And hey accidents happen, I was knocked out okay but I've knocked my father out too so alls well that ends well

Zr105

Greengrass1 wrote: »

And the wrappers eye?

Thats one I've never heard of? What do ya mean??

Handiest wrapping you'll ever do is wrapping and stacking with a remote wrapper, only lookin over your shoulder a bit, not listening to the bloody wrap all day and both jobs done at the one time but it is fair slow... Best i could do was about 25hr, hit a spot rate of 70/hr one day in nice handy field doing 16 turns, could push about 60/hr most days. After a few years ya dont have to watch it, you can tell the bales starting to come off by the noise of the wrap

Greengrass1

Zr105 wrote: »

Thats one I've never heard of? What do ya mean??

Handiest wrapping you'll ever do is wrapping and stacking with a remote wrapper, only lookin over your shoulder a bit, not listening to the bloody wrap all day and both jobs done at the one time but it is fair slow... Best i could do was about 25hr, hit a spot rate of 70/hr one day in nice handy field doing 16 turns, could push about 60/hr most days. After a few years ya dont have to watch it, you can tell the bales starting to come off by the noise of the wrap

Got it once its a sore dose ye can go blind for a day with it, its from the tractor lights bouncing off the wrap the whole time.
60hr would be fair going with the older wrappers I can get 60hr with the new wrapper and not breaking my are at that either

Reggie.

Greengrass1 wrote: »

And the wrappers eye?

And the constant pain of the knife cutting the wrap too early and it not holding so you had to get out of the cab again

Zr105

PucaMama wrote: »

children should not be made work in the ways im hearing on this thread. an 8 year old moving cattle? a child getting knocked out? back problems? what ye are doing to your children is disgusting.

Bare in mind farms were boring places to grow up back in the day(and still are really) kids will begin to entertain themselves which will enevitably end up in climbing bales or hanging around watching the tractors.

If there given SUITABLE jobs it can keep them out of harm an you know where they are.

Zr105

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Got it once its a sore dose ye can go blind for a day with it, its from the tractor lights bouncing off the wrap the whole time.
60hr would be fair going with the older wrappers I can get 60hr with the new wrapper and not breaking my are at that either

Ah yeah got ya now like i said tho after a while you go by ear rather then looking!
To be fair it was nearly always a mchale 991ber i followed, drove the joystick version a few times an found it a bit of a pain. Ber is handy out but the cut and tie would be slower than a good lad on the levers or joystick.

Tokyo

Lived and worked on a farm all of my life, and basically helped with whatever work that had to be done around the place. In no particular order or age, that included weeding/picking stones, cutting back briars, standing in gaps in walls when cattle had to be moved, bringing in the hay, moving cattle, cleaning the yard, cleaning sheds, driving the tractor, so on and so forth.

Might come as a surprise to some people, but I managed to survive that childhood without being maimed, knocked unconscious, and survived all of that without the benefit of four hours of playstation per day. I don't feel hard done by, and certainly don't feel that asking me to help was "disgusting" behaviour on my parent's part. Certainly not compared to some of the good-for-nothing, unable-to-lift-a-finger, no-respect-for-anyone-or-anything kids I see from time to time...

Greengrass1

Zr105 wrote: »

Ah yeah got ya now like i said tho after a while you go by ear rather then looking!
To be fair it was nearly always a mchale 991ber i followed, drove the joystick version a few times an found it a bit of a pain. Ber is handy out but the cut and tie would be slower than a good lad on the levers or joystick.

Have the fully automatic one here a baby could use it

Zr105

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Have the fully automatic one here a baby could use it

Yeah its handy out alright, sit there pushing buttons all day rather than havin i hold the bloody joystick on

Greengrass1

Zr105 wrote: »

Yeah its handy out alright, sit there pushing buttons all day rather than havin i hold the bloody joystick on

The beeping from the joystick would drive ye bonkers too

Bleating Lamb

Cleaned out byres after school from age of 9/10,let out cows to drink(no automatic water troughs then;)),foddering cows with hay,but only carrying a bit at a time,if your interested its not work per se,
In secondary school I used to feel sorry for the townie lads who had nothing to do all summer whereas on a farm there was always something different to be at.

