Soooooo, this is going to be controversial but I'm sharing with the intention to gain advise and clarity, not judgments or BS... Please keep it clean.
I've been a fierce vegan for about 9 years now. Strangely though, I've never had any vegan friends, never joined a vegan community and all my friends, colleagues and family members heavily consume animal products. When I first became a vegan, I vowed that one day I'd buy land, then buy some animals from farmers and slaughterhouses and set them free on the land and leave them to their own devices in total freedom without and away from human interference. Fast forward 8 years, in March 2021, I bought a plot of land. I am self-employed and work remotely; all I need is a phone, laptop, and internet connection. This has allowed me to work on the land - whilst still earning an income - to prepare it for the animals’ arrival.
Since I've started this, I have acquired far more knowledge and experience with and about animals than I have ever had in my entire life. I have discovered that domesticated animals are heavily reliant on humans, to care for and nurture them and in some instances, they would die without human intervention, whether it may be medical or physical support. Domesticated animals such as sheep, goats, horses, donkeys, alpacas, pigs, chickens, turkeys, and ducks (all of which I own) can’t be left alone like other wild animals. For instance, something as basic as worms, lice, mites, and other parasites can have detrimental effect on animals’ wellbeing and if left untreated, it may result in the death of the animal. Another example would be giving birth, animals like cows and pigmy goats just to name a couple, can significantly benefit from human support and interference when giving birth. So I’ve come to realise that these animals are/ have become heavily dependent on humans and can’t be left to their own devices. Thus my original view on them has changed from "animals should just be left alone" to "they should be looked after".
However, taking care, feeding, and medically treating these animals takes time and can be very expensive. In my case for example, the land, machinery, fencing, shelters, labour and the animals themselves have so far cost me in excess of £120K...and an entire year of my life.
That being said, whilst juggling and dealing with all the difficulties and responsibilities that come with any building project, management and care for the animals, my other business, and friends and family, I was nearly finished with the works on the farm, until storm Eunice on 18th Feb, completely ripped through the animal shelters fencing causing severe damage to the farm . Thankfully all animals were unharmed, but they are still without shelter as I haven't been able to salvage and put back together any of the shelters yet. With the weather getting a little warmer, the animals don’t necessarily require a shelter for now, however, this will not be sustainable in the long run and shelters will need to be erected and ready for winter.
Since the storm damaged the farm, I feel extremely overwhelmed and demotivated, as I am really overwhelmed, irritated, and fed up with the constant setbacks. I only wanted to help some animals, save them from slaughter and give them the gift of freedom. But the whole thing has for an entire year, drained me energetically, emotionally, mentally and financially.
Being focused on the farm for an entire year has resulted in loss of business in my own line of work. Not only have I lost on potential business, having spent over £120K on this project is starting to really daunt me.
Most of my friends and family think I'm crazy for dedicating so much of my time and money to this cause. I am proud of what was achieved on the farm (before the storm), and extremely happy about saving some animals that would have undoubtably imprisoned or sold for meat and sent to slaughter, however, having spent so much money, and after an entire year of being on my own with this project, not seeing the family and most importantly my little boy as much - since the farm is in another city about 2.5 hours away - and now having to start again on building animal shelters, I’m finding my motivation levels drop daily, and my patience and tolerance levels to keep spending time and money near zero.
I currently have, 4 ponies, 12 goats, 4 sheep, 2 donkeys, 3 alpacas, about 90 chicks and chickens, 1 turkey, 15 ducks, lots of fruit trees and a few beehives. I have built a strong bond with them all so I couldn’t just stop now and end the whole thing, but I cannot find any support and just feel drained, mentally, emotionally, and financially. Afterall, I do have other responsibilities also and I cannot continue to chuck money at it.
I have shared and thoroughly discussed my dilemma with my non-vegan family, friends and colleagues (FFCs), almost all told me to stop immediately and sell all the animals. When faced with my fierce refusal, many suggested to at least make the farm generate an income and self-sufficient.
