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Children’s Chores

A small boy is holding the reins of two harnessed Percheron horses. The boy and horses are standing in front of a log building.

Cecile Daigneault Collection

Written by the Grade 5/6 students at JW Inglis Elementary School in Lumby, British Columbia:

Most of the time, a father and son would go hunting, while a mother and daughter worked in the garden. They also would tend to the animals.

Lumby’s pioneer children were expected to help their parents with farm chores – feeding the chickens, caring for animals and even driving a team of horses!

Marcel Gallon could drive a team of horses (“Billy “on the left and “Pigeon” on the right) when he was only 6 years old.

Children often started milking cows when they were six years old.  The hardest work was carrying the heavy pails of milk to the separator.  The milk was separated into skim milk and cream.  The calves were fed the skim milk until they could eat grass.