Motion Study

Farming seems to all about controlled chaos. Domestication of animals has occurred over thousands of years, and the trade offs are sometimes good, sometimes bad. Chickens can't defend themselves. Unless you're a rooster aiming for a little girl's bare legs. Little girls make scary predators. ;) Although, my two girls happily defeathered about ten roosters and Micaiah was fascinated by the innards. Guess they are pretty scary. :D
We are raising heritage hogs, and heritage means they aren't quite as dumb and sweet as today's animals. Occasionally they consider tasting you.
Goats haven't changed much over the eons. They are still bright and mischievous. Always unexpected, looking for a way out and around you, willing to butt you or lick you.
I'm learning about cows this week. My landlord is out of town and I get to help him out with his Jersey momma and three babies. Cows are pretty stupid, but they make up for it with size. If you don't have your wits about you, you might get stepped on.

Everything costs money. We could be intimidated by the sheer scope of it but that's no fun. So we have started small. Cattle is extremely expensive so we've started with pigs and goats. Pigs and goats can also be expensive, but if you shop around and buy unregistered you can find a deal. It's all in how you want to spend your money. Have a hundred dollars? Buy a pig. Get the pig pregnant. Sell the ten piglets for a hundred dollars each. See? Easy. Or you could spend that hundred on a new phone. Or clothes.

You have to like what you do. Money is important, but if you do what you enjoy you can do a lot of it. And money follows. We haven't made any money yet...but we aren't bored. ;)

What I'm learning now is that farming can be a lot of work, or it can be streamlined. I'm milking my neighbors cow and I'm learning what I will need when I get one of my own.

I want to build a small dairy. A small barn with a concrete floor, a table and a fridge. A small milking machine and a cream separator. Nothing insane, just properly equipped so it's not a hassle. A cow can produce huge quantities of milk. My house fridge can't keep up. Every day I've been skimming cream and pouring out three gallons of milk to the pigs. Crazy much?

I love this part of what Adam and I are doing. Right now it's haphazard. It doesn't make money. It takes time. But we are learning and dreaming, tweaking and streamlining. By the time we can afford more expensive stock we will have learned from the cheaper stock. And had fun along the way. :)