Farm livin' is the life for me.
Okay so our test livestock, a free goat, survived a neglectful Jarvis winter, reinforcing that we need to get better habits if we're to get more livestock. We are very close to getting something in the pen, a pig perhaps or maybe bottle fed baby goats, for I have spent a couple days electrifying the fence (the old one is 3 layers of junk). We also farmed out the east pasture to a neighbor for his 5 yearling horses; our only obligation is to water them, and even at that we are not the best ranch hands (but we'll improve).
I have every intention of building a chicken moat, but first must come the chicken coop. I am most excited about eggs, for if I were true to my personal feelings, I'd not eat anything with a face. Someday, maybe I'll quit being lazy in my beliefs and live by them.
And, our garden grows and grows. We have a great start on watermelons, cantaloupe, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, strawberries, onions, peppers, and corn. Ironic: last year's big winner, pumpkins, have yet to be planted. That's today.
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3 comments:
Cool about the garden.
Livestock, even one goat, is not cost effective, unless you just want a weed-eater and do take care of him/her in the winter. There is not much money to be made from them.
Butchering sucks, been there done that and no thanks. So we are vegan. Yet we still have lots of poultry to eat insects and we sell the eggs.(organic, free range, chem free). Still, because the poultry have to be feed all winter they probably about break even on their feed bill. But I like them. I have raised it all. Pigs scare children to death and are a pain to keep in. And then comes the butchering part, yuk. Sheep about need to be lived with, literally. Goats are intelligent and easy keepers but most people do not like their milk much, it has a flavor all its own. And the bucks smells so bad that you will be looking for a place to put him, way out back. And you can still smell him. I like raising Irish Dexter cattle a lot. We sell the milk and the offspring. They are easy to handle and we use them to eat off extra acreage. They are like pets.
All in all, if you or the fam do not have the time or inclination to take care of animals then why bother with them. Get some chickens though to eat your insects. I remember when our children were young and I was out there every day taking care of animals with the kids, and when the kids were old enough they helped.
If you like it is fun, if not it is called chores.
Thanks for the insights. I'm partial to poultry, too, and I know they're good w/bugs (and we have SO MANY TICKS). I'm hesitant to go free range w/chickens for we live on the edge of a highway and we have a garden. Maybe I'll first invest in some fence.
Get guineas for ticks.(kill snakes too) Ducks are great for japanese beetles and etc. Our chickens have helped our orchard immensely, now the apples are almost completely worm free. However, do not get anything until the garden is fenced. People told us that guineas would not hurt the garden, so one year I bought 12 keets and had no tomatoes that year. Other poultry are even worse on the garden. If you live on a highway that could be a problem. We do have a chicken pen with house and we do not let our chickens out until afternoon. That way they lay in the house instead of laying their eggs elsewhere. This also keeps them from wandering too far, ours are seldom on the road. But the guineas are a different story. Someday your children will love collecting the eggs. For little kids that seems to never be a chore.
Chickens always bring me a smile, I do not know why but I just like them. I have bantam silkie chickens just for smiling purposes, (and setting on eggs is their favorite past-time so we always have new chicks around). You should borrow or buy an incubator, kids love watching eggs hatch.
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