Abandoned - Stockyards - Story 81

[Abandoned]

Intro


  This is the 81st story in the Smallville Series and tells the tale of 8 families who came from Riverboat Junction (story 34) to raise livestock for the river boatmen.  It is year 65 SVT.  Worsening weather conditions and an increase in the number of natural disasters, combined with a growing need as the world's population increased, have caused shortages of livestock and textiles worldwide.  The Animal Refuge (story 9) and farm families helped provided some livestock and textiles by trading with the river boatman.  Riverboat Junction's livestock was now only enough to support its own overcrowded population.  The new Stockyards are located just north of Riverboat Junction in the southcentral part of the World Map. 






Map seed #222900634   Plains One River, Small, No Snow, Disasters Off, Easy SeedAnimal-8 Families





Mods activated for this map and load order are:

Map Changing and Starting Mods:   Banished UI Maps, Labor Window, RK Minimized Status, CC Light Rain, Climate No Snow, Override Map, override Fewer Trees, Settler Deco, Kid Tree Replacer Xlight, Kid New Flora Edit, Family Start

Tweak Mods:   Better Fields, Bigger Wheelbarrows, Increased CC, 1:1 Alternative (Voeille), Rocks Respawn, Tiny Smoke, Woodcutter +3

Major or Must Have Mods:    An Empty Square, Nomads (Kid), override Uneducated, Storage Crates, Jinxie Bitty Chicken Coop, Jinxie Bitty Rabbit Hutch, Jinxie Bitty Village, Kid Abandoned Places SE, Kid More Houses Vanilla, Kid Old Town, Kid Workplace Village

Supporting Mods:    Deco Sunflower, Kid Animal Breeder (new, testing), Kid Deco Farm Animals, Kid Deco People, Kid Farmyard, Kid Hedgerow, Kid Market Carts, Kid In Transit, Kid Washing Mod, Kid Work Shop, Kid Yard Cover, Red Creemery Cows, RK Duck as Livestock, RK Goats as Livestock, RK Pigs as Livestock, Sample White Chickens, Tiny Chopper, Tiny Herb Patch



  Welcome to the Stockyards, weary traveler, but unless you are into farming or livestock feeding, you will not find much to do here.  But let me tell you, we sure had a lot to do when we first arrived.  I'll tell you all about it.

[Kristahfer]

Oh my. Just what the doctor ordered. Can't wait to see what you do with this idea. I'm taking notes!

[Glenn]

Yes, its seems to have been so long I thought Abandoned must have been busy getting ready for a trip somewhere.

[Abandoned]

   I think you will both like this story.  It is a bit longer than the last one.  Spring weather has finally gotten here so I have been busy outside and in my garden, with trips to the Stockyards    Chapter 1 tomorrow on the 1st.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 1

  Yes, weary traveler, Riverboat Junction to the south is still the main hub for riverboat merchants to exchange goods but the Junction mainly produces fruits and vegetables.  Other products are now used by their own population.  The Animal Refuge has done a good job of providing some farm animals.  The rivers changing courses, floods, draughts, and tornados have made transporting good difficult and took a toll on livestock as well.    Climate and pirates have caused many shortages over the years, plus there are many more towns now then there were back when the first world map was made.   And now we also have a shortage of river boatmen due to the giant frog invasion in Summerset Swamp a few years back.  Livestock and textiles are in short supply.

  There were 28 of us, 16 adults with 12 children who volunteered to establish a settlement north of Riverboat Junction to raise livestock for trade.  The Junction would provide us with food and whatever else we needed in exchange for the livestock.  We would be basically animal breeders.  Coming from Riverboat Junction we did not know much else besides farming but some of the elders who were originally from Smallville taught us some survivor skills to tide us over until we were established.  We started out with 3 carts of supplies plus some seeds and some chickens.  Those chickens were our main concern. A fenced pasture for the chickens was built first.



  The area along the river was a plain that had been damaged by flooding in the past, there were fewer trees then elsewhere.  Wood and firewood were also a priority.  We had a lot of work to do. 

[Glenn]

In the year 65 SVT of the agrarian calendar life is simple, pure and full of promise.

In the year 1969 CCE life was also given the same chance, the same opportunity - I remember sitting in the classroom watching the moon landing and fell in love these possibilities as I went home to watch Star Trek.

Now I sit here watching and listening to Zager and Evans sing - In the year 2525  - released in 1969     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM3v2p2Kxb4&ab_channel=LesarchivesdelaRTS  thinking of the years I spent living on the land and wondering how we let so much of this promise slip through our fingers - listen closely to the song

You are correct Abandoned - I am looking forward to watching your story unfold.

[Abandoned]

Oh, in the year 2022 I remember watching moon landing and listening to that song .   Thanks for link.  I think you have had a premonition of the next story after Stockyards.  Story 82 will be Crash Site using Kid Out of This World mods.    I say no more.    Enjoy Stockyards

[Glenn]

  Maybe I do have a crystal ball

[Abandoned]

 

Chapter 2


  The founding families would establish a town and provide basic necessities and services.  My husband, Jalonzo, was the eldest male and we would be in charge, we would oversee the town and the stockyard operations.  We could expect herdsmen and other workers to arrive from the Junction. My name is Eleandra.

  The town itself would be farther away from the dust and noise of the livestock production area.  We built a forester far to the north.  There was a hedgerow at the south border of the cutting and planting area.   A house for one family was built by the hedgerow and they would gather chestnuts, apples, flax, and branches for firewood.  There was a small shed, stockpile, and a woodcutter nearby.  A larger house was built for the foresters and one for the woodcutter and his family.  Two of the children already missed starting school. 





