Just another Day on the Farm

I read a few blogs but not many, and I love my “girls” who comment, who I should point out are also a few guys in there, and I have rarely had to not approve comments, typically they are not posted as they are spam, only a few have been dealt with privately that were because they were anti-farming or anti-meat eating.

I like blogging and there are times that family, or friends have privately commented that I am just a little to open about the things I do, Personally I try and find a reasonable balance, I talk about growing my animals for meat but I try to not overwhelm in regards to photos or to much detail, while still sharing some of the feels and or work that goes into it.

So when I decided to pop over to a blog that one of my “girls” have on her site, I started reading the posts and the comments, and then I started reading backwards, and I felt like I had been transported from a farming blog to a Dr. Phil moment, the back and forth and the tone, I felt shocked to a point at the comments being made, and so I went further and read more, and read more.. and little red flags went up, and up and up, and things I had read that made little to no sense at the begin started coming more into focus.

Now, I am not going to comment on some of those red flags that as a older, longer term farmer, others have expressed -in far more negative terms, then I would ever do online or in person, out of sheer respect for another person.

I will say this, when you are first starting out and for the rest of your life, there is a learning curve, there will be bumps in the road, there are up’s and downs and not all animals born or bought will thrive, not all older critters will pass peacefully in their sleep, that we as the human care takers of those animals on farms, we make the calls and the culls..

It sucks, it really does, and there is part of us that want to try just one more med, one more test by the vet or one more feed or one more thing in a book or a website that might give them a better quality of life and the newer you are to farming, the more you want to do this..

The longer you have farmed, the less you will do this to a point. That point is a different line in the sand for every farmer but the line gets drawn a little tighter, a little harder as the years go buy. 

You learn when a lamb is not thriving, that its better to to end their life and butcher useable meat for your dogs or yourself, then to treat, and treat and worry and spend sleepless nights in the barn, only to either have them pass or be put down and then have to pay to have them taken off the farm because either a) they were sick so you can’t eat them, or b) they are on meds that have withdrawl time, so can’t eat them.

Its total waste, a waste of life, a waste of time, a waste of money, a waste of energy, because you can’t help but give it to them, you can’t help but spend time with them, you can’t help but spend hours trying to read and research anything or anyway to help get better or do better..

And as mean this is going to sound, that time is needed for the rest of the farm.

There I said it, it reads just as hard sounding as it did in my head when I thought it.. and it comes with a sense of shame and angry..

Shame that I had to admit that I can’t always make every single part of my farm that picture perfect version that folks think of in a small family farm.

Anger that I can’t keep every single animal bought or born on my farm in perfect health from the moment of birth to the moment of death, I wish I could, I really do, I wish that there was never a weak chick born in a clutch, I wish that you never saw a stiillborn lamb in the barn, that a cow can never step on a nail and take two month of treatment to heal, I wish I never had a turkey pullet come with a crooked neck but they have..

The weak chick died, the lamb was butchered and I keep the hide, and the turkey grew slow but grew and made a fine meal when the time came..

We have a urge to control nature, and it will not happen as we want it to.. its life, never ending, always renewing, always changing life! It is not in our control!

As a farmer, we can provide fresh air, sunshine, pasture, bedding, shelter, water, minerals, and quality feed, we can provide health care, be it de-wormers, vaccines, antibodics and when needed we call the vet for expert help which can include tests to pin point issues and treatment plans..

Farmers write that they control the life cycles of their animals, and to point, we do.. we can plan their birthing season, we can decide when to send them to the butcher, but its an illusion, if we think we truly control the life on our farms, they share their lifes with us, but apart at the same time.

At the factory farms, I don’t believe that the the animals have a good qaulity of life and I don’t support it. The sad fact is that most modern farms don’t keep their critters from birth to old age anymore, they move that cow as five or six years of age, they won’t keep a chicken past the age of a year.

So many small farms today are being started because of this backlash about where and how our food is raised, and thank you for everyone that raising animals that get a life before they end up in freezer camp!

So here is my final wish.. lets have many, many! more small farms, but can we find a way for the ones who have more knowledge to share it with those on very steep learning curves and do so in a way that the information can flow in a postive way!

Cuz right now, the new farmers, the ones still on a very steep learning curves are the most vocal, the more out there, the so called “expects” holding the seminars and teaching the up and coming new farmers.. and it needs to be a mix.. old and new blended for the betterment of the farms and the animals share their lives with them.

Enough said..  I’m going to collect eggs, and then wash floors again cuz its that muddy season on the farm..