Field cotton plantation slaves worked 12-16 hour days six days per week. Independent yeoman farmers worked less but there are fewer records so it is harder to m

Field cotton plantation slaves worked 12-16 hour days six days per week. Independent yeoman farmers worked less but there are fewer records so it is harder to make statistical arguments about how much the typical yeoman farmer worked. There are certain types of farm chores that must be done every day (like milking dairy animals) and cleaning out stalls. Others are more seasonal like weeding and the level of work is very different depending on climate. Another thing to consider is that firewood, charcoal, and dried manure are the fuel sources which are all labor intensive to gather. So, workdays of sunup to sundown aren't abnormal but there are lots of different jobs to do on a homestead that are on different timetables. It's not the regimented kind of work you would see in a factory or on a commercial plantation. Winter is also a lot of work when you have animals, actually more work because they are just sitting in a building eating and shitting the entire season. Cleaning out shit in the winter is a deeply unpleasant chore. Some kinds of animals are culled for winter but no matter what you are still taking care of at least some of them.