Decide whether animals fit your life
Animals need care every single day, including holidays and illness. Decide honestly whether you have the time, skills, money and back-up help before buying anything.
How
- List what you want from animals: eggs, meat, milk, fibre, pollination, grazing, manure for compost, or company.
- Estimate daily time. Welfare codes expect flocks to be checked at least once a day, with several checks a day being better (UK laying hen code example).
- Find a vet within reach who treats your chosen species (poultry and small ruminant vets are scarcer than pet vets). Write the name and phone number down before animals arrive.
- Name a back-up person who can feed, water and check animals if you are away or unwell.
- Start with one easy species (for example a small laying flock) and add others only after a full year of success.
Do these first
Sources
- Code of practice for the welfare of laying hens and pullets. UK Government (Defra), GOV.UK, accessed 2026-11
- The 2020 Five Domains Model: Including Human-Animal Interactions in Assessments of Animal Welfare. Animals (MDPI), Mellor et al. 2020, accessed 2026-11