Trade-offs

Sometimes in life, there comes a time for a trade-off. In this instance I am willing to give up one aspect for a different one. The birds will be leaving as soon as I can locate buyers for them. All the birds and probably a dozen (or so) rabbits. This will make things much easier on me as far as funding is concerned. I will also be eliminating my hamster colonies, though admittedly they don't require much. And we will maintain only the dog and cat as pets. It will probably be the lowest number of animals I have had since before I left my family for college. However, I know that this is the right thing to do for my family.

I suppose as one ages, priorities change. I will still have rabbits, I find I can't completely give them up. We will still have a couple pets, but my focus seems to be changing from external interests to familial ones. I'm still very much a homesteader at heart. I just can't see a reason to keep hens that don't lay or a goose who turns out to be more trouble than she's worth or a trio of ducks I simply can't seem to find spine enough to butcher as I'd intended. Though don't get me wrong, if they don't sell within a reasonable time frame, I *will* put them in the freezer. I simply need to try and sell them first.