Chapter 6: Livestock

The next morning, he did not accompany the hunting group to join me and the Elder Healer in gathering herbs on the mountain. We found a huge field with low-growing grass and checked if the soil was suitable for planting vegetables.

The soil was quite rocky in some parts, but we saw a spot where the soil was soft with fewer rocks. We plowed it using tree branches. It was extremely exhausting because we did not have the right equipment, so my father took over and finished plowing in just an hour. I was amazed and speechless at how efficiently he was doing the job alone. We also looked for vegetable seedlings that we could transplant in the lot we found, then we gathered and replanted cabbages, lettuce, carrots, potatoes, yams, and corn in other areas of the mountain.

I taught my father how to take care of the plants, so he held a meeting with the others to delegate a team that would manage the planting in the vegetable garden we made on the mountain. He also built a fence around the lot to prevent wild animals from destroying or eating the plants we had planted. It took him a while to finish, so he called the other tribespeople after lunch to continue with the construction.

My father instructed the hunting team to catch small, live wild animals we could breed. They made cages to contain the little creatures while they observed and learned how to breed them. The plan to breed animals and plant vegetables was successful. During the winter, we had an abundant amount of food, so there were no reports of deaths due to starvation.

There were no restrictions in this world about food, so as long as it had no poison, it was edible. Beastmen were omnivores; they could eat both plants and meat because of their passive forms, no matter what race they were.

So technically speaking, they "can" eat anything, but the problem was the availability of food in each season, especially during winter. Another problem was their food preferences.

I never asked what type of meat was included in each meal cooked by the female tribe members who were assigned to cook food for the whole tribe because I might regret asking in the end. I was just thankful that beastmen cooked their food, unlike in the primitive era of humanity.

Imagine going to a primitive setting where fire had yet to be discovered and foods were eaten raw. I might become a vegetarian if that ever happened to me.

Spring was slowly approaching its end as the temperature started to rise day by day. The hunting group has already started to bring in some prey to breed. However, my father struggled with choosing the animals we should keep in the beginning, but it did not take long for him to decide. He decided to keep only three types of animals for the meantime, so he chose the wild chickens, quails, and rabbits since those animals reproduced frequently.

In our tribe, the young ones were taught about animal behaviors and their habitats for hunting and survival purposes. Even a cub should be knowledgeable about animals in the wild. Therefore, it should not be a problem if we keep the animals as livestock. My father initially allotted a huge cage in the tribal territory to contain the animals.

One day, he was having trouble with the animals. The chickens and quails started to get sick, and the tribespeople who were assigned to them panicked and went to the Elder Healer to ask for help.

The Elder Healer was not well-versed with animal sickness, but she still tried to check if she could help. I went to look for my father, who was currently in a dilemma due to the sudden sickness of the animals.

He usually stayed at the Elder Healer's house ever since his relationship with my mother was estranged, but I couldn't find him there. As I searched the tribal territory, I spotted him in front of the altar. He was simultaneously kneeling, bowing, and mumbling as he prayed sincerely to the goddess. He didn't even look back at me as if he didn't feel my presence, so I waited for him to finish his prayer while I stood quietly at a distance.

Finally, he stopped praying and whispered my name. "Ari," he said, looking back in my direction. He stood up and walked towards me, lifting up my small body in his arms as he walked away from the prayer hall.

"I saw the animals, Father," I said. "They looked so sad inside their cages, like they were shocked by the changes in their environment."

My father listened intently as I continued. "Even Ari would be sad if I were captured and confined inside a cage, like I was kidnapped by bad people; can't we make a wider area at the back of the tribal territory, like a small house for each type of animal, and design the interior similar to their original habitat?"

I paused to take a breath. "We can collect their eggs and hatchlings and relocate them to an area where we can tame them freely while they're still young, so they can easily adjust to the changes in environment."

My father smiled at me and kissed my forehead. "Is that why the animals were sick?"

He pulled me into a tight hug, guiding my head to rest on his chest. As he stroked my wavy locks, I could hear his calm heartbeat. It was so comforting that I suddenly felt sleepy and dozed off.

When I woke up, I was already in bed, and the sun was already setting—it was almost time for dinner. I went outside my room and found my father and the Elder Healer setting up the table to eat.

The next morning, my father did as I said. He, along with the other tribespeople, expanded the tribal territory to accommodate livestock breeding and possible expansion.

Another reason for their expansion was to make new houses for future young people since the population of the tribe was slowly growing. Housing for the animals was made according to their original habitat. We separated the chicken and the quails to prevent the chicken from killing the quails.

Chickens usually stay in rainforests, bamboo forests, shrubby areas, forest edges, and tall grass to call home. They move between habitats depending on the location of their food sources. With that information in mind, the tribespeople built several nests using dried grasses to create a cushion for their eggs inside a big wooden coop surrounded by bushes. Female chickens don't like being disturbed when they are laying eggs, so they like to hide in shaded locations while laying and hatching their eggs. Male chickens love to roam around and most of the time fight one another, especially during mating season, so a huge bare ground space was allotted for them to roam around.

Quails love to stay in shrubby areas in a low-growing grassy meadow. These small creatures feed on insects that were attracted by the grass. Lastly, rabbits live in meadows, woods, forests, grasslands, deserts, and wetlands. They live in family groups in underground burrows or rabbit holes. A group of burrows is called a warren.