Cows have to have given birth to produce milk in the first place. And there is no choice involved in it. If they are producing milk, either the calf has to drink it or they have to be milked. If the milk is not removed it would make her sick. If a cow is just like a human as some people seem to think, they would never willingly have painful udders with the milk caking up and drying up. Think of it this way, if you had a baby you would have to nurse him/her or pump the milk out of your breasts. If you didn't your breasts would be very painful. So if you just want a cow as a pet, don't let her get pregnant.

Selling eggs would be a good idea to make a little money to care for these animals. Some people say you can feed the eggs back to the chickens. Or feed them to your dogs, etc.

Maybe you should volunteer at a farm sanctuary and or visit a real farm. Help with the dirty/smelly work and figure out if this is something you really want. Look, you would have to have a lot of money to take care of these animals because except maybe for the eggs, you are not getting anything in return. Except maybe free fertilizer for your garden. It wouldn't really be an investment if you are not getting anything in return.

You obviously have to sell something to make money. If you aren't going to butcher meat then are you just willing to pay the cost to maintain all that with nothing in return? Pigs, cows, ducks, chickens all cost money. Eggs is one thing, thats not enough. What are you going to do with chickens that can no longer lay eggs? Nothing? In that case its a big expense with nothing getting returned. Are you going to work a job and do all that other work on top of it on nights and weekends? You are only 13 so you dont need to figure that out now, but you need to know how much land is needed and what the cost would be (and where) and what would the expenses and work needed be for everything.

try playing farm simulator its 24.99USD for pc and mac and 29.99USD for ps3 and xbox 360.

http://www.farming-simulator.com/buy-now... it will give you an idea of owning a farm..

Yeah, try this. It's a great idea.

I'm 13 and I've kind of always wanted to own a farm because I love animals. But now it's also due to the fact I would like to produce my own eggs and milk and not support the companies, or farms that harm their animals.

I would like to get some cows, and I'm not sure if I should sell some of the milk or just for myself. I've heard they really don't choose to give milk, so I don't want to really take a lot of their milk.

I would also like to get chickens and ducks, chickens for the eggs and ducks for pets :) I just love ducks and think they are so cute!

I wouldn't like to get more animals, like pigs because as far as I know, their only used for meat and I wouldn't ever slaughter my pets or animals. But if I had the room, I would probably get a few as pets if the cost wouldn't be that much.

I also have been wanting a few dogs (German Sheperd, Rottweiler, and husky), reptiles, and parrots.

I already have a Sun Conure parrot, a cat, and a hamster (which hamster won't come with me since they only live 2 years).

Is a farm a good investment? If I didn't sell the cows milk, would I even be able to afford their care and the other animals care?

Would like to get people that have experience :)