Socializing your farm animals for better pets
Hands down the best part of homesteading is raising animals. Nurturing a relationship between you and your animals is going to truly pay off in the end. Not only for your satisfaction with your homestead but in the health and well being of your pets. Before attempting to purposefully socialize your farm animals for better pets, it’s important to define your relationship goals.
Understand how to have interactions between different animals
We all know that different animals have different abilities and more importantly attitudes. A dog can easily be trained to follow you around and naturally craves human attention. Your house cat on the other hand wants love on their terms and is satisfied for the most part doing their own thing.
The same goes for farm animals….
Socializing a rabbit is going to look different than a goat and then even more different than a chicken or duck. This is why it’s so important to set realistic expectation on yourself and your animal you plan to interact with.
What to expect
When socializing farm animals for better pets, it’s crucial that you remember that everything takes time.
And that’s ok!
Bonding with your animals is going to be slow work, however, with consistent good behaviors the pay off is well worth the wait. My point is that what you should expect is a small victory and that is a big win.
Your pet needs to believe that you are a trustworthy face and that you have their best interest in mind.
Ways that encourage socialization
What’s wonderful is that regardless of what kind of animal you own, there are so many different ways to show your pet you care.
Speak to them
They may not understand our language, but animals do understand our tone. Talking to your pets in a calm voice does two things: familiarise themselves with your sound and de-escalates rowdy behavior during physical interactions.
Give them all the pets
We all know that it’s instinctual to pet your animals when they come up to you. We love giving them love and they love receiving it. What we often don’t think of is that physical touch can lead to bonding. An animal has to feel a connection enough to trust that you’re a safe person to allow so close. The more trusting an animal is with repetitive physical affection, the more socialized it will be.
Training
Training is a wonderful way to socialize your farm animals for better pets.
I previously wrote in more detail how to train your rabbits, you can find that article here.
Not only does training take a lot of time, it also gets your animals in a routine of seeing you. Training your livestock will give you peace of mind of being able to anticipate their moves and trust them more around smaller farm hands or guests.
Exposure to other animals
Most farm livestock are herd or flock animals. They crave the solidarity of having friends nearby. To properly socialize your farm animals you should definitely consider getting them a friend. In other cases, if you have a farm dog, exposing them to the other livestock (under close supervision) can really help both sides
Desensitizing
I do this with my animals all the time. I know that my rabbits need to have their nails clipped and their fur brushed out. Knowing that, everyday when I pick them up I flip them on their back, touch all their paws, check their ears and teeth, and whatever else to make sure they are healthy. By doing this from an early age, I know that my rabbits are desensitized to being touched and if I ever need to clip their nails or do anything medically they are comfortable with me doing so.
Benefits to socializing your farm animals
Overall, having socialized and friendly animals is the best part of homesteading. I know I personally wouldn’t have as much fun as I do if my animals were mean and afraid to be around me. I encourage you dedicate the time and invest in the relationship between you and your pets. They will be happier and healthier in the long run. You will have more motivation to spend more time with them and you will develop a stronger trust in your animals ability to socialize.
Meet them where they are at
Regardless if a baby was born on your farm or you adopted an abused animal from a shelter; meet your pet where they are at. It’s important to evaluate the mental condition of the animal. If an animal has never had a good experience with a human you may just start at talking from a distance. Allow them to learn your voice.
If you already have a friendly animal, you’ll be able to practice more advanced training.
I encourage you to again, set realistic expectations on yourself and your livestock. This is crucial because having patience is key and having the mindset of progress over perfection is extremely beneficial.
I’m so excited for you to recognize the value in investing time in your livestock. The reward in a relationship with them is greater than I could ever describe.
