Scale for weighing?

[OneFineAcre]

Most of us that have more than two goats or sheep already do keep our stuff separate and know the cost. The fact is that if a person is using their homestead for their sustenance there is no going to necessarily be profit however food is important. For some knowing where their food comes from and living off their land is very valuable even though there may be no profit.
Many who choose to live this way are savvy enough to know what part of their venture is too costly and what is not.

For many starting out as a hobby and having zero interest in becoming a business has it's advantages. Many will give up and get out of having livestock withing the first 5 years.
Those that make it to five years have a better grasp of all the important things that can make or break them. It is generally after that 5 year mark that people will venture into more of a profitable farm vs a hobby.

As @Goat Whisperer mentioned... we see many that are real gung ho about how they are going to have this farm and what they are going to do ... they plan invest etc yet have no knowledge and fail.
Some think taking care of 4-6 goats is easy so lets go forward and do abc... not realizing that moving from 2-6 animals to 20, 30, 50 or more will be significantly different.

Don't get me wrong, profit is great but for many, they are fine with their hobby and having a few animals for their homestead or enjoyment.

Many that have just a few aces and have small "hobby farms" are already grilled by so many about WHY they aren't making money off their farm.
Why don't you do this?
Why don't you do that?
All you do is spend every minute on your farm and yet you don't make any money.... blah blah blah

Truly it gets old. Like anything we all make choices. Some have hobbies like travelling, they don't profit, they won't break even... there is NO return BUT they enjoy it.
In a culture that is so removed from farming in any regard and a youth that knows nothing about caring for something. Life & loss, hard work, understanding, compassion, heartbreak... these are all positive life skills and valuable. Some of us feel that those things are of greater value than a dollar figure or what the profit/loss margin is.[/QUOTE]

x2

 

[Southern by choice]

Ouch

I know right. Cost will go down after winter.
We usually supplement our dog feed with lots of chicken and deer. We have not had time to do processing and the deer we shared with others this year.
We have NO winter grass and of course we are mostly wooded so nothing there.
Winter is hay and lots of it, feed which is minimal until the goats kid then they need feed for lactation.
They definitely consume alot to keep warm but that is expected.
Once we ACTUALLY find land and move we will work with growing pasture so we only have about 2 months of real high cost.

We pay 110-160 for 1000# bale of hay. Now that our neighbor has enough hay this year we will start getting his for 25 for 800# and we will just mix the hays together.

Funny how all our old original girls LOVE the "old" hay from my neighbor. They grew up on it. The "newer" goats don't know what to do with it.
Spoiled.
I do think that is why our older goats are just better foragers. They weren't "silver spoon fed".

 

[Bruce]

I do not have a business plan. We bought this place because it was far enough away from other residences that whatever stink they put out of their dryer doesn't aggravate DD1's migraines. I figure it was a farm at one point in time and I would like it to be an agricultural place rather than just let the fields be massive weed beds (like the people south of us) or have a massive 6 acre lawn with a big old barn and mucky pond.

My options for "livestock" are laying hens, fiber animals and bees. I started with some chickens because they lay eggs. My expenses to date are about twice my 'income' from selling surplus. But that means I'm paying approximately $0.20/egg from chickens that eat whatever they want and are not locked in a coop let alone a cage. I would pay more for "free range" eggs (*) at the grocery store so I figure I am ahead.

I have the 2 alpacas because neighbors down the road gave them to me as they are moving to Florida in the spring. Won't have any idea what their "cost/profit" numbers will be until they are sheared and DD1 does something "value added" with the fiber. Could very well be a loss there.

Thus the only scale that currently makes sense for me is the kitchen scale I bought to weigh the eggs. Anything to weigh the alpacas would have to be pretty darned cheap.

* And who knows what definition of that is being used by the farms that sell those eggs. USDA says they only have to have access to the outside world. Doesn't say how long per day nor the size of that outside space. Could be anything from a concrete pad and a few minutes a day to free access to vegetation covered land that is more acreage than they can use and available anytime they want. The latter is what my chickens have.

 

[OneFineAcre]

I know right. Cost will go down after winter.
We usually supplement our dog feed with lots of chicken and deer. We have not had time to do processing and the deer we shared with others this year.
We have NO winter grass and of course we are mostly wooded so nothing there.
Winter is hay and lots of it, feed which is minimal until the goats kid then they need feed for lactation.
They definitely consume alot to keep warm but that is expected.
Once we ACTUALLY find land and move we will work with growing pasture so we only have about 2 months of real high cost.

We pay 110-160 for 1000# bale of hay. Now that our neighbor has enough hay this year we will start getting his for 25 for 800# and we will just mix the hays together.

Funny how all our old original girls LOVE the "old" hay from my neighbor. They grew up on it. The "newer" goats don't know what to do with it.
Spoiled.
I do think that is why our older goats are just better foragers. They weren't "silver spoon fed".

Just figured it up
We are spending a lot right now too

 

[Southern by choice]

Just figured it up
We are spending a lot right now too

I feel for ya... good thing is it is short lived!

 

[Alexz7272]

I just started back at college (been mia) and apparently missed some of the conversation! We are more of a 'homesteader' or 'hobby' farm as people call is in the states or other first world countries. Where I was born & raised (partially) it is normal every day life. So for me it is cultural to keep my own livestock and to grow my own food. I also do not like the idea of half the things they put into food here in the USA & having an auto-immune disorder closely related to Lupus, knowing exactly what is in my food is a HUGE help to keep symptoms down

I feel like I know you all well enough to explain a bit more why I do homestead. I suffer from depression, anxiety & ptsd. I attempted on my own life in the fall of 2013, obviously failed. I'll save you the humble jumble of the in-between but we decided I needed something more. So we got Keisha & Zasha (my two catahoulas) they were great! But I had always been a very active person & needed more. We had five acres and always talked about back home & how my relatives lived. So Aaron actually encouraged me to get a few lambs (looking back, he had no idea what he started ). That seemed to do the trick, having something I had to take care of 24/7 regardless of if I didn't feel like getting out of bed or even existing is what pushed me out of my stupor. I simply cannot put into words what happened but it literally saved my life. From there we got pigs, then the goats, then alpacas.

I am not a very religious person but I know that I am blessed to be in a situation in which my partner does not require me to pay any of the mortgage or utilities so that I can focus on my farm & my health. For me, my 'hobby' farm is a hobby but also my lifeline. It is what keeps me going every day, good & bad. My livestock & dogs are quiet literally my whole world and are the only things that keep me grounded.

Back to the scale! It is supposed to be delivered tomorrow, I will post some pictures & give ya'll some first impressions if you'd like! We will be dual purposing it for our engineering company as well for weighing metal stock & other components, so it is a shared expense/endeavor.

You guys are awesome

 

[Bruce]

I think your reasons to have a 'hobby farm' trump most any other @Alexz7272

 

[NH homesteader]

And you are awesome, thanks for sharing... More later, cranky 4 year old calls...

 

[Mike CHS]

@Alexz7272 I think many of these small working farms have a similar result but I thank you for being open to tell how you got here. It always helps to have a perspective and yours is about as clear as any I have seen.

 

[Latestarter]

All I can say is thanks for sharing and congrats on finding the "cure" for your life's ailment. May it always be with you and help you! If you run short of animals, let me know and I'll try to get one or two headed your way!