  A house was built for another family across from the chicken pasture.  They planted a small farmyard with sweet corn, potatoes, and berries.  They built a covering over the spot where some chickens decided they wanted to nest rather than in the pasture.  The family would care for all the chickens and the farmyard, and they would chop a bit of firewood.  Their chickens would scavenge for food in the farmyard and nibble on corncobs, the pasture chickens would be feed sunseeds from the patch that was planted next to the pasture.  Breeding animals need higher quality food and plenty of fresh water.





  A storage barn was built on the corner across from the sunflower patch and a house for another family was built across from the barn.  Another house was built down the road and a blacksmith anvil was set up next to it.  The family in the house by the hedgerow set up a tailor workplace in their yard to make linen clothes from the hedgerow flax.  Our coat supply was getting low. 





  A seventh house was built behind the farmyard one.  A crop field was cleared and the family would plant cabbage the following spring.  We were already short of food and were glad that we learned which wild foods and mushrooms were safe to gather and eat.  We were eating some of the chicken's sunseeds and eggs.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 3


  Ours was the last house built and by then our daughter, who was born shortly after we arrived, was already 1 years old.  Being in charge of the livestock operations, we built our house by the trading post that was built at the same time.  I didn't mind being close to the animals, I liked waking up to the chicken sounds coming through the open window every morning.  We also had a nice upstairs porch overlooking the river.   





  Jalonzo put up a notice board next to our house.  We would easily be able to tell the river boatmen what we had for trade and what we needed.  Our food and firewood supply was still low but we were doing okay.  We wanted to at least hold our own without being too dependent on the riverboat trade.





  After the trading post was built, we set up the next phase of our livestock breeding and trading system.  The first water pump was dug next to the chicken pasture.  A small animal breeder shed was built across from the pasture.  The amount of feed and water to raise small livestock from birth to breeding age would be delivered to the shed. Poultry could be fed corn or sunseeds. The herdsmen would let the shed attendant know when the small animal was ready to be traded and a voucher would be sent to the trading post, the trade would be made there.
 




  We hoped our system would work well so another stockyard could be built further north.  Our animals born and bred here in the mild climate with mild winters and no snow would have a hard time surviving way up north.  A stockyard in the north would raise acclimated livestock and shorten delivery time considerably.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 4


  Three children became adults and two of them wanted houses of their own.  A house was built for 7- year-old Amarcus next to his parents.  They planted a farmyard behind the two houses with corn, potatoes, and cabbage.  They got a few chickens from the other farmyard.  The chickens would help weed the new farmyard by scratching the ground and they would eat insects.  8-year-old Maleesa's house was built by the hedgerow where she would take over picking apples, chestnuts, and berries.  Our food supply improved by early autumn of year 2.




  In autumn, Uniqua, the livestock merchant, came to port for the first time.  He had milk cows with him to trade and a tom and 2 hen turkeys he found a ways upriver and managed to get into the boat.  The turkeys were ours if we wanted them.  The small vouchers showed we only had a few chicken to trade, not nearly enough for a pair of cows.  It was just as well because we were not yet prepared for caring for large animals, and we only had 2 laborers and 1 builder at the time.  The herdsman however said he could easily care for the turkeys as well as the chickens.  We had plenty of sunseed.  We took the turkeys.  Uniqua said he would return whenever he could and would try to have cows, sheep, goats, pigs, or ducks.  He looked forward to having a place he could rely on to get livestock for his customers.



  One of the boys lead the wild turkeys from the port to their pasture by dropping a trail of sunseeds.  The turkeys followed.  They adapted well to their pasture with water and plenty of sunseeds to eat.  We soon had a small flock of baby turkeys.  Baby turkeys grow up fast but it would be awhile before we would have any turkeys to trade.  We would not need another small voucher shed just yet.

[kid1293]

  I like the turkey road!

[Abandoned]

  I really like those vanilla-match fence pieces    Thanks for making them.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 5


   After Uniqua left with the cattle, we began work on 2 bigger pastures than what we had for the poultry.  We did not know what the livestock merchant would be able to get next, but we wanted to be prepared.  We feared the new pastures might not be big enough.




By the time the pastures were done, the baby turkeys had grown up and there were more baby chicks.  The small animal shed attendant said there would be no problem issuing vouchers for the turkeys and the chickens.  There were more baby chicks too.  The town's population also increased.  Of the 18 young children, 3 were newborns.  Two of the children were about to reach school age so we built an old town schoolhouse.  We built a town hall to record the births and other town statistics.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 6


  Uniqua did return again, but again he had only a few cattle.  As yet we didn't have any feed for large animals although we planted a corn patch between the 2 new pastures.  We built another water mill not far from the first.  The problem was we had no workers.

  That problem was rectified in spring of year 3 when a young single male and 3 families arrived from Riverboat Junction to help.  They said we should just send word via the river boatmen that we were looking for workers.  Many families were migrating from the Junction due to overcrowding and poor housing conditions. 



  The families were very happy with the old town cabins we built from them by the river.   One began work at the new water pump and another at the corn patch.  They pitched right in to help gather branches for firewood when they learned there was a shortage.   They planted a farmyard behind their cottages and would cut some firewood there too.  A bitty market was set up there for their convenience.   The corn patch was doing well and a corn crib was built.