6. Harvesting

Zoe had been raising fyrefowl for a while now. They hatched the eggs that wanted to be hatched and tried to leave some eggs scooped before any chickies could be well, implemented, for lack of a better word. Harvesting time came differently to livestock farmers than crop farmers. That's right - livestock farmers could harvest just as capably as those who grew things from the ground. To Zoe, it was a mystery and struggle to get any of the wild flower seeds they scavenged in the wilderness, to actually well, grow. Zoe was coming fast to terms that while they didn't know if most kitsu followed their newest theory, Zoe certainly did. The theory was this: you can either be a talented livestock farmer, a talented crop farmer, or a bum at both. There was no in-between stages. Zoe had been counting themselves lucky, then, that even though they couldn't grow the tiniest, wiltiest of plants from the ground, that this had to mean they were meant for the livestock life. 

So, livestock harvesting was a skill that they learned! It started with eggs, produced by fyrehens. It took some time before Zoe learned how to put a chick in an egg, versus how to put the eggs aside, chickless, for food preparation. The eggs were valuable and the yolks were full of good nutrients, of this, Zoe was absolutely certain. If anything - they sure were tasty! Zoe had been eating mostly vegetarian foods until they'd bought their fyrehens so long ago ...Had it really been that long? Sometimes they felt their seasons, other times, they felt as new to this as their first day of opening their eyes. Either way, they learned about eggs and between scavenging the plants nearby of which Zoe did not have to plant themselves and eating the eggs of their hens, Zoe assumed that this was as innovative as they would ever become when it came to prepared food. 

That was until one of Zoe's neighbors cooked a fire roasted fyrefowl leg and the mouth-watering scent found its way to Zoe's nose. After that it was a matter of leaning how to adapt to their new meal plan. Initially, Zoe didn't feel comfortable doing the dirty work and she'd scoop up the hens that weren't laying eggs as often anymore and take them into town to pay someone else to do the deed. 

Eventually, Zoe realized that it was a lot more effort to walk into town, pay a fee and still have to de-feather the hen at home, so they opted to observe a few times, before terminating the former egg-layers with Zoe's own paws. Zoe stopped being too squirmy around others, at least when in relation to livestock anyway. It wasn't a fun job, but Zoe was ready to do whatever it took to make their living, eat well and ensure that they weren't wasting their resources. 

So yes, livestock farmers encountered as much opportunity to harvest their life's work as crop farmers did. If only one didn't seem so absurdly more grizzly than the other.