“I see people who have a lot of money go out and buy everything they need right away,<br />and all of a sudden, they have a big herd of goats and it’s overwhelming,” said Ms. Webster, who was exposed to farm life growing up in Tacoma, Wash., and as a longtime member of the 4-H club.<br />Goats, Alpacas and (of Course) a Hen: Life on a Hobby Farm -<br />Suzie Conn, a longtime advertising executive from Nashville, had never even<br />seen an alpaca until moving to the country and showing up at a county fair.<br />They sometimes earn a small profit — though they mostly just break even — by selling some of their herd, along with the soft alpaca fleece<br />and fleece products that Ms. Conn learned to knit and crochet.<br />Hobby farms vary widely in size and focus, with the majority of them incorporating both crops<br />and animals — and, more often than not, some chickens, said Roger Sipe, the group editor of Hobby Farms and Chickens magazines.<br />Wendy Webster, 57, a recently retired teacher’s aide, enjoys having a ready supply of goat cheese for her family<br />and neighbors from her two-acre farm near Gig Harbor, Wash. She and her husband, Keith, who is also 57 and continues working in the local school district, raise and sell Nigerian dwarf goats.<br />Still, she said, “I’ve never been happier.” Ms. Webster<br />and her husband have opened up their farm to kindergarten classes for free tours, and they also provide goats to a nearby zoo’s petting exhibition for children.