Some suggestions were made, and I now would like to share these suggestions with fellow vegans to get their opinion to make sure I stay on the right track and don’t end up making the wrong choice due to huge pressure I feel at present…
1. Sell eggs - during my time taking care of chickens turkeys, geese ducks etc. I've noticed that if their eggs are left alone, they'll either
a) rot after a certain time has passed
b) chickens themselves would eat them
C) get broken somehow
D) eggs that aren't fertile will go off and never turn into chicks even if a chicken sits on them...
So essentially, unless they are all fertile and a chicken sites on them all, they'll go to waste.. So when sharing this with FFCs they suggested selling the eggs to generate an income which would pay for their feed, medication and upkeep.
2. Sell wool - Animals like sheep and alpacas have to be sheared, for their own health and well-being. Once sheared, I dispose of the wool, but FFCs suggest making use of or sell the wool. The argument is that I'm not keeping animals for the purpose of exploitation. It’s a by-product that would be cut off one way or another and unless used would otherwise go to waste.
3. Sell Animals - This is a huge one. Being a fierce animal lover, I could never allow myself to castrate any of the animals. This means they’ll eventually mate; their numbers will increase, and it'll eventually become difficult and expensive to feed and keep them all in the same space. FFCs have understood that I’d never sell them for meat - obviously - but they suggest selling them to fellow vegans as pets. This is because when we go out for a walk with my animals, especially little pigmy goats, a lot of people (some vegans) want to adopt and buy. I’m not entirely comfortable with this, I could never allow myself to separate mums from babies regardless of age, so not sure how this would work.
4. Sell honey - there are lots of evidence to suggest that removing a little honey from beehives is good for them and lots of evidence arguing against the idea. A close friend of mine is the founder of an organisation that breeds bees and he suggests its good for the bees - for various reasons which are too long to go into here - but in an ethical manner that supports the Bees and not harm/ starve them.
5. Sell Fruit and vegetables.
6. Sell no animal products, only fruits and veg and vegan produce, but turn the farm into a petting zoo, open it to public and schools etc. and charge a small fee per person. Whilst this if my favourite option, the council is not likely to allow this as it requires a change of use of the land. We could persist but would require planning agents and solicitors to put through applications and ensure compliance which can be very costly, but sadly and I cannot afford this at this stage.
I welcome your opinions...
I've been a fierce vegan for about 9 years now. Strangely though, I've never had any vegan friends, never joined a vegan community and all my friends, colleagues and family members heavily consume animal products. When I first became a vegan, I vowed that one day I'd buy land, then buy some animals from farmers and slaughterhouses and set them free on the land and leave them to their own devices in total freedom without and away from human interference. Fast forward 8 years, in March 2021, I bought a plot of land. I am self-employed and work remotely; all I need is a phone, laptop, and internet connection. This has allowed me to work on the land - whilst still earning an income - to prepare it for the animals’ arrival.
Since I've started this, I have acquired far more knowledge and experience with and about animals than I have ever had in my entire life. I have discovered that domesticated animals are heavily reliant on humans, to care for and nurture them and in some instances, they would die without human intervention, whether it may be medical or physical support. Domesticated animals such as sheep, goats, horses, donkeys, alpacas, pigs, chickens, turkeys, and ducks (all of which I own) can’t be left alone like other wild animals. For instance, something as basic as worms, lice, mites, and other parasites can have detrimental effect on animals’ wellbeing and if left untreated, it may result in the death of the animal. Another example would be giving birth, animals like cows and pigmy goats just to name a couple, can significantly benefit from human support and interference when giving birth. So I’ve come to realise that these animals are/ have become heavily dependent on humans and can’t be left to their own devices. Thus my original view on them has changed from "animals should just be left alone" to "they should be looked after".
However, taking care, feeding, and medically treating these animals takes time and can be very expensive. In my case for example, the land, machinery, fencing, shelters, labour and the animals themselves have so far cost me in excess of £120K...and an entire year of my life.
That being said, whilst juggling and dealing with all the difficulties and responsibilities that come with any building project, management and care for the animals, my other business, and friends and family, I was nearly finished with the works on the farm, until storm Eunice on 18th Feb, completely ripped through the animal shelters fencing causing severe damage to the farm . Thankfully all animals were unharmed, but they are still without shelter as I haven't been able to salvage and put back together any of the shelters yet. With the weather getting a little warmer, the animals don’t necessarily require a shelter for now, however, this will not be sustainable in the long run and shelters will need to be erected and ready for winter.
