so we can grow dozens of the same plants, but our animal situation is aaaalllmost opposite? :D
we have 30 laying hens and usually 25-50 meat chickens each year; 30-40 turkeys; the pet peacocks who serve no function other than delight (and who will eat an entire 50' row of spring greens and have to be penned out of the garden until the plants are a foot tall), and currently 5 goats. no pigs, no geese. if i were local to you i would trade goat or turkey or something for goose meat. no quail. no rare breeds, particularly, though we do raise heritage turkeys - we don't keep a breeding flock, as we found the management too chaotic over the winter. interestingly, our favorite hen is also the americauna, though we also like orpingtons, new hampshire reds, and barred rocks. we kept guinea hens for a while and decided we couldn't stand the noise and ate them all. all our neighbors have horses but not us. there's a cow and a donkey in the neighborhood, too, and some sheep - lots of sheep people around here. we've never even considered pigs or sheep. pigs because of the labor & half of us can't eat them, and sheep because none of us really like mutton, though sheepskins are awfully luscious.
on that note, i'm going to learn to tan, for real, this spring. a local tanner is going to teach me & Hannah how to do it, using our own goat hides. i think my friend Loba is getting in on this, too, so it might work out to be a good-size workshop for Marisa.
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Date: 2022-01-19 12:56 am (UTC)we have 30 laying hens and usually 25-50 meat chickens each year; 30-40 turkeys; the pet peacocks who serve no function other than delight (and who will eat an entire 50' row of spring greens and have to be penned out of the garden until the plants are a foot tall), and currently 5 goats. no pigs, no geese. if i were local to you i would trade goat or turkey or something for goose meat. no quail. no rare breeds, particularly, though we do raise heritage turkeys - we don't keep a breeding flock, as we found the management too chaotic over the winter. interestingly, our favorite hen is also the americauna, though we also like orpingtons, new hampshire reds, and barred rocks. we kept guinea hens for a while and decided we couldn't stand the noise and ate them all. all our neighbors have horses but not us. there's a cow and a donkey in the neighborhood, too, and some sheep - lots of sheep people around here. we've never even considered pigs or sheep. pigs because of the labor & half of us can't eat them, and sheep because none of us really like mutton, though sheepskins are awfully luscious.
on that note, i'm going to learn to tan, for real, this spring. a local tanner is going to teach me & Hannah how to do it, using our own goat hides. i think my friend Loba is getting in on this, too, so it might work out to be a good-size workshop for Marisa.