Feeling the urge to move and start a hobby farm

[Anonymous]

I grew up on a farm just like this. My parents worked FT but we had horses, cows, sheep, pigs, rabbits, dogs.

Thankfully, we were in a small New England town, and many families have the same set up. Vacations for possible because others helped each other out.

It was a lot of hard work, but my parents really loved it. We all had daily chores assigned to the animals or gardening.

Also want to comment that the attractive nuisance is a real thing. My parents were sued when a teen jumped over the fence to try bullfighting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up on a farm just like this. My parents worked FT but we had horses, cows, sheep, pigs, rabbits, dogs.

Thankfully, we were in a small New England town, and many families have the same set up. Vacations for possible because others helped each other out.

It was a lot of hard work, but my parents really loved it. We all had daily chores assigned to the animals or gardening.

Also want to comment that the attractive nuisance is a real thing. My parents were sued when a teen jumped over the fence to try bullfighting.

I’m the one who commented last page about attractive nuisance. I grew up on a similar farm as you —we had about 30 acres, but eventually, all the surrounding farms were purchased by developers and my parents eventually stopped replacing livestock and sold. We had people come into our pasture and try to ride our horses or feed them grass clippings, which could have killed them. One guy even stocked our pond and intended to make it his fishing hangout without even once talking to my parents.

Obviously those are some pretty egregious things, but OP should definitely look at adjoining properties and see what they’re zoned for - you don’t want to buy your dream property only to have Joe’s Tire Recycling open next door.

[Anonymous]

Sheep do love to die. You make one “mistake” and something dies and you say “I learned never to do that again.” The problem is that there are about a million other mistakes to learn on that list.

OP, go ahead and try it. Start with the chickens and the garden. Save up some money. Invest time in learning about sheep and guard dogs. Start slow. YOLO

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live on a working farm -- I run a horse boarding operation, have 30ish chickens, and an orchard/garden.

Sheep are tough to raise. They love to die. They wake up every morning thinking of inventive ways to die. Your entire life will be an effort to prevent them dying, and still they will manage to die sometimes. Luckily they are also really stupid, so it takes a while for some of them to manage to off themselves. They are the worst livestock in that respect (horses are bad enough!). Try goats -- those little bastards are sturdy and smart. Hard to fence in, though.

That said, I do find it fairly easy to get away, and travel internationally 3-4 times per year, as well as quite a few weeks away at horse competitions (I only take some of the horses to those). I have reliable farmsitters and pay them VERY well. Most farmers do not find it easy or affordable to get away. I have a "real job" or I couldn't afford it either.

It's a great life, but not for the faint of heart. You need to be mentally tough yourself. Things you don't think you are going to have to do, you will have to do (like trapping and shooting vermin). If not willing to do this, they will kill all your chickens.

Thank you for your valuable insight. OP here. Heritage sheep breeds are a lot hardier and smarter than highly-bred ones, though, and the Valais is such a breed. But yes, they are definitely more work than goats.

Good luck with your project. IME a smart sheep is still pretty lacking in mental acuity, but I totally get being drawn to a particular species whether it is easy or not.

If I was picking a heritage animal to raise, it would be those mini Highland cattle. Adorable, strong market for them right now, much heartier than sheep and less devilish than goats.

The farming life is never dull. "Normal" DCUM people worry if a bird gets in their house. They've never woken up at 3 am and rolled over to find a deceased squirrel in their bed right next to their face.

One night I got up and there was a dead possum on the floor. Got a drink of water before removing it, and found out it wasn't dead after all -- just playing dead. You haven't lived if you've never chased a possum out of your kitchen with a broom in the dead of night.

The cat brought in four snakes last year alone. She was VERY proud of them, each and every one.

I like to travel to get away from such adventures as much as to have new ones!

OP here. I actually thought about them!

After 30 years of living in or close to cities, I want to go back to my Scottish country roots. I didn't grow up on a farm, but my mother did and we were surrounded by sheep and cows.

Sigh. The biggest hurdle here isn't my motivation, it's my husband. It's not fair to him if he's not absolutely on board.

[Anonymous]

Wait til kid 2 leaves. DO NOT uproot them during middle/high school to do this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live on a working farm -- I run a horse boarding operation, have 30ish chickens, and an orchard/garden.

Sheep are tough to raise. They love to die. They wake up every morning thinking of inventive ways to die. Your entire life will be an effort to prevent them dying, and still they will manage to die sometimes. Luckily they are also really stupid, so it takes a while for some of them to manage to off themselves. They are the worst livestock in that respect (horses are bad enough!). Try goats -- those little bastards are sturdy and smart. Hard to fence in, though.