Since the storm damaged the farm, I feel extremely overwhelmed and demotivated, as I am really overwhelmed, irritated, and fed up with the constant setbacks. I only wanted to help some animals, save them from slaughter and give them the gift of freedom. But the whole thing has for an entire year, drained me energetically, emotionally, mentally and financially.
Being focused on the farm for an entire year has resulted in loss of business in my own line of work. Not only have I lost on potential business, having spent over £120K on this project is starting to really daunt me.
Most of my friends and family think I'm crazy for dedicating so much of my time and money to this cause. I am proud of what was achieved on the farm (before the storm), and extremely happy about saving some animals that would have undoubtably imprisoned or sold for meat and sent to slaughter, however, having spent so much money, and after an entire year of being on my own with this project, not seeing the family and most importantly my little boy as much - since the farm is in another city about 2.5 hours away - and now having to start again on building animal shelters, I’m finding my motivation levels drop daily, and my patience and tolerance levels to keep spending time and money near zero.
I currently have, 4 ponies, 12 goats, 4 sheep, 2 donkeys, 3 alpacas, about 90 chicks and chickens, 1 turkey, 15 ducks, lots of fruit trees and a few beehives. I have built a strong bond with them all so I couldn’t just stop now and end the whole thing, but I cannot find any support and just feel drained, mentally, emotionally, and financially. Afterall, I do have other responsibilities also and I cannot continue to chuck money at it.
I have shared and thoroughly discussed my dilemma with my non-vegan family, friends and colleagues (FFCs), almost all told me to stop immediately and sell all the animals. When faced with my fierce refusal, many suggested to at least make the farm generate an income and self-sufficient.
Some suggestions were made, and I now would like to share these suggestions with fellow vegans to get their opinion to make sure I stay on the right track and don’t end up making the wrong choice due to huge pressure I feel at present…
1. Sell eggs - during my time taking care of chickens turkeys, geese ducks etc. I've noticed that if their eggs are left alone, they'll either
a) rot after a certain time has passed
b) chickens themselves would eat them
C) get broken somehow
D) eggs that aren't fertile will go off and never turn into chicks even if a chicken sits on them...
So essentially, unless they are all fertile and a chicken sites on them all, they'll go to waste.. So when sharing this with FFCs they suggested selling the eggs to generate an income which would pay for their feed, medication and upkeep.
2. Sell wool - Animals like sheep and alpacas have to be sheared, for their own health and well-being. Once sheared, I dispose of the wool, but FFCs suggest making use of or sell the wool. The argument is that I'm not keeping animals for the purpose of exploitation. It’s a by-product that would be cut off one way or another and unless used would otherwise go to waste.
3. Sell Animals - This is a huge one. Being a fierce animal lover, I could never allow myself to castrate any of the animals. This means they’ll eventually mate; their numbers will increase, and it'll eventually become difficult and expensive to feed and keep them all in the same space. FFCs have understood that I’d never sell them for meat - obviously - but they suggest selling them to fellow vegans as pets. This is because when we go out for a walk with my animals, especially little pigmy goats, a lot of people (some vegans) want to adopt and buy. I’m not entirely comfortable with this, I could never allow myself to separate mums from babies regardless of age, so not sure how this would work.
4. Sell honey - there are lots of evidence to suggest that removing a little honey from beehives is good for them and lots of evidence arguing against the idea. A close friend of mine is the founder of an organisation that breeds bees and he suggests its good for the bees - for various reasons which are too long to go into here - but in an ethical manner that supports the Bees and not harm/ starve them.
5. Sell Fruit and vegetables.
6. Sell no animal products, only fruits and veg and vegan produce, but turn the farm into a petting zoo, open it to public and schools etc. and charge a small fee per person. Whilst this if my favourite option, the council is not likely to allow this as it requires a change of use of the land. We could persist but would require planning agents and solicitors to put through applications and ensure compliance which can be very costly, but sadly and I cannot afford this at this stage.
I welcome your opinions...