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Farming and homeschooling
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Some questions for those of you doing that…
We are thinking to move and I am dreaming of the idea to very slowly start farming.
I just don’t know if it is at all realistic!?!
Homeschooling (as everyone here knows!) is a lot of work, so is cooking healthy meals and all the house work.
I am constantly tired (if not exhausted) and my husband is as well from working long hours and running his own business.
I would love to have a cow because you cannot find good raw milk around here, maybe sheeps if it is easier but am not sure if we would really like sheeps milk.
My kids could probably help some but I do not want to put it all on them.
How much works is it?
And what about chicken?
We have chickens. They wake with the sun, which means you have to let them out of the coop or they are noisy. We live in a residential area so noisy chickens is not an option. In my opinion if you can’t free range them during the day (they are in a run or in the coop all the time) then I would say there isn’t really a point might as well buy store eggs. They are not a lot of work. Food and water every day/ every other day and collecting eggs. If they are free ranging / eating scraps they don’t need much of a store bought food if any.
I totally get what you are wanting to do. In my head living like little house on the prairie would be amazing. I love the idea of a “simpler” life. But the problem is my husband thinks I just like te idea of it, not actually doing it.
We have a small homestead. 12 acres with 4 Jersey cows, three of which we milk at various times, sheep, chickens, ducks, cats, dogs, garden. 🙂 We own our own business (a pharmacy…dh is a pharmacist, ) I run my library, we are in Suzuki violin twice a week an hour away. I cook traditionally as much as I can, make butter, cheese, etc. And we do a CM homeschool. (Thank goodness for,short lessons!). There are times when I think my head will explode. Other seasons it’s not so busy. It’s a wonderful life for our boys. My 10yo son is known as the chicken wrangler and the cow whisperer. He can make those animals do about anything he wants. One thing that helps in the milking department is that we try to breed the cows so that they are dry at around the same time during the winter. We’re down to milking once a day, in fact. It really helps morale if we get a break.
Chickens are easy. We keep ours inside solar-powered electric netting which we move around. Keeps the chickens in their places, out of the dogs mouths and lets them free range inside the netting.
The sheep are easy. We don’t milk them. They are mainly to keep the pasture under control and meat.
The cows are the most work but the whole reason we started this crazy life was for the milk so they’re keepers.
Most of our farm chores are done in early morning and the evening. The rest of the day, for the most part is ours. You get into a seasonal routine. We have had the occasional crisis, of course, like when we flooded seven times in six weeks a couple of years ago and had chickens drowning and cows having nervous breakdowns but such is any kind of life.
And just to let you know…my husband and I grew up in subdivisions. We had NO experience with ANY of it. But you love and learn, and the best part is, so do your children.
RobinP – where does one get solar-powered electric netting? I’m assuming the chickens stay in the coop at night and then during the day you move them from place to place with your movable Wonder Fence? We’re hoping to get 7 chickens soon and don’t want the neighbors to complain about ugly chicken stuff…but still want the birds to free range.
Thanks Robin that helps to have an idea. Sounds like you have a very busy life!
How much milk do you get w/3 cows? Do you sale it? Is the 4th one a male you keep for breeding? Sorry for so many questions!!
My husband doesn’t think he wants to have animal for meat, he thinks we would get attached and feel weird about eating them. Sensitive soul I guess!!
The idea of the solar-powered netting is pretty interesting, would have to look into that. Do you raise chicken to eat or only for eggs? I am wondering if it would be profitable for meat since we would probably have to hire to kill and clean them.
http://www.premier1supplies.com
This is GREAT stuff!
Our 4th cow is Lynette, our first cow. She’s elderly now and just enjoys bossing everyone around. The bulls born to us go to a friend’s farm. We don’t have enough land to grass-raise them. She raises our pigs for us as well and we help feed them by hauling several 5-gallons of milk to them each week. We have our egg-laying hens and raise meat birds as well. We butcher them ourselves at our friends farm. We team up and do hers and ours the same day.
We do cow shares. When the cows are at peak production, we can easily get 24+ gallons a DAY! That’s when I start to go a little crazy. Milking is the easy part. Then you have to do something with the milk. I strain it into half-gallon canning jars…48 a day. Our customers have assigned pick-up days. This is the time I make lots of butter, sometimes 4-5 pounds a day. It goes in the freezer.
We would love to have more land so we could keep all our animals on our own place, cut our own hay (we do some but not nearly enough) and maybe raise their feed. We don’t give grains…only alfalfa and a few oats, while they are in the stanchion. We have really sweet cows. Lynette used to like to get hateful sometimes but Natalie has a wonderful personality and so have all her calves. It’s important that you find a sweet cow, especially with kids around. And the children MUST learn how to behave around them. We love our animals…most of the time. 😉
wow! I am pretty impressed although I have to say it sounds like more then I would want to do. I think one cow would probably be enough for us!
I heard Jersey cows were some of the best ones to get, better milk than Holstein (which are way too big anyway).
Well everyone has their favorites, I suppose, but Jersey milk is fabulous. The cream! And Jersey beef is the best you’ll ever eat, hands down. And one cow is plenty. Trouble is they have a calf every year so you either have to sell it, milk it or eat it. Then you have more than one cow, therefore more than one calf a year. Three years ago our calves were born two hours apart. There’s this disease called CALPC…cows are like potato chips…you can’t have just one. 🙂
If you have to hire to butcher them, then it’s not as economical. You’ll get used to it. we just butchered 12 chickens in the past month (four at a time 3, different weeks) and it takes all four of us.
