Versatility Matters – Especially On the Farm

Almost ten years ago, I started raising my poultry, which led to selling poultry at a farmers’ market and a few restaurants. While I don’t sell poultry anymore, I still enjoy raising animals on my farm. But one has to consider some things when raising poultry or any farm animals: they need food, shelter, and water. (Sounds like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, but I never asked my animals how they are doing on their road to self-actualization. But they seem content.)

Recognizing I needed shelters, I built several hoop pens based on the following design posted at a University of Kentucky website about poultry housing. These things work great! And they still work great, even after all these years of being out in the elements. I did not say they had to look good!

8 years later. Still going strong!

At various times I have raised squabs, brooded countless goslings, ducklings, chickens, etc., in addition to serving as a sick ward for sheep and poultry. The hoop pens have been temporary storage for feed and farm supplies, including a greenhouse, at one time. So, this simple design has become a mainstay on the property due to its versatility.

Biddies in a Hoop Pen. I feel raising young poultry in the hoop pen leads them to be more active foraging as adults, with less cleaning, as I move the pen every few days.

Spilt milk…

I had to milk a sheep last year. I was hoping to taste the milk but the dog knocked over the bucket before I got the milk inside. No need crying about this…;)

The Eyes of the Master Fit the Stock – Lessons I Learned from My Father

When I was a kid, my father often quoted, “The Eyes of the Master Fit the Stock”. (A little background: my father was a veterinarian. We grew up working at both his clinic and on a broodmare farm.)

The proverb refers to the master, the person responsible for the care, as responsible for the well-being of the animal (livestock).  That care is not a single event, but fitting stock means preparing the stock for some future event, which means knowing what the future may be and knowing where the livestock is along that path.  For example, preparing animals for winter requires managing pasture in the summer, while a racehorse has to be trained before it can race. Steers must be fattened before they are butchered. 

The term does not identify any outcome, but rather where the responsibility lies.  As animals can not read spreadsheets or attend training videos, they depend upon the master, either acting directly or through some other agent As kids, we did not understand anything about raising horses (except which end bites and which end kicks!)  As we got older, we learned how to care for horses and other animals, and while my father did not feed the horses every day, these animals remained his responsibility.  But every day, we were on the farm.  For most days, this involved chores around school, sports, or other activities, but the animals required water, feed, and shelter. Regardless of how one felt, the weather, etc., every day we were doing something on the farm. 

And today, I have a hobby farm.  I don’t have any horses, but I have a few donkeys, geese, turkeys, chickens, and sheep.  (I tried pastured pigs once!)  And yes, I am responsible for them.  I have to make sure they have access to water, shelter, and feed.  I look at the pasture rotation, warming, and breeding cycles, Every morning, I go outside and check on the animals.

bottle-feeding a sheep in my kitchen!

 

Yesterday, I listened to the following Art of Manliness Podcast “#731: A Futurist’s Guide to Building the Life You Want”.  The podcast made me think that I am the master who is fitting my life.  Like a horse, I will opt for easy when I can and not necessarily choosing the daily work to be as successful as I can be. 

Maybe my father’s real lesson was not about the animals (Sounds like the Last Lecture).  Maybe his lesson was teaching his children values about responsibility, observation, etc.,  but the ultimate lesson may be that one has to “look at the stock” every day to be successful.