小型农场动物越来越受欢迎

Americans are showing more interest in owning unusually small cows, goats, donkeys, and other small farm animals.
美国人对拥有异常小的牛、山羊、驴子和其他小型农场动物表现出越来越多的兴趣。

These animals are cute. They require less food and space. And they might even help cut the grass.
这些动物很可爱。它们需要的食物和空间较少，甚至可能帮助修剪草坪。

People who farm for fun are known as hobby farmers. They are looking for easy-to-raise farm animals. Some just like the idea of having a little pig or a small sheep as a pet.
以娱乐为目的而务农的人被称为“兴趣农夫”。他们寻找容易饲养的农场动物。有些人只是喜欢拥有一只小猪或小绵羊作为宠物的想法。

The word for something that is unusually small is miniature.
用于描述异常小的事物的词是“miniature”（小型的）。

Animal breeders say sales of these little farm animals have grown since the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, more people started raising chickens at home for fun and fresh eggs. Like chickens, mini farm animals appeal to beginners who want to try a rural lifestyle.
动物饲养者表示，自新冠疫情以来，这些小型农场动物的销售量有所增加。当时，越来越多的人开始在家养鸡，以此获得乐趣和新鲜的鸡蛋。像鸡一样，小型农场动物对那些想尝试乡村生活方式的初学者很有吸引力。

Brian Gazda has a small farm in the western state of Idaho. He runs a YouTube channel called "Hobby Farm Guys" with two friends. Gazda said a lot of people do not have a large piece of land, but if they have a small area, “they can keep a miniature cow or a few miniature goats."
布莱恩·加兹达在西部的爱达荷州拥有一个小农场。他与两位朋友一起经营一个名为“Hobby Farm Guys”的YouTube频道。加兹达说，很多人没有大块土地，但如果有一小块区域，“他们可以养一头小型牛或几只小型山羊。”

Martin Fysh works for Tractor Supply Company. He said social media has brought attention to mini farm animals. But Fysh thinks their popularity also shows a natural path among customers who started out by raising a few chickens.
马丁·菲什在Tractor Supply Company工作。他说，社交媒体引起了人们对小型农场动物的关注。但菲什认为，它们的受欢迎程度也反映了那些一开始只养了几只鸡的顾客的自然发展路径。

"They're seen as part of the extended family," Fysh said.
“它们被视为扩展家庭的一部分，”菲什说。

Some owners of mini farm animals turn their hobbies into money-making activities. They show the animals to visitors, breed animals, and write about their farming experiences.
一些小型农场动物的主人将他们的爱好转变为赚钱的活动。他们向游客展示这些动物，进行动物繁殖，并撰写关于他们务农经验的文章。

But newcomers to these activities need to weigh the pros and cons, or the good and bad effects, of hobby farming, Gazda and other hobby farmers said. Among the problems is the rising cost of miniature farm animals. While they are cute, they can also be aggressive.
但是，加兹达和其他兴趣农夫表示，初学者需要权衡兴趣务农的利弊或好坏影响。问题之一是小型农场动物成本的上涨。尽管它们很可爱，但也可能具有攻击性。

Mini goats
小型山羊

Brittany Snow is a high school English teacher in Florida who owns several small-sized Nigerian dwarf goats. She dreamed of living on a farm. Her family recently moved to a rural area.
布里塔尼·斯诺是佛罗里达州的一名高中英语老师，拥有几只小型的尼日利亚矮脚山羊。她梦想着生活在农场上。她的家人最近搬到了一个乡村地区。

Thirty-two-year-old Snow started with four Nigerian Dwarf goats. Snow expected them to produce milk right away, but she learned that is not the case.
32岁的斯诺起初养了四只尼日利亚矮脚山羊。斯诺原本期望它们马上能产奶，但她了解到情况并非如此。

Angelia Alden is a business operations manager for the Miniature Dairy Goat Association. She said many people who buy mini goats sell them after a few years because their care presents problems and costs they did not expect. Rising animal feed costs can be one problem, as is finding farm animal medical care.
安吉丽亚·奥尔登是小型奶山羊协会的业务运营经理。她说，许多购买小型山羊的人在几年后就会把它们卖掉，因为照顾它们带来了他们意想不到的问题和费用。不断上涨的动物饲料成本可能是其中一个问题，另一个问题是寻找农场动物的医疗服务。

Mini cows and donkeys
小型牛和驴

The mini farm animals can also be heavy. Some of the popular miniature animals on social media are cows that can weigh between 220 and 270 kilograms.
这些小型农场动物也可能很重。在社交媒体上受欢迎的小型动物中，有些牛的体重在220到270公斤之间。

Twenty-eight-year-old Allie Sine started her own business breeding and selling mini cows in 2020. Social media videos showing some of her mini cows have gotten millions of views. Last year, she sold about 190 young cows. Each animal sold for between $2,000 and $30,000. "Everything just skyrocketed," Sine said.
28岁的艾莉·赛恩在2020年开始了自己的小型牛繁育和销售业务。展示她的一些小型牛的社交媒体视频获得了数百万次观看。去年，她卖出了大约190头小牛。每只动物的售价在2,000到30,000美元之间。“一切都迅速飙升，”赛恩说。

Mini donkeys
小型驴

Kim Furches owns a farm with her husband, Ken, in West Jefferson, North Carolina. She has found similar success. Furches said they bred mini donkeys for about 20 years. Before the pandemic, they would usually sell about eight donkeys per year for less than a thousand dollars each. They now sell about 20 per year. The last mini donkey sold for $7,500, Furches said.
金·弗彻斯和她的丈夫肯在北卡罗来纳州西杰斐逊拥有一个农场。她取得了类似的成功。弗彻斯说，他们养育小型驴子大约20年。在疫情前，他们通常每年卖出大约八头驴，每头售价不到一千美元。现在他们每年大约能卖出20头。弗彻斯说，最后一头小型驴子卖了7,500美元。

Sheep follow her around
绵羊跟随她四处走

Earlier this year, Jamie Campion, who is 41, and her husband, Jeff, bought two Southdown Babydoll sheep from a local breeder near their home in Thompson's Station, Tennessee. The animals cost $800 each.
今年早些时候，41岁的杰米·坎皮恩和她的丈夫杰夫从他们位于田纳西州汤普森站的家附近的一位当地饲养员那里购买了两只南唐宝贝娃娃绵羊。这些动物每只售价800美元。

Jamie Campion said the sheep have become good at keeping their grass short. But more often, the sheep give her joy as would other pets. Once she took them for a walk in the snow. "They just followed right behind," she said. "There's a whole sheep and shepherd relationship.”
杰米·坎皮恩说，这些羊已经很擅长保持草地短小。但更常见的是，这些羊像其他宠物一样带给她快乐。有一次，她带着它们在雪地里散步。“它们就跟在后面，”她说。“这是一种完全的羊与牧羊人的关系。”