Dreaming Big:
This doesn't mean building big, it means not scrimping on the details. This Miniature Farm of yours needs to be something you're proud of in the end. I understand that planning and funding have a lot to do with what you can actually build, but the power of your dream or vision is what is going to have a direct effect on the end result.
Walk with me for a moment in your mind. I want you to pretend like you've just called me and want to show me your Miniature Farm. "I'll be right over, but do you mind if I bring my video camera?" I say. "No, that's fine". You say. I drive up and you should see the look on your face. I can tell that you have created something very unique and special to who you are. Your enthusiasm alone is enough to inspire me to beg you to show me around.
What am I going to see? How will your corrals be laid out for your livestock? What color is your chicken coop? Is that a garden I see over there? I think it's really cool how you planted those trees around your duck pond. It's amazing how you made such good use of so small a space. I can get a good feel for your personality seeing how built a little jungle gym for your miniature goats. I love how you've created a little paradise. I bet you spend hours here working and playing with all of these living things.
I would have never thought to put a chicken coop up in a tree, I bet your chickens just love roosting each night to the sway of the wind. Something else I've noticed is how well you've planned for sanitation. Nothing makes animals happier than a clean environment. Your neighbors are gonna wonder how you can have all these animals in your back yard, without the smell.
Do you see how dreaming big can inspire you in ways you may have never imagined. Who cares about Farmer Johnson's place down the street, what matters is that you enjoy the refining process of your Miniature Farm. It's not going to happen over night. Sometimes you have to tear things down to make them right. I built a garage this winter to keep my then pregnant wife from slipping on ice, but I had to tear it down yesterday, because the city I live in reminded me that I didn't obtain a permit first. Guess what? I'm already dreaming of how I will be using those resources to improve my Miniature Farm. When one window closes, another always opens.
Starting Small:
Don't try to do too much at once. You really need to pace yourself, so you don't burn out and quit before you really get a chance to enjoy the joys of Miniature Farming. Part of my Miniature Farm includes a handful of KOI Fish. I love them to death and they are growing superbly, but it didn't start out that way.
When I moved into the home we live in now, there was an old fish pond in the back yard. I filled it with water and bought some Gold Fish. I knew I needed to circulate the water and so I bought a pump and made a waterfall. A month into my little fish farm, the Gold Fish started dying. I didn't know what to do, so I went to the pet store and started reading about fish ponds. I look back on what I knew then to what I know today and I laugh. I'm sad that I murdered all those Gold Fish, but their deaths were not in vain.
Before you even think about purchasing all of those fuzzy, furry, or feathery creatures, you have to put your impatience aside and educate yourself. My Gold Fish were dying because they got a parasite known as ICK. They were also dying because, even those I was circulating the water, I wasn't filtering the water. I had over populated my pond and the poor little things were suffocating because the water fall I had wasn't putting enough oxygen into the water. I could write a book on what I've learned about keeping fish alive.
The Gold Fish only cost me a few dollars, but I really wanted the KOI Fish. Koi fish are more expensive than Gold Fish and I didn't want to buy them and then have them die on me, so I kept reading, studying and applying. I have a beautiful pond now with healthy Koi and Gold Fish and I rarely have to do any maintenance. You Miniature Farm doesn't need every farm animal you can think of right off the bat, just like my fish pond didn't need every fresh water fish I could think of. Start small and you will grow in experience over time.
Could you imagine going out today and buying a Miniature Horse and waking up two weeks from now and finding it lying on it's side unable to get up, because you didn't know about how important it is to treat your horse for worms each year? If you have lots of experience with farm animals, then I am preaching to the choir, but if you are a beginner, I recommend you start with a Gold Fish. Once you discipline yourself enough to keep a Gold Fish alive, your confidence will increase and those little Bantam chickens you've been dreaming about will be ready to teach you new lessons about dedication and joy.
Living Large:
Map out the space you have and start building. If you've got money to burn, then you can go buy that fancy chicken coop that someone else built, or you can start from scratch and build the one that's been bouncing around in your head. The nice thing about farm animals, is that they are mostly maintenance free, so long as you take care of their basic needs. Just like humans, they need food, water, and shelter, but because they don't understanding plumbing, they also need sanitation. Build you Miniature Farm with sanitation in mind and you'll be happy and so will they.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself, to make sure you don't put the cart before the horse:
Where will your fresh water supply come from and how can you make it as convenient as possible to water your farm animals and plants?
Where will you get electricity for your Miniature Farm, and how can you create lighting for middle of the barn yard duty calls without bugging your neighbors?
How will you be storing your farm animals food supply? Will it be in barrels? Will the barrels be in the open or are you building a shed or barn for that stuff?
For your larger animals, where will you be able to doctor them if they need medical attention? Will you need to put them in a squeeze chute? Do you know what a squeeze chute is?
Have you figured out how your gates will swing so your pens work with each other and not against? There is nothing worse than gates going different direction in the same alley way.
When your animals have babies, do you have a special place out of the weather to protect them and keep them warm?
Have put the proper infrastructure in place to manage waste, rodents, and insects?
Are you friends with your neighbors?
Is it legal to do what your doing where you live? If I had gotten the permit to build the garage, it would still be standing.
The point of having a Miniature Farm is all about enjoying it. Have you included the human touch into your Miniature Farm? Do you have the perfect egg collecting basket picked out yet? Have you started searching for that little chariot for your miniature pony to pull around in this years Labor Day parade?
Esthetics are an invaluable part of your Miniature Farm. If you can answer yes to the following questions, then you are on the right path to building the perfect Miniature Farm.
Could you see your Miniature Farm appearing in your favorite farm publication?
Could a camera crew drop in on your Farm today unexpectedly and not have to wait for you to clean up all the eye sores?
If pictures were taken of your Miniature Farm right now, and used by a painter to paint a painting, would the painter have to leave stuff out of the painting, or would the painter be able to paint it detail by detail?
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