Welcome to The Hearty Hen House
Hobby Farming at its finest!
Loss is a fact of life on a farm. A baby goat dies during birth, a dog in her prime contracts leukemia, the Houdini rabbit escapes and gets run over by a car and the matriarch hen succumbs to old age. Death and loss are just facts of life. Death is not a respecter of age or breed or our hard work. You have to figure that if you have animals, eventually you’re going to encounter some form of loss.Â
Some years ago, when looking at a potential new home, the owners had geese on the property. Every time we would try to go outside the house to look around, we were chased by the geese. We were strangers in their territory and they didn’t like it! I think they probably cheered and gave each other high fives when we finally drove away! Shortly after we found a house and moved in, a neighbor said he had to go to California for work and he had some young chickens and geese that he wanted to give my boys. (I think that was a ploy so that I wouldn’t say no.) I was a little wary based on my previous experience, but we took them in. Thirteen years later we still have the geese and I am happy to report, I have not once regretted the decision!
Feeding your farm animals doesn’t have to be expensive. You just need to be resourceful and creative.
Prepared feed products that you purchase at your local livestock or pet supply store are great to feed your animals. They are formulated to provide specific farm animals with their optimum daily nutritional requirements. There is a lot to choose from though and picking the right feed can be a daunting task. They can also be expensive. I find that supplementing a prepared feed with other foods is not only cheaper, but I think it’s better for my animals. Understanding your animals’ nutritional requirements is important and I find that as my understanding increases, my animals’ diets change.
I started my hobby farming with chickens. There is no better way to start your journey with hobby farming and healthy living than with chickens! Chickens are animated and fun to watch. They can be very pretty, when not molting, they are not difficult to keep, AND they give back. That incredible edible egg! Just look at the size of the egg I got this last summer! Yes, it was a double yolker! I was hoping for three yolks, but it was not to be.
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