Making our home a farm

It's finally time!! *cue the trumpets*  

We're finally going to get 

a cow and some chickens!!!  

We needed to figure out ways to lower our monthly bills, and of course food is always high on the list.  One of the biggest expenses is milk, dairy products (cheese, butter, sour cream, etc.), and eggs.  Which are things we use a lot of.  So there seemed to be a good solution to this problem.  


About 2-3 weeks ago, the 6 of us started feeling like God was saying its time to get some farm animals.  It would save us a good amount of money.  

A cow can produce about 2 to 4 gallons a day...A DAY!! That's just insane. It's perfect for us though. We can start drinking milk at every meal, have cream for our coffee, make butter, yogurt, sour cream, cheeses, ice cream (dad's favorite)... the possibilities are endless!  

Okay, maybe not endless, 

but you get the idea. 

  

The type of cow we're looking into getting is a Jersey. Jersey cattle are a breed of small dairy cattle. The breed is popular for the high butterfat content of its milk.  They are calm and docile animals.  Jersey cows are also highly recommended for first time owners.  

           That would be us!      

Chickens are the other farm animals we plan to purchase.  A chicken usually will lay one egg per day.  We haven't come up with a final number we're going to purchase and what types yet.  I'm really looking forward to this, because there's nothing like a farm fresh egg! If the chicken gets to move around and forage, their yolks get a dark yellow orange. That's when they are REALLY yummy!  I can't wait to have those again.  Lately we've just been getting organic eggs that have been fed grain.  They aren't as nutritious or as tasty as chickens that get to move around & forage.  Of course before we purchase a cow or chickens they will need a place to stay and there's no way we'd let them bunk up in the house! hehe

*Side note* This is something we've been learning.  Just because it says organic doesn't mean its the best.  We are trying to get back to basics. Getting unprocessed.  There are lots of organic products that are still processed and therefore are not that healthy for you.  Same thing applies to cows & chickens.  Just because they are fed organic grain, doesn't mean they are healthy.  Cows should be on a grass diet.  That's why lately we try to buy grass fed beef when we can.  One day we'll start raising cows and chickens to butcher.  Trust me this isn't an easy topic for me to wrap my mind around.  I wasn't raised on a farm so killing animals will be VERY tough for me.  I'm willing to try though, because I feel its something God wants me to do.  So if He wants me to do it, I obviously can handle it. =)   

Just a bit of nerdy cow humor haha

So this month we're getting everything together to build a coop and a stall.  It's so exciting to think that we'll have a cow & chickens soon. I've always dreamed about being a farm girl, and soon I will be.  I am looking forward to gathering the eggs and going out to milk the cow.  It will be lots of work, 

but fun too! 

Now it's time to go build a stall and a chicken coop!