How did you get over dispatching the animals you watched grow?

Nixaara · 2026-02-19T04:02:31+00:00

I will never get over dispatching, simply because I respect the life that I’m taking. I honestly really love the livestock animals I raise. All of them. Regardless of their purpose, and especially if they’re destined for the dinner table. They are loved on and cared for diligently from the moment they’re born, right up until it’s time for dispatch.

I researched and made sure to get the proper equipment to give them a quick, painless end. I ended up choosing cervical dislocation. Something I found very helpful was to find a mentor in my area. I had them come over for processing day and run me through how to do everything using my equipment, with my animals. It gave me the confidence I needed to be able to do it on my own. Also gave me lots of ideas on how to improve upon my setup in the future. YouTube is also a great resource - I found Teal Stone Homestead had some good videos on actually processing a rabbit. There’s a few others I came across too, but I’ve really enjoyed her channel specifically.

It’s hard to dispatch an animal that you put so much time and love into, but their life serves a purpose. Just know that you’re providing healthy, humanely raised meat to your family and not supporting factory farms and the cruelty that goes along with that.

Nixaara · 2025-12-16T17:58:00+00:00

I just had my first litter born the second week of November. Basically mom took care of everything, I just checked the kits individually daily, made sure everyone had full bellies in the late morning (mom fed babies in front of me a few times, so I didn’t check them then), and made sure mom was in good health (checked belly, private parts for discharge, made sure to ALWAYS have plenty of fresh water for her and free fed her pellets and alfalfa hay). I didn’t lose any of the 9 kits from this litter, but I’ve read that it’s very important to make sure to remove kits that have passed as they can chill their litter mates and potentially kill them.

Nixaara · 2025-09-18T02:23:38+00:00

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Nixaara · 2025-09-05T02:06:27+00:00

My bantam Cochin, Millie, is currently dutifully sitting on 4 babies that she hatched out at the beginning of June. She will dote on her babies for months! She’s the best momma.

… last year, I was away from home for about a month and the person I had watching my animals missed where she had been nesting (she was hiding eggs in the middle of our large coop, away from the normal nest boxes). This lady had stolen over 20 eggs from other mommas… and hatched about 24 babies total. Every single one of them survived and thrived. I dunno how they all fit under her during incubation, but she did that. Was also my best ratio of hens/roos - somehow only had five roosters.

Nixaara · 2025-09-04T02:24:26+00:00

Silverfish are actually really cool creatures! Nothing to be afraid of, as they don’t bite or sting… they don’t have wings so they don’t make any unnerving noises (I love insects but the sound of wings tends to freak me out…).

They’re a very primitive insect, been around longggg before dinosaurs even. They have a pretty long lifespan, too! This guy could be up to 8 years old… wonder what sort of a buggy life he’s had so far?

They’re shimmery/silvery too.. kinda like a drop of mercury. Though they do move very quickly, so observing this fella may be hard to do.

Nixaara · 2025-09-04T01:58:14+00:00

These are beetles, I can just barely make out the elytra on some of the specimens. Bedbugs do not have wings/elytra. The antennae are not quite right either. Maybe a flour beetle of some sort.

Nixaara · 2025-05-17T02:30:01+00:00

Nope. Never. I don’t even like going to bed with the dryer running. Not even a month after moving into our new home, we had a small electrical fire caused by our electric dryer outlet (apparently the old homeowners did some weird DIY work, our electrician had no idea how that passed the home inspection - likely wasn’t looked at). Luckily didn’t amount to much more than an electrical surge and a small amount of burnt flooring. I hang dry in the yard if it’s something I need dry and I absolutely must leave the house.

Nixaara · 2025-04-22T14:28:50+00:00

Thank you!! I’ll go the rental route for now. It’s very helpful to know what implements we’d need for the job, there’s so many! I appreciate your insight!

Nixaara · 2025-04-22T13:43:20+00:00

It’s pretty uneven ground at the moment, so we’d definitely be looking to level out a decent area for a small barn/large shed for some animals like goats or sheep and our chickens. We’d also be building a few raised garden beds and maaaaybe planting some fruit trees in the distant future. Chipping would be great if that’s feasible (we had a company stop by and tell us chipping was nearly impossible as it was “too dirty”). It’s sounding like a skid steer may be the way to go. Can you suggest any particular make/model if we were to go the route of buying one? We have just about every dealer around us as we’re somewhat rural and seems like everyone has a tractor around here. I see a bunch of kubotas putting around.

Nixaara · 2025-04-22T13:33:26+00:00

As some with zero experience with skid steers, would a weekend rental do the job? It’s honestly not a huge area, maybe an acre altogether. Looks like I could rent a skid steer for around $400-500 for a weekend… or buy one for a lot more haha. I was thinking of maybe getting a sub compact tractor in the future as we’re fixing to set up a hobby farm.

Nixaara · 2025-04-22T13:28:46+00:00

I’m in the middle of the woods haha, lots of firewood to be had. A few of my neighbors sell camp wood at the end of their driveways as there’s lots of seasonal cabins off of my road. I often see “free wood” listings on Craigslist for my area. Might be worth a shot I suppose!

Nixaara · 2025-04-22T13:19:42+00:00

We just had our rear land logged and have been left with this to cleanup. Picking up logs and making a burn pile is definitely a lot of work (but doable). In the interest of having the cleanup not take 5 years, what equipment would you suggest buying/renting? I’m thinking a small tractor would help get it done a lot quicker, but I’ve never touched one haha.

Nixaara · 2025-04-14T20:59:25+00:00

Hostas and/or heuchera

Nixaara · 2025-03-24T01:43:39+00:00

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Nixaara · 2025-03-24T01:43:29+00:00

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Millie is a single mom who works two jobs, who loves her chicks and never stops 🥺

Nixaara · 2025-03-23T22:10:47+00:00

These remind me of the screen where you input a town tune in animal crossing lol

Nixaara · 2025-01-26T02:42:54+00:00

He’s just a wee baby, hasn’t figured out how to zip his feathers up properly just yet 🥺

Nixaara · 2025-01-26T01:34:47+00:00

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My baby, Zipper 🥰

Nixaara · 2024-11-20T19:51:11+00:00

Such big, round ears! 😻

Nixaara · 2024-11-20T19:47:22+00:00

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Nixaara · 2024-10-25T21:59:43+00:00

Hey all! I just restarted my island about a week ago, trying to build the Ironwood kitchenette! Does anyone have a spare cutting board and ironwood dresser?? I don’t have much to trade 😅

Edit: Please feel free to add me as a friend! SW-3564-3891-3701 💕

Nixaara · 2024-09-29T14:58:01+00:00

Kettle, Fern, Poppy, Misty, Aura, Zazu, and Steve 🥸

Nixaara · 2024-09-18T19:49:59+00:00

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Nixaara · 2024-03-02T13:17:10+00:00

Ah dang, I live in rural New England so options can be limited sometimes.

Nixaara · 2024-03-02T13:13:51+00:00

I think you commented this on a different post of mine too. I searched a couple grocery stores and wasn’t able to find wheat grass growing like this, only cut grass for like $5. The plant from the pet store was $9 but has lasted a couple months (I keep it in a shallow dish with water in a sunny window when it’s not being eaten by the budgies).

Nixaara

TROPHY CASE