Welcome back to Female Farmer Friday! Over the past several weeks, I’ve noticed a few common themes with a lot of our amazing female farmers: the goal to be a full time farmer, and the struggle of not enough time. This week’s featured farmer is no different. Welcome, Shyla, from Capers Acres. What I love most about Shyla is the variety in her operation! Also, if you like precious bunny pictures, make sure you follow her on Instagram!
•Sara Beth

Please briefly introduce yourself.

Hi my name is Shyla, im 29, I was born and raised in a small fishing town of Caper Breton Nova Scotia, Canada and moved to Alberta 9 years ago. I live with my boyfriend of 16 years, we have 4 dogs, 5 cats and lots of livestock.

What type of farm do you have?

My farm is considered a part time farm because it’s not our main source of income. We both work off farm but I’m slowly cutting my hours to hopes of being full time on the farm. We have a variety of things we sell on the farm such has Muscovy ducks, free range eggs, pygmy and mixed breed goats, commercial meat sheep, kune kune and commercial pigs, show/pet Holland lop rabbits and meat rabbits. We were also very surprised to find out when we bought the property that we had a small orchard. We also sell saskatoon berries, Evans cherries, raspberries, strawberries, apples, plumbs, and rhubarb. On top of that all I also have an etsy page for my crochet items. 

How long have you been farming?

We moved out of the city to an acreage 4 years ago and that’s where the farming started. There was no plans to farm, we just wanted country living. I started raising rabbits for meat for one of my dogs (he has allergies and the vet suggested trying a raw diet) When I finally got my first litter I decide to try and sell a few to cover the cost of feed and I made a profit. I then got chickens and so on.

Do you have an off-farm job?

We both have off farm jobs. Ben is an elevator mechanic and I’m a junior finance officer.

Please share with us one of the biggest struggles you have with farming.

At the moment its time. I find it very difficult to work off the farm and come home to not only caring for the animals but expanding. It seems like there is never enough time in the day. The second struggle is the same for any farmer, it’s the weather. Living in Alberta Canada is hard when you work outside. We have +30c summers to -40c winters and we can also be dry and have a risk of a forest fire or be so wet the hay fields look like lakes.

What is something about your farm life that you think would surprise most people?

Most people are surprised at the number of rabbits that live on the farm. The average number we keep here is around 70. The second surprise would be that we butcher our rabbits. Each breed has a specific purpose here, our meat breeders produce 160lb each of meat a year for our family. Its a little strange for people to hear I’m a rabbit farmer as there are less then 3,000 registered rabbit farms in Canada. We don’t sell our meat to the public yet so we don’t fall in that 3,000 but were are hoping to one day.

Can you share one of your long-term goals for your farm?

As mentioned above Id love to be a part of the 3,000 registered rabbit farmers. I am working towards a set up that will allow me to sell rabbit meat at farmers markets. Id also love to start something to educate people on the benefits of rabbit meat. And of course my biggest goal is to be full time on the farm.

If you had the chance to tell one thing to someone without any first hand knowledge of the farming industry, what would it be?

Find a mentor! Find someone local or online who has been though what your trying to achieve and soak in all the knowledge they are willing to give you. Books and google is great but having a real person who had ups and downs is so much better

What do you think is the biggest misconception about agriculture?

I’ll talk about misconceptions about raising rabbits for meat. Since rabbits are also a pet in Canada and the US, I get a lot of hate.

The biggest thing I hear is “aww, they live in a wire cage that’s so sad!” The wire cage is the healthiest way (if done properly) for a meat rabbit to live. They are less likely to pick up parasites or get into fights. Having the rabbits separated into cages also helps the farmer be able to put hands on each rabbit daily. I have raised rabbits in a colony and in cages, both have pros and cons. My rabbits have bigger than recommended cage size for the breed and they also have resting areas to get off the wire if they choose to.

Another misconception is you can’t handled the babies or the mom will eat them. If your breeders feel safe with you, they will feel safe letting you touch their kits. If you follow my pages you will see I’m able to handle the kits the day they are born with no issues. I prefer to handle all my rabbits as much as possible even if they will end up being butchered. A friendly rabbit is much easier to deal with then a stressed out one.

Like every type of livestock there is a right and wrong way to raise an animal.

What is something you are deeply passionate about?

Animals! I love learning everything there is to know about each species and breed. That’s probably why I have such a variety.

I am also passionate about crocheting. Wherever I go, desk job, road trip ill always have something to crochet with me. Recently I combined the two passions and now I crochet a lot of farm animals. If you have any suggestions as to what animal you would like to see me crochet I’m all for suggestions!

What books, podcasts, blogs, and Instagram accounts do you think everyone should check out?

Book: Start Your Farm by Forrest Pritchard and Ellen Polishuk
Podcast: Rural Woman Podcast and The Ranching Brunette
Blog: Flying Pig Cattle Co
Instagram: @wildrosefarmer @wiseacre_farm @farmerdolls

If people want to follow your farm journey, where can they find you?

Facebook: Capers Acres
Instagram: @capersacres
Etsy: Shylas Crochet Creations

Thanks so much to Shyla for sharing her story with us. Her crochet creations are absolutely adorable, and I’m envious of her all of her livestock variety! I had a Holland Lop rabbit back in high school, and I swear, after following her on Insta, I’m liable to end up with another one! My husband should be thankful she doesn’t live any closer.