Am I overdoing it with animals?

As for the chicks: If they are just chicks(pullets) then it will be quite some time and a lot of purchased feed before you get any eggs. If they are full-grown, then you may or may not, depending on their age, get any eggs during the wintertime--and you'll have to leave a light on to give them egg laying inducement. If they are really full-grown they might be too old to produce eggs.......... How well did you know the seller????

As for the pig: If it is a gilt(girl), fine. If it is a boar(boy), then you'll have to figure out the way you turn it into a barrow(boy without boar testosterone). Regardless of sexual persuasion, it will require lots of purchased food until you butcher it. But keep in mind that you could butcher it any old time you feel like it and have a wonderful wintertime pig roast complete with apple in mouth.

I guess that my main comment is that you should be careful not to think you can purchase your way to self sufficiency. My Dad's old saying may hold true here: "Never cut down trees in the wintertime, wait until Spring so you can choose the dead ones first."

I don't think it is too many, but like others have said, wait till the spring and get a couple of feeder pigs. I say wait till spring because fixing any shenanigans they might get into (mine liked to knock their hut apart...) are much easier to deal with when it is not raining or snowing.

Pigs are really easy -- easier than goats I should think, but then, I've never done goats. Feeder pigs are not a commitment, they're a project, a crop, of no more than 5 months, and by then you will see if you like pigs well enough to do the breeding thing.

I would also recommend waiting with the pigs. Both pigs and goats are great escape artists. It can get very frustrating very fast when you have animals getting out all the time. I've had goats go through a 5 strand hot wire fence before and it was hot at the time. I now have a 6 foot chain link fence on one side and stacked cattle panels on the other sides. If you don't have a really sturdy fence for your goats, I would make that a priority.

I'm not a parent so I can't attest to this, but many, many of my friends with children tell me the kids are very enthusiastic when they get animals but the interest wears off and Mom and/or Dad end up taking care of the critters. This might be something to consider, especially if your children have not had to take care of a lot of animals. If you've had pets before and the kids actively participated in their care, this may not be as much of an issue, but if they don't have much animal experience the amount of work it takes to care for a large number of critters may get overwhelming especially when the weather turns and it's miserable to be outside.

I CAN attest to the work part of things. We have dogs, cats, pigeons, rabbits and chickens and it IS a lot of work, and they are just small animals; I can imagine larger critters like goats and pigs have their own unique challenges due to size. It gets overwhelming sometimes; it's not just the day-to-day care, but also the emergencies that inevitably arise, like health issues, escapes, fights, etc. When I had surgery a few months ago and was unable to care for the animals, DH told me he never realized exactly how much work it took to keep everyone fed, watered, clean and happy.

If you are anything like me, if I ask myself if I'm overdoing something, I probably am. As a person who enjoys animal husbandry, I agree with those who suggest you give yourself and your family some time to get accustomed to caring for the chickens and goats first. I've learned the hard way that books are great, but the reality of actually HAVING an animal is a lot different. In my opinion and experience, it's a lot easier to learn the ins and outs of keeping, say, goats if one isn't also trying to learn about keeping pigs too

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Ever tried? Ever failed? No Matter, try again, fail again. Fail better.

- Samuel Beckett

Thank you so much everyone for your replies. I wanted to answer everyone individually, but have not had the time. I hope you understand and don't think I'm ignoring your advice. I've gained a lot from your advice and now have a lot to discuss with my family. We have just been very busy renovating everything in this farm. The lady who lived here before (I've been told) kept chickens and goats, but moved out over a year ago. Everything was falling apart. She only used the big shed as a coop and the smaller barn. The big barn has not been used/cleaned for over 15 years. This used to be a dairy farm, so you can imagine what that barn looks like now. It is very frustrating to me that people would let such beauty and hard work go to complete waste, but we are having fun renovating and watching everything come back to life slowly.

About my homeschooled children.....(and I'm not just saying this because they are mine, everyone we meet always comments about it).....they are very responsible. They will not volunteer for something and then back out of it. I'd love to say it is because DH and I have taught them, but honestly we can not take credit for this. We have just been blessed. We have discussed as a family all the hard work this will take and have planned and still planning accordingly. My daughter has already told us she will have nothing to do with the chickens or any kind of poultry, so I know not to count on her for that. My five year old will only be counted as extra help with plans that he may get distracted or bored, so an extra pair of hands may need to be available in the event this happens. And my 1 year old will be mostly worn on my back with the hope that it all becomes 2nd nature to her as she sponges all the hard work in.....we'll see. So far this has worked with house chores.

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~Jen
Married to my best friend and mother of 5.

Nothing new, just agreeing with those who recommend starting pigs with a feeder in the spring. They aren't much trouble to care for, but winter isn't a very good time to be going into pig raising as newbies, and you definitely want to raise feeders for a year or two before you get into breeding them. It sounds like you are pretty well set for the chickens and goats.

Kathleen