That said, I do find it fairly easy to get away, and travel internationally 3-4 times per year, as well as quite a few weeks away at horse competitions (I only take some of the horses to those). I have reliable farmsitters and pay them VERY well. Most farmers do not find it easy or affordable to get away. I have a "real job" or I couldn't afford it either.

It's a great life, but not for the faint of heart. You need to be mentally tough yourself. Things you don't think you are going to have to do, you will have to do (like trapping and shooting vermin). If not willing to do this, they will kill all your chickens.

Thank you for your valuable insight. OP here. Heritage sheep breeds are a lot hardier and smarter than highly-bred ones, though, and the Valais is such a breed. But yes, they are definitely more work than goats.

Good luck with your project. IME a smart sheep is still pretty lacking in mental acuity, but I totally get being drawn to a particular species whether it is easy or not.

If I was picking a heritage animal to raise, it would be those mini Highland cattle. Adorable, strong market for them right now, much heartier than sheep and less devilish than goats.

The farming life is never dull. "Normal" DCUM people worry if a bird gets in their house. They've never woken up at 3 am and rolled over to find a deceased squirrel in their bed right next to their face.

One night I got up and there was a dead possum on the floor. Got a drink of water before removing it, and found out it wasn't dead after all -- just playing dead. You haven't lived if you've never chased a possum out of your kitchen with a broom in the dead of night.

The cat brought in four snakes last year alone. She was VERY proud of them, each and every one.

I like to travel to get away from such adventures as much as to have new ones!

OP here. I actually thought about them!

After 30 years of living in or close to cities, I want to go back to my Scottish country roots. I didn't grow up on a farm, but my mother did and we were surrounded by sheep and cows.

Sigh. The biggest hurdle here isn't my motivation, it's my husband. It's not fair to him if he's not absolutely on board.

PP here. Do it! Cattle are quite easy to raise, the easiest of all farm animals IMO.

My DH is not a farm guy but was willing to accept the location, he just doesn’t want to do the work. I have solved this by either doing the work myself or hiring it out. He hasn’t done a farm chore in years and that is absolutely fine with me. I have zero expectations that he will.

Where I have seen it fall apart is when a couple moves to a farm and the wife, who wanted a farm or horses at home or whatever, then expects the husband to spend his free time on the weekends doing chores or working on projects. That is not fair, IMO.

We joke that I have a “farm husband,” the equivalent of a work wife. I have a guy I pay to come work for me if I need help. He’s great and DH is grateful not to have to pitch in.

[Anonymous]

Tooo much work.

[Anonymous]

Start with backyard chickens now

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Start with backyard chickens now

And keep bees!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live on a working farm -- I run a horse boarding operation, have 30ish chickens, and an orchard/garden.

Sheep are tough to raise. They love to die. They wake up every morning thinking of inventive ways to die. Your entire life will be an effort to prevent them dying, and still they will manage to die sometimes. Luckily they are also really stupid, so it takes a while for some of them to manage to off themselves. They are the worst livestock in that respect (horses are bad enough!). Try goats -- those little bastards are sturdy and smart. Hard to fence in, though.

That said, I do find it fairly easy to get away, and travel internationally 3-4 times per year, as well as quite a few weeks away at horse competitions (I only take some of the horses to those). I have reliable farmsitters and pay them VERY well. Most farmers do not find it easy or affordable to get away. I have a "real job" or I couldn't afford it either.

It's a great life, but not for the faint of heart. You need to be mentally tough yourself. Things you don't think you are going to have to do, you will have to do (like trapping and shooting vermin). If not willing to do this, they will kill all your chickens.

I grew up around cows, but from what I’ve seen of sheep, this is all true. I follow a “homesteader” on YouTube who has decades of experience with cows and has recently bought sheep, and she’s struggling. Of her four sheep that had lambs, only one immediately bonded with the lamb. She had to bottle feed and/or hold the sheep so the rest of the lambs could nurse around the clock for weeks until the lambs got big enough to insist on nursing. She commented that it was a bit of a shock for her since cows tend to be naturally maternal.

Go for the mini Highland cows. Someone in my town raises them, and they are quite in demand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Me, too! We have backyard chickens. Start with that.

Do this and garden, OP. It's a good start. You and DH could possibly work on a similar farm as farm sitters to get a sense of what you would be taking on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

These are the sheep in question. Sigh. So cute!

What is the quality of their wool? Are you planning on milking them? Are you planning on butchering any? How tasty are they?

[Anonymous]

Watch the movie “Hud” a few times.

[Anonymous]

You cannot really spin cloth that can be worn against the skin from their wool. It's more for rug or upholstery purposes.

OP are we friends IRL? You sound exactly like someone I know.

[Anonymous]

Is there a name for the phase in life where a person romantize's life on a Hobby Farm?