How do I make it happen?

[duckncover]

I'm dead set on moving to the country and starting a small hobby farm. I'm 22 years old and I live at home still. How can I make this happen? I would prefer to find a country apartment of some sort since I am really not in the market for buying a house any time soon. Any advice is appreciated. I want so badly to have what you guys have. I love poultry and very aspect of farm living. I just want to make it there as fast as possible!

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

With livestock it is best, imo, to have the security of owning your home/property. That is not to say it can't be done as a renter, but if you did go that route it is even more important to have good, solid Plans B *and* C in place before you start out so that if something were to happen that resulted in you losing the property you are renting you are prepared to get everyone safely re-housed and settled (don't count on being able to liquidate the livestock in a timely enough manner - so this may mean things like having a friend who agrees that you could house animals with them for a short-term fix while looking for a new place, etc).
Alternatively, as you are young and looking to "get your feet wet" - you could look into situations such as live-in intern type setups on working farms, or even being a "hired hand" for a farm that does not have room/board options so that you can gain some experience, learn from someone with years of experience and knowledge and be saving so that when the time comes to start out on your own you are that much further ahead on all counts.

 

[donrae]

A) Get an education that will enable you to get a job that will make enough money to support your hobby farm.

B) Marry rich.


Seriously, most of us who are living a homestead type life aren't 22. When we were 22, we were living broke in town, dreaming, and going to school.

I firmly believe education is the key to whatever lifestyle you desire. You'll never be able to afford your own home on acreage with livestock making minimum wage.

 

[Michael OShay]

A) Get an education that will enable you to get a job that will make enough money to support your hobby farm.

B) Marry rich.


Seriously, most of us who are living a homestead type life aren't 22. When we were 22, we were living broke in town, dreaming, and going to school.

I firmly believe education is the key to whatever lifestyle you desire. You'll never be able to afford your own home on acreage with livestock making minimum wage.

X2 on donrae's post; I was fortunate to be raised in the country on a large tract of land, but even so, I've been retired now for 6 years as a high school Science teacher, all my immediate family (wife, son, daughter, son-in-law) are educators, and we finally just bought our dream farm in Montana only a month ago. There are rarely any shortcuts to owning a farm.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

You can count me as another vote for the education route. Get a degree in something practical that you enjoy. I would try to stay away from degrees like in things like psychology or biology if you don't plan on continuing into grad school. I would also do the schooling route that leaves you with the least amount of debt afterwards, even if that means two years at a community college and two years at an inexpensive state college. Expensive educations are over-rated I think!

While in school, look for summer/winter internships that provide housing. There are a ton of them out there, and I had one friend that traveled each summer to a new farm. She worked on animal farms, organic farms, plant farms. I know there are internships on dairy farms, beef farms, poultry farms, etc. There is also a seed company called "seeds of change" which does an awesome internship for college students.

It may take a while before you are able to own your on farm, but having a solid foundation is very important I think!

 

[trailrider330]

I was lucky enough to have parents who housed my animals (one dog and one horse) for me, and took care of them, while I was away at college earning a bachelor's degree and then a master's degree. Without them, there would have been no possible way I could have made it work.

Purchasing land, maintaining equipment, paying vet and farrier bills, buying feed, etc. is not cheap so the only way to pay for them is to have a good paying job which means getting a good education. Keep in mind that a hobby farm is just that, a hobby. And, a hobby = $$$.

Good luck! You can certainly get there, but be sure you have a sound game plan to get you there.