Intro: A Universal Truth

If there’s one thing every farmer, rancher, homesteader, or backyard chicken wrangler knows—it’s this: poop happens.

You can prep, plan, and organize all you want, but the farm has a way of laughing in your face and handing you a shovel. And honestly? That might be one of the best life lessons you can learn out here.

A Story From the Dirt

It was just a regular Tuesday morning. The kind where everything’s running behind, someone forgot to fill the water troughs, and we were down to one clean feed bucket. The goats were especially feisty that day—probably sensing we had other things to do.

Wyatt was sent to bring them into the small pen so we could do a quick clean-up and hoof check. Seemed simple enough. Except one goat—Pepper—decided she wasn’t in the mood to cooperate. She darted through the gate, fainted mid-dash, and faceplanted into a pile of mud and something… less than mud.

Kodi rushed in to help, slipped on the same “mud,” and landed right next to her. She came up with her hands covered in goat poop, yelling and laughing in the same breath. Wyatt couldn’t stop laughing. Neither could I. The goat? Still fainted. Classic.

The Takeaway: Mess Happens, Keep Moving

Life—like farming—is full of unexpected messes. Animals get loose. Plans go sideways. And sometimes, you end up knee-deep in the kind of disaster that smells like regret.

But here’s the thing: the mess doesn’t last. You learn. You laugh. You hose off the boots (and your kid), and you get back to it.

Out here, we don’t let a little poop ruin the day. We clean it up, shake it off, and tell the story at every family dinner for the next decade.

Lesson learned? When poop happens—and it will—deal with it, learn from it, and maybe keep a spare pair of boots handy.

Stay tuned for Lesson #3: “Fences Are Only as Strong as Your Last Fix.”