Reggie.

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Have the fully automatic one here a baby could use it

Spoilt so ya are

Zr105

Greengrass1 wrote: »

The beeping from the joystick would drive ye bonkers too

Beeper didnt work on the joystick one, was the greatest pain cause i wouldnt be looking at the counter and Give it to many turns

The electric one the beeper worked the first while and would drive you a bit mad, ten it became intermittent, but i never cared as it stopped itself anyways so you just reach for the tip but on when you hear wrap slowing

Greengrass1

Reggie. wrote: »

Spoilt so ya are

I'd gladly sell it to put in a Slurry tank only its handy for wrapping up surplus paddocks and very few wrappers in this area

Reggie.

Greengrass1 wrote: »

I'd gladly sell it to put in a Slurry tank only its handy for wrapping up surplus paddocks and very few wrappers in this area

Used to use an echo myself now that's old school by today's standards

Greengrass1

Reggie. wrote: »

Used to use an echo myself now that's old school by today's standards

We had an old elho before we traded.
Went around the clock 3 times I think

Reggie.

Greengrass1 wrote: »

We had an old elho before we traded.
Went around the clock 3 times I think

That's the one, just had a stab at the name. Went grand till the drawbar snapped but a bit of welding later off it went again

Greengrass1

Reggie. wrote: »

That's the one, just had a stab at the name. Went grand till the drawbar snapped but a bit of welding later off it went again

The ours came off hitch bent all cables and broke the dispenser. Expensive day

mayota

Interesting thread but I think the title should be changed as IMO it conjures up images of back breaking work forced onto children. We all have worked on the farm and it has given a great work ethic and a value of money. My daughter will help me when she's old enough.

keep going

PucaMama wrote: »

children should not be made work in the ways im hearing on this thread. an 8 year old moving cattle? a child getting knocked out? back problems? what ye are doing to your children is disgusting.

Ah would you puc off, couldnt resist it

Tokyo

mayota wrote: »

Interesting thread but I think the title should be changed as IMO it conjures up images of back breaking work forced onto children. We all have worked on the farm and it has given a great work ethic and a value of money. My daughter will help me when she's old enough.

I was picturing a sweat shop in Asia when I saw the thread title myself...

keep going

mayota wrote: »

Interesting thread but I think the title should be changed as IMO it conjures up images of back breaking work forced onto children. We all have worked on the farm and it has given a great work ethic and a value of money. My daughter will help me when she's old enough.

Feel free mods, should have called it "common sense training for children"

Reggie.

Greengrass1 wrote: »

The ours came off hitch bent all cables and broke the dispenser. Expensive day

Carrying two bales across the field is what caused the drawbar to snap

Miname

Some of the best times were from working as a child on the farm. Id run around idolising the old lad and trying to set up my own bit of the farm. i went working for a fruit farm at 11 and my parents went mad but let me at it. I bought ewes with the money and got twins from each and made 8 times my initial investment. ive never done anything farming related that made as good of a return since. All in all it didnt do me any harm and a lot of the times reckon it brings out a great work ethic in people.
If i had 2 candidates sitting in front of me looking for work one from a farming background and the other not i know which one id be hiring. The only problem is most of the farming children is that they never have to look for work theres always someone looking for them.

Farrell

mayota wrote: »

Interesting thread but I think the title should be changed as IMO it conjures up images of back breaking work forced onto children. We all have worked on the farm and it has given a great work ethic and a value of money. My daughter will help me when she's old enough.

