Dear Curiosity Journal,
As a vegetarian and animal lover, I’ve struggled with the idea of raising sheep for meat. Up until this year, I hadn’t considered it. However, I feel like I’m transitioning my flock from a hobby to a business, from pet status to livestock with multiple purposes. This has not been easy, but I’m slowly coming to terms with this side of production. Rufus and I have had some really good conversations about animal husbandry, and I’m learning to see the farmer’s role in determining an animal’s purpose. Some sheep are wonderful wool producers, some are milkers, and some are companions, and some have been intentionally developed as “meat sheep”. It’s difficult to tease out the emotional connection and sentimentality I’ve developed by working closely with these animals, but it also feels like a necessary element of flock management and farm economics. On Thursday, I sent my first 2 lambs to the Fennimore Livestock Exchange for the Holiday Lamb & Kid Sale. I wrestled my soft side into submission, put them in the meat purpose category in my brain, thanked them, gave them a handful of grain, and said goodbye. Thankfully, Rufus did the deed of driving them to the auction since I wasn’t feeling well, so I was insulated from the challenge of dropping them off, but it was still sad and hard. I’ll use the money we get from this sale to pay our vet bills and invest back into the flock. It stings like ripping off a band aid, and I can only hope that it gets easier over time.
~Joy