At first, it took a real mental change. The first ones we culled we changed their names to whatever they were going to br usef for. For ex: we had one named chicken salad, chicken pot pie, roast, chicken nuggets, etc. That really helped early on.
Now, I just have the rule that they are not called by their names after butchering (it’s not killing in the human against a human sense), just their breed or their final purpose.
Also, a Foodsaver machine is an absolute have-to-have, IMO. I freeze all of the feet in their own bags, livers, and the birds themselves; labeled w/their breed and cooking purpose.
We provide our chickens with a great life, a REAL chicken life, with good food and care; in return they provide us with eggs and/or meat. We know they are heritage birds, we know what they have been fed and what meds. (herbal de-wormer, sulfer for mites and pyrethrin for fleas, bugs if/when necessary) they have been given.
Some we watch being raised by the chicken momma herself and marvel at the way things work out in the yard (this is our preference). We can even tell the difference between the meat taste of differing breeds and have preferences.
When we pass by the chicken trucks, with all those hybrids stuck in small cages going to their deaths without having the kind of life they were meant to live: being fed all sorts of garbage, not to mention the method of butchering. My husband and son say a prayer to G-D, thanking him for the provision He has given us just prior to butchering. The way those birds are treated from hatch to death–that’s what’s inhumane; not butchering in the backyard and finishing off in the kitchen. My children always say “poor chickens” when they see them on those trucks.
But it requires a change in mindset; it gets easier. The first bird we butchered, I couldn’t cook it or see; so my husband did and made fried chicken so it didn’t look like a chicken!
I keep the livers and feet, too. My dd is really good at peeling the scales off after blanching.
It is a lot of work and my husband is disabled: seizures, demyelination, multiple back surgeries and I also have some really bad days from my previous neck surgeries. So that’s why we have waited on getting a cow – we were looking at a Dexter or a smallish Jersey, just one Family Cow; but not yet. My children want one so bad and make all sorts of promises of what they would do (which I don’t soubt, considering what they do now without complaint).
Also, don’t underestimate what your children can accomplish-and it’s good for them. My son is the chicken whisperer. They need to do more than just “help some”.
I also garden year-round, since I’m in Ga. and can do that.
Like Robin said, it is seasonal, not always super-busy, but always busy and every year is different.
I actually struggle more with the amt. of dogs and mud in the house, and housework (I stink at it) more than the chickens. This year, we had excess rain and it caused issues for all our animals – pets and livestock.
My stress comes from my hubby’s health and money, more than our small homestead. His issues interfere more with schooling than our homestead. So, can you do it? If you and your husband are committed (which mine is, his health just doesn’t always cooperate) to it and have a vision of your family working together to make the life possible, then YES! Ya”l can do it. Just start slow, is my advice.
Our chickens are now free-ranging completely, we have two yards and an extra two runs (which I replant cover appropriate to the season) to put others into if they need to be pulled from the ranks. You need to be prepared to pull ones out that need medical attention and also pull out surprise (or intentional) cockerels from the flock, too. Also, they do need more food than free-ranging provides.
The more you can grow for them, however, the lower the consumption of the soy-free feed.
My husband and I both grew up on farms. My family’s farm has been sold 🙁 However, our children are fourth generation on my husband’s family farm. I love it and wouldn’t change it for all the money in the world!!….and trust me, we have no money 😉 Family farms are not nearly as lucrative as they used to be. But we believe it’s the best life for kids! We no longer milk cows, but have beef cattle, sheep, and cats. We did raise a pig for butcher. I aspire to have chickens, but the coop is not yet finished. Our kids have sheared sheep, castrated the pig, dehorned cattle, and doctored numerous animals. We also sell hay so they have learned the value of good honest hard work. So far, all the kids hope to own their own farm some day. They love it as well! Our two older girls were adopted through foster care, originally coming from a large city. They have since learned to love rural life. We have nearly 300 acres with a creek that runs through and a small lake, no lack of nature study 😉 We have an outdoor wood stove for heat so the kids have to help make wood. We also make our own maple syrup and have raised bed produce gardens. The work never seems to end, but at the end of the day when you can look back and see the fruit of your labor, it’s a great feeling :))
RobinP…CALPC…that’s hilarious!
You can click the “Daily Life” or “Farming” tab on our blog to see some of our farming adventures. At one point, we even had a calf in our school room 🙂
Blessings in your decision,
Melissa
Robin I just wanted to say I am in awe of all you do and, though I’m sure you don’t want to hear this, it makes me feel ashamed at how little I do. I will have to use that thought of all you can get done in a day and in a week to inspire me to behave similarly. It sounds like a lovely life you have created!
Oh Shannon, PLEASE don’t be in awe of anything about me!! I said I do all those things. I didn’t say I did them well. Sometimes I’m barely hanging on. By the grace of God…that’s all I know. The things I do are important to me so I find a way to fit it in. You are doing a blessed work where God has put you now.
Melissa, we would love to have lots more land. Some friends recently moved from their 300 acre off-grid farm. We’d love to buy it! Or even move where they are. Praying for God’s wisdom and discernment.
Good luck, just take it slow and find out what things are “worth it” to you.
We live in a suburb but we have an aquaponic greenhouse (with tilapia), chickens for eggs (in a coop that we can move to fresh weeds in a small portion of our side yard, we also give them a lot of scraps and veggies the grocery store throws out), and we just got some rabbits too (for meat). We are pretty new to all of it, but it makes living “in town” (something neither of us grew up with) a little easier and we hope that we get some good food out of it as well. The kids love the animals.
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