Madeline Carter

Wow with all these responses you're really making me rethink the goat idea. We'd really like some milk but we don't have enough land for a cow. Any advice? Would it be better to get sheep for sheep milk?

Wow all your replies have been so informative. I really thank you. I've been taking notes and reading more on all these subjects. I have a couple of more questions I hope you can help me with.
I looked up track paddocks and they seem like a great idea especially for small acreages like we'll have.

1. Do goats benefit from a track paddock too or only horses? Cows?

2. Does the woven fencing appropriate for goats also work as perimeter fences for horses? Since we plan to have both Animals in the pasture I'd love a fence that would keep both in.

3. Could I do a perimeter fence now for goats and add a track paddock later when we get horses? Would it be a difficult thing to accomplish?

4. Anyone with children do the electric fencing? I have 4 kids but the youngest are 2 and 4. I don't expect to leave them completely unattended but should one wander to the fence while I'm not looking I'm worried of the danger it may pose to children? We'll teach them that they are not to touch the fence but as kids tend to do; sometimes they don't listen. Any advice?

Thanks again!

Justyn Mavis wrote:Hello Madeline,
  I also grew up in the city.(Akron, Ohio) and 13 years ago moved to the rural mountain of WV. (near Flat Top, WV) Awesome and scary all at the same time. Here is my advice, and the advice I give anyone getting into rural living. ( I'm transforming my B&B, Farmstay to an Education Center because of all the questions I get., Super excited)


1.) Start Slow and Small.  
2.) Get to know the creatures you will be interacting with on a daily basis. (Chicken are super fun, Bee are neat with their patterns) but always back to #1 you need time to know your bees and chicken separate.
3.) Read, Read, Read and then read some more. You're farm, animals, weather will not do what the books say they will do, so by reading you be able to take chicken advice and adapt it for growies.
4.) Get to know everyone around you. I mean everyone. You animals WILL get out and run over to their house. Trust me, it will happen. That is not the best time to meet them. (Eggs are magic, give them away to nosy, or grumpy neighbors)
5.) Find something outside the farm to enjoy. A park, a hobby, a meetup club, flea market. Something you can look forward to. You WILL want to leave the farm during burn out phase, having a place to go that will recharge you it NEEDED.
6.) Stay smaller then you want to stay. ( The Gods/Source will give you creatures to rescue) If you're small you can find room for it.
7.) But a VET book on each animal type you plan to have. ( This includes dogs and cats) sometime you CAN'T make it to the VET, you will be treating the animal yourself, why not have access to the best info. (Not the internet because people shame you for not taking animals to ER Vets, and wont believe you that your to far away from an open one)
8.) Understand some days you will HATE the farm and dream of living in the city again. That will never go away, but the great days will balance out the terrible days. It's takes a while to get use to being a Feral Human on the Factory Farm of Society.
9.) Most of your friends will think it's cool, but secretly think you are bat shit crazy.
10.) You will rarely be really clean again. (It's ok, you will change what clean means., dirt without poop in is, is now clean dirt)
11.) Plant Trees yesterday, and since you can't time travel, plant them as soon as possible, way more then you think you want. Tree that produce something you want. Plant them before the fencing, before the barn, before the equipment.
12.) Observe the season. Find a spot and take a picture every month from that same spot.
13.) Document the weather. I personally do an instagram #outthewindowweather so I can look back and see the weather and share with my friends. This make it easier for you in the future years to plan for the chaos and find the patterns.
14.) Map out your master plan, each season to see if the weather pattern change it.
15.) Know that it's going to be fun, crazy and rewarding.

If you guys setup a FB, Twitter, or IG I'd like to follow your adventures. @xdrfirefly is me. (on all of them)  

Should be a great lifetime adventure.

-Justyn

I'll definitely have to look into starting an IG and I will give you the link. Thank you!!

We're buying a little hobby farm and there is a pole shed with one stall and a giant Quonset. The Quonset has electricity but the pole shed does not. Which can we use for goats, sheep, or horses? Do people house animals in quonsets? Of course we'll need build stalls and such but just wondering what is recommended.

Hello permies
I'm new to this forum and embarrassingly naive about all things agricultural. I grew up in big cities and my husband grew up in small towns. We've lived in a small town for 10 years now. For years now we've been changing and simplifying our lives and just love it. Recently we made the leap and signed on to purchase a farm house on 5 acres. I'll continue to work full time while my husband is going to be a stay at home dad. It'll be more of a hobby farm but we're so excited to start this journey. We have so much to learn. Can you offer me some advice on what it takes to start a hobby farm? What are some good resources? How do we even start? We need to set up fencing and the barn and purchase all the necessary equipment. Since we're buying the farm in September we'd like to start setting up the property this fall to acquire some animals next spring. I know we have a lot to learn and a lot to plan so I want to give ourselves enough time to do it.

Our plan is:
-Have a large garden for personal use.
-want to eventually can and preserve food for the winter
-have chickens for eggs
-goats or sheep for milk (which should we choose)
-2 horses for riding
-or 2 mini cows for milk
-apple trees
-grape vines
-bees for honey

We live in the Midwest. I would appreciate any and all advice. Thank you in advance

Hello I'm new to this forum and really looking for some advice. My spouse and I are in the process of buying our first house in the country. It's on 5 acres of mostly pasture. There is 1 large quonset and a large pole shed on the property besides the house and garage. We move in September and hope to put up some fencing right away. Eventually we hope to have either 2 horses, 5 goats, and some chickens, or 2 mini cows, goats and chickens. We know 5 acres isn't much so we need to plan carefully.

We are small town dwellers so absolutely new to country life. We know next to nothing about homesteading and farm animals. Obviously we have a lot of learning to do. I am including an old picture of the property I found on google. I erased some buildings on the picture that are no longer there. Everything green is pasture area. The land is pretty flat.

Based on a little bit of reading I learned that fencing should accomodate for controlled grazing and a paddock? Can you look at my picture and help me figure out how we should fence the land for best grazing of the horses and goats? We hope to use the pole shed to house the animals. I'm assuming we need a coral of some sort as well?

Also the quonset is a very large building. Do people house animals in quonsets  or is it only for storage?

Thank you in advance for all your help.