Farming at a Young Age

Do you remember what you were doing when you were two years old? I bet you weren’t running your own business like Melody Mauney who sells her chicken eggs. Not only does this teach her responsibility for caring for animals, but also financial responsibility. Read on to learn how Melody’s parents describe her entrepreneurial skills at such a young age.

Some of life’s best lessons can be learned on the farm and it is never too early to start.  A “farm” doesn’t have to encompass a lot of acreage or involve a lot of animals.  We define our “farm” as our little chicken coop and 18 chickens and the garden.  It is more of an agricultural experience than a farm but we like to call it the farm.

Our daughter, Melody, bought her first set of chickens when she was almost 2 years old with some of her birthday money and we constructed a coop with scrap wood and metal from a home project.  She picked out the chicks herself and was tickled to give the cashier her money.  She took great care to play with them everyday and has never been afraid to pick them up.  Melody even lets them sit on her head and shoulders, and the luckiest chick gets taken up the ladder and down the slide!
          A friend of ours gave her a rooster and she has purchased numerous other chickens from various other places over the past year giving her 4 different chicken breeds.  She collects the eggs and feeds the chickens with help almost everyday.  Melody sells her eggs to about 10 different customers for $1.50 per dozen.  She collects the money herself and always says, “Thanks for being a customer.” 

We are trying to teach her how to take care of her money.  Uncle Matt gave her a piggy banking system for her to store the money.  There are three banks, Give, Save and Spend.  We help her divide her money into the banks and she puts 10% in the Give, 50% in the Save, and 40% in the Spend.  The Give money goes to God.  Melody takes the Save money to the bank, puts it through the change machine and gives the cash to the teller for her account.  The Spend money goes with Melody to the feed store to buy chicken feed.   Hopefully by the time she is older she will make enough money to do more than reinvest the money.

This is a very simple system and we weren’t sure when we started if she would be able to grasp the concepts of saving and spending but Melody has a great grasp on money management for a 3 year old. 

Our “farm”, though very small is already teaching Melody about financial responsibility and how to care for animals. We have enjoyed watching and helping her learn these skills.  Our hope is that she will remember and use these lessons as she grows through her teenage years and beyond.  

If you have any questions about raising your own chickens, please contact Margaret A. Bell at the Jones County Cooperative Extension Office at (252) 448.9621.

North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T State University commit themselves to positive action to secure equal opportunity regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran status, or disability.  In addition, the two Universities welcome all persons without regard to sexual orientation.  North Carolina State University, North Carolina A&T State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and local governments cooperating.