Fork Etiquette

At a fancy dinner party, I have to think about which fork to grab pick up first.  Just kidding, I never go to fancy dinner parties   But in the barn I never make a mistake.  Not only is using the incorrect fork a major barn faux pas as far as cleanliness goes, it can make a job a lot harder.  Forks are tools and each style and design has its own best use.  Just like any other tool, most people wouldn’t use a tablespoon from their silverware set for baking, they would use a measuring spoon.  It’s the same with pitchforks.

I use pitchforks many time during the day in winter when we are feeding hay.  And while I can’t stop you from using the incorrect fork and creating more work for yourself, I will try to explain why I have different forks for different jobs.  The most important rule in the barn I think is that a fork used for feeding never gets used for mucking out stalls or barns.  Period.  Parasite infestation is caused by ingesting manure particles or eating off the ground on soiled hay, in addition to close grazing.  It’s winter now, and my cows aren’t grazing, so I am concentrating on ” keeping the feed clean”  aspect of feeding.  Of course, no self-respecting cow would knowingly eat manure, but in winter when feed is scarce and they have no choice, there you go – manure in the feed.  You don’t want to see feeders with hay pulled out, and lying on the ground, a cow may not eat it if it soiled but a calf that hasn’t learned all the ropes of feed selection might.  So it’s best to just not even let the manure and feed mix in the first place.  Feeder design and space allotment has a lot to do with wasted hay, as does poor hay quality, but how you handle the feed too is important.

For feeding and shaking flakes of straw loose for bedding, a three-tined fork works well.  A fork with more times offers too much resistance to do very much work.  In other words it makes your arms hurt.  Not to say you couldn’t use a five-tine manure fork for the job of pitching hay, but if you compared the two side by side, you would quickly find you favor the three tine fork.  Our hay forks are always stored in the straw or hay never on the barn floor.  They are easy to grab and always at the ready for skimming extra good hay that gets flipped out of the feeders on the personnel side, (that’s us, we work for the bos.)

Now mucking is a different story.  Here a five-tine fork works better, allowing you to pick up soiled bedding and manure without the contents of your fork load slipping through.

Our stall cleaning utensils are stored near the stalls on the ground where they won’t come in any contact with hay stored nearby.  Of course, you could store your tools in hangers nearby also, this is just the way we do it.

The other fork we use frequently too, is a spading fork to lift vegetables for harvesting.  This fork  also has it “only” job of digging food, never any barn chores.  Likewise, a manure fork could be used to lift vegetables but really doesn’t work all that well due to its design, you’re less likely to stab a root with a blunt tined spading fork, not to mention any potential contamination of food.

Unfortunately, finding a well made fork these days isn’t as easy as it used to be, many are made in China these days and do not work well.  If you can, scout garage sales, etc looking for older models.

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