Time Flies Doesn't It?

I can not believe it has been 4 months since I last posted. Either I had nothing good to say, or I was so busy it was still making its way up the to - do - list. Anyway.....

I have been researching chickens and goats. I know for anyone who knows me personally that may sound funny, but I would really like to have a few chickens for the eggs and a goat or two for the milk, just so I do not have to buy them at the store, and to keep my property "groomed". I want to make sure I get the right food, and have the right living conditions for them both. That said I have found that the living conditions will depend on the breed of chicken or goat I decide to get.

I can remember my Grandmother never having chickens on the dairy farm, if she did it was before my time. She did have a few goats though. She got them after I had joined the military so I really do not remember the details of their care, I do remember the milk and butter as well as the cheese she made from the milk. Grama's milk for coffee was always in the mason jar in the frig, no cardboard or plastic cartons ever touched the shelves of her frig that I can remember.

If I get milk goats I have to milk them twice a day, just like cows, and they have a varied diet, so my lawn would do well for them. Fiber goats - goats that primarily produce mohair and cashmere do not produce enough milk for anybody beyond their kids and you don't want them wandering into uncut brush because the stuff gets into their fur....bird-ox...really bad!

Chickens are not as easy as so many chick hatchers would like you to think they are. They need special feed depending on age, they have to be protected from almost every other animal and even at times from their own. They have to be tended to in cold climates and Companies like New York State Electric and Gas would just love for everyone to get chickens that need heated water dishes, and a light bulb going extra to keep the egg layers laying, and to heat the coop.

So, as of today I still do not have any chickens or goats. To build a decent coop for chickens I need several hundred dollars, to build a decent shed/barn for goats I need several thousand dollars. If I want to get into fiber goats it will cost about 100,000 dollars to get the equipment to process the fiber, if I go with dairy goats it will cost 160,000 dollars to get the equipment to process milk for cheese, and pasteurize it for sale to the public, along with the headache of dealing with the New York State Department of Health, the same group of people that drove me back to smoking after quiting for over ten years when I owned a Diner. Unless you are a millionaire you really do not want to deal with them. They have good inspectors, and lousy ones. I got both. The good ones try to help you, the bad ones just show up to burn you. Enough said about that. Well, maybe not, if the health department is so great why is our food supply still getting contaminated, animals are being inhumanly treated and slaughtered, and why when our food is contaminated are the rest of us finding out 4 months later after 100 people are sick, not just a few , but a hundred or more? OK, done.

I now am not sure if I want either one. This is why it pays to do your research on how deep the pond is before you jump in head first. Unless you can sell the eggs, or milk both are really more of a liability than an asset. If you figure it costs a couple hundred dollars to feed and care for them in a month that's about 250 dozen eggs for chickens alone, and as for goat milk, can't sell any without the pasteurisation investment, and lab testing. And by the way, they are both high maintenance. They have to have vaccinations, skin treatments, monthly worm medication, as well as diseases unique to each breed. I do not remember my Dad having all these issues with the cows. I do remember the vet coming a couple times a year, but not to the extent that it broke the bank.

Perhaps things in animal husbandry has changed, and the Dept of Agriculture has updated the needs of farm animals over the years and being out of the loop for so many years has left me wondering about it all.

I think something that leaves you exhausted before you get started is a pretty good indication as to what the decision should be.

We're all in this together...

Deb