In Animal Farm, what advantages are there for the animals in running their own farm?

We are given the answer to this question in Chapter 2 of
this great novel. After the initial enthusiasm of having carried out the revolution
successfully, the animals at first experience many benefits to running their own farm.
Note how Orwell describes that first harvest:

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All through the summer the work of the farm went
like clockwork. The animals were happy as they had never conceived it possible to be.
Every mouthful of food was an acute positive pleasure, now that it was truly their own
food, produced by themselves and for themselves, not doled out to them by a grudging
master. With the worthless parasitical human beings gone, there was more for everyone to
eat. There was more leisure too, inexperienced though the animals
were.

Note then how well
initially things work out, especially the satisfaction with which the animals ate their
own food that they had produced. Also note how everyone
worked:

But
everyone worked according to his capacity... Nobody stole, nobody grumbled over his
rations, the quarrelling and biting and jealousy which had been normal features of life
in the old days had almost disappeared. Nobody
shirked...

This attitude is
epitomised by Boxer, whose motto, "Must work harder!", seems to help unite the animals
in a common purpose as they all work together to run the farm and get in the harvest. Of
course, things do not stay like this...