Get chickens, that's what! I was adamantly opposed to any chicken raising in any form, whatsoever. I have always been told they stink, they are loud, and to be honest--I got hen-pecked (half to death in my mind) as a child, so I was more afraid of them than anything...but oh my goodness, they are so pretty and the kids just love them--so I am now a reformed chicken-hater!
Well, once you have crossed over from domesticated pets like cats and dogs into livestock...you may as well start becoming self-sufficient and raise your own beef, right?! Hmm--not so sure on this one. I think my exact words were "I am not getting up at 4am to feed cows..."
Sure enough, we got a steer. An ornery hereford named T-Bone. Wow--what an animal to cut our teeth on. He did the exact opposite of everything everyone told us he'd do...so, to "calm him down", we got Fred. Yep--another steer. So we sailed right on past 'self-suffient' into raising enough food to stock the food pantry in town. Hopefully we can find someone to buy some of this.
This is our first attempt at breaking T-Bone
This is sweet ole' Fred
He is so gentle that Pierce can climb up and pet him
So, as much as I hate to admit it--I am a total sucker for the the animals. I can't say I go feed them at 4am, but I do go out there a lot and play with them, pet them, etc. It'll be a sad day when I finally load them onto the trailer, but it's been a great learning experience. So, I'd definitely eat my words and not call myself--or anyone with livestock--a redneck again. :)
T-Bone is a great name for a cow. I grew up with cows, I remember trying to feed them apples off the tree without get my hand licked.
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