How to outgrow the house you live in, an urban farming tale.

Pastor Dave

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First of all, :welcome from the Hoosier state.
You have a real good attitude toward the wife's acquisitions, but like you said, it sounds like you enjoy them.

We do meat rabbits, and ours are all out in a shed. I bring in a bucket of kits now and then, but usually worried they will acclimate to the AC or hear, so not left inside long.

I actually do want a herd of dairy and meat combination variety goats down the road. With the rabbits and goats, I would add some chickens for layers and fryers. We are not on our own property, so just a distant dream for now. :weee
 

Sundragons

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Hey there! Greetings and welcome :D That was so much more than an introduction... seemed to me like the start of a GREAT journal! Maybe you should see about moving this thread over to the journal threads? Anyway, awesome! OK, so I guess anyone who read would say goats are a no-go... Have you considered a few itty bitty sheep? ;) They're sooooooo cute and cuddly (when they're young and clean anyway)... Long as you don't get a ram, you won't have to worry about an expanding flock unless YOU choose for it to happen and I understand ewes aren't normally "rammers"... just a thought. We have some really great Sheeple here :D

I don't think sheep are out of the question, but definitely not until we have a few acres. I live in a subdivision right now and there's just not enough yard. I'd feel sheepish trying to keep one there. I want a Friesian and peacocks next, we'll see how that goes. :) Maybe some pheasants as well.
 

Sundragons

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First of all, :welcome from the Hoosier state.

I actually do want a herd of dairy and meat combination variety goats down the road. With the rabbits and goats, I would add some chickens for layers and fryers. We are not on our own property, so just a distant dream for now. :weee

I just can't bring myself to butcher something I've raised. Like, I don't have any issues with it all philosophically and can see the advantage of 100% knowing exactly where your food is coming from, But I can't get over the "We're having Cluck Norris (Our Bresse rooster) for dinner tonight!" part

...Yet. :)
 

Baymule

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Welcome to the forum! We live on 8 acres north of Tyler, Texas. We raise hair sheep, name the ewe lambs and keep them, castrate the ram lambs and call them Dinner. :drool Eventually I'll get my flock the size I want it, then I may sell some ewe lambs or name them Dinner too.

I raised rabbits many years ago and yes, I slaughtered and ate them. You are raising cute, tiny, adorable bunnies, they are best sold as pets, show or breeding rabbits. Utterly adorable! :love

We also have chickens. My husband got to counting them up a few weeks ago and came up with over 50, oops. I somehow omitted the actual number of cluckers we had. :lol: We also have a few Muscovy ducks.

We have 3 horses, a 30 year old Tennessee Walker that I don't ride any more, a 28 year old cremello Quarter Horse (that's his eye in my avatar) he is the love of my life :love and we have a blaze faced, stocking legged 8-10 year old, 13 hand chestnut gelding that came out of a kill pen.

We raise pigs for the freezer each year and I have to tell you, home raised pork is beyond description, especially when compared to store bought.

I can understand not wanting to eat an animal that you were on first name basis with. The first ones are hard, it gets better after that. The best way I can think of to get over that is to raise a couple of pigs that are sneaky devils that want to slip up behind you to bite you. Six months of fending off pigs that think YOU would make a nice snack will make you delighted to load them up and take to slaughter. :lol::lol:

I hope you find that place that is perfect for you and your family. You might want to grow a garden too! You are on the slippery slope of transitioning from "town" to "country". Once you get there, you'll never go back! ;)
 

Sundragons

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I hope you find that place that is perfect for you and your family. You might want to grow a garden too! You are on the slippery slope of transitioning from "town" to "country". Once you get there, you'll never go back! ;)

I grew up in a farming community on the border. I miss that quite often, but I also love the convenience of having anything I want or need 24x7 living in the city. A blend of both with some elbow room between neighbors would be nice. The chicken coop in smack dab in the middle of what used to be our garden patch. I got tired of fighting the caliche and getting stunty corn and carrots, so we grow cackle fruit instead. :)
 

Latestarter

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Instead of fighting the caliche, why not do some raised beds? .
 

Sundragons

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Instead of fighting the caliche, why not do some raised beds? .
It was down to a matter of time and money, honestly. The return on investment for either just wasn't there at that point. Any new place we buy will have room from more than a 10x20 foot plot and I'll be able to actually plan and prepare the spot the way I want.
 

Pastor Dave

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I enjoy where we live. Most of Indiana is rural with scattered towns here and there. We live 20 minutes from Indianapolis, which is close enough. We have a small town abt 5 minutes away, but it shuts down at 9 or 10 most nights except the tavern. Just outside of that town is I-70 with an exit that provides 24/7 gas and food. We can also go in most directions from where we live and hit a town in 15-20 minutes.

I like going and getting what I need, and packing it back home where it is less crowded, less traffic, and more spread out.
 

Baymule

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We live about 30 minutes from Tyler, a big town that has more than what we want. Smaller towns in 3 different directions are 15 minutes away. We are supremely happy in our rural area. And no, we have no pizza delivery. LOL
 
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