Agree, we would of helped out from a young age, some friends didn't & now Mhave no interest

jimini0

I grew on on a small farm a few cows, couple of sheep. It was not hardship it was the way things were done. We never got things handed to us ( only the milk bucket).
Kids who worked on farms were very healthy and bloody hardy.
It was a life lesson we were thought/forced to get up early.
We worked for our parents it put milk on the table and a bit of lamb in the deep freeze a few pound for the house and a few quid for the ould fella to spend in the local
It got us out of the house.
Nowadays kids are soft. Unhealthy and no work ethic.

onyerbikepat

I'm between minds on the whole thing to be honest. I spent most of my childhood working on our farm. My father worked off farm 7 days a week, so whenever I was old enough and strong enough, it was up to me to do it.
It does give you a great work ethic alright. To this day, it drives me nuts when I work with people who are more interested in avoiding work than doing it.
You only get one childhood and you should be allow live it as such.

This is what the UN has to say on the matter.

[http://www.ilo.org/ipec/facts/ILOconventionsonchildlabour/lang--en/index.htm

TITANIUM.

onyerbikepat wrote: »

I'm between minds on the whole thing to be honest. I spent most of my childhood working on our farm. My father worked off farm 7 days a week, so whenever I was old enough and strong enough, it was up to me to do it.
It does give you a great work ethic alright. To this day, it drives me nuts when I work with people who are more interested in avoiding work than doing it.
You only get one childhood and you should be allow live it as such.

This is what the UN has to say on the matter.

[http://www.ilo.org/ipec/facts/ILOconventionsonchildlabour/lang--en/index.htm

Jesus Pat no need to bring the UN into it.
I worked dame hard from a very young age like most of the lads here and I can honestly say that I couldn't have wished for a better upbringing.
I did live and enjoy my childhood had some of the best times of my life and learned valuable life lessons along the way. When my kids are old enough they will work aswell. And I guarantee it'll stand to them.
And they can't have an interest or learn very much about farming unless they get out and get their hands dirty.

Mickey H

Reggie. wrote: »

And the constant pain of the knife cutting the wrap too early and it not holding so you had to get out of the cab again

:mad::mad:

Used to wrap 15K + bales, often behind 2 balers and this used to drive me soft when the blade would somehow manage to disappear out of the holder. Nearly always had a spare though.

Reggie.

Mickey H wrote: »

:mad::mad:

Used to wrap 15K + bales, often behind 2 balers and this used to drive me soft when the blade would somehow manage to disappear out of the holder. Nearly always had a spare though.

Remember one time a bale fell off the table and landed on one of the holders for the spare rolls of wrap and wedged itself onto it. To make it worse it was 11 at night and took me about an hour to pull the bale off by hand :mad::mad:
Looking back....... Good times

Greengrass1

Reggie. wrote: »

Remember one time a bale fell off the table and landed on one of the holders for the spare rolls of wrap and wedged itself onto it. To make it worse it was 11 at night and took me about an hour to pull the bale off by hand :mad::mad:
Looking back....... Good times

Think that has happened to every one. Seen a good operation in the IFJ a gmfew yrs ago MSN had two Keltic bale trailers and had a loader with s wrapper on it. Was a good set up

jimmy G M

Miname wrote: »

Some of the best times were from working as a child on the farm. Id run around idolising the old lad and trying to set up my own bit of the farm. i went working for a fruit farm at 11 and my parents went mad but let me at it. I bought ewes with the money and got twins from each and made 8 times my initial investment. ive never done anything farming related that made as good of a return since. All in all it didnt do me any harm and a lot of the times reckon it brings out a great work ethic in people.
If i had 2 candidates sitting in front of me looking for work one from a farming background and the other not i know which one id be hiring. The only problem is most of the farming children is that they never have to look for work theres always someone looking for them.

I spent a summer out in Boston working with a painter. He had about 12 lads working for him for the summer. He would only take on lads from a farming background. Reckoned the townies had no idea about how to go about organising a job,and a poor application to manual work. He was a townie himself.:D

Reggie.

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Think that has happened to every one. Seen a good operation in the IFJ a gmfew yrs ago MSN had two Keltic bale trailers and had a loader with s wrapper on it. Was a good set up

Would give anything to go back to them days, summer holidays from school and little to worry about