Beginner Livestock for Small Acreage

[tylorklein]

I've done ducks a few times. Mostly mallards but also some of the better meat / egg varieties. I'd they don't have a large pen and water source my experience is they are about the most dirty animal you can find. I like having them but mostly it hasn't been worth it for the mess...

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[Lawnboi]

Only property that borders us with animals is to the south, 6 horses & 30 chickens on 10 acres of pasture, 4 indoor dogs & 2 barn cats.

They claim to have rat problems in their coop, so my plan is a deep concrete footing w/2' high walls as the floor of my chicken coop, corrugated metal sides. Plan to backfill over the concrete footing with dirt, and install some 1/4" tubing or pipe (stainless steel) vertically through the foundation footing before it sets so worms and bugs can still enter the coop via underground and water can drain out, but rodents cannot. My understanding is rats can fit through a 1/2" diameter pipe no problem, but anything smaller is too tight for them.

I have been purposefully trying to over design the coop for the better part of a year to keep rodents & wild weasels out...the damn weasels pups love to play in the stalls behind our barn for some reason, I suspect it's because the insulated tack room was infested by mice due to neglect from the previous owner.

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Your going to want to kill them quick. Traps, or a rifle and a bucket of corn. Rodents can eat the crap out of the chicken food too.

We found out real quick that chickens need protection. They now live in a covered fairly large run after my wife caught a fox picking them off in the back yard in the middle of the day. Hardware cloth, 6’ high and covered from aerial predators. Buried hardware cloth a foot underground.

Big deal for the coop is ventilation, with a concrete floor, I’d be concerned with drainage. Not knowing you’d climate, moisture is bad all year, especially winter if it’s cold. If you live where it’s cold also design the layout for easy snow removal. Power for electric waterer makes it easy too.

On top of that if your already spending the big bucks on hardware cloth and concrete an auto door makes the chickens much easier to deal with

Choose chicken breeds based on your climate and goals. We found out the hard way that some breeds are better for cold. Some breeds are much friendlier as well.

We keep a rooster, just because. Big cock diesel bastard that wants to protect his women.

They are a pain in the ass but we like them.

 

[Lawnboi]

If you get chicks now you might have eggs by fall! Something to keep in mind.
They become expensive real quick. Just glad a 2x4 dosnt cost 8 bucks anymore… the coop ended up a little more expensive than we anticipated.




We are also on 5 acres. I wouldn’t do cattle on my property. I see goats and sheep as a non very useful animal to me personally so I try to keep my wife from buying any. Same can be said for alpacas or llamas. Some pack llamas wouldn’t be bad though.

I havnt done them yet but have seen pigs done on small pieces and would do them along with meat chickens if I can convince my wife to let us raise animals for the sole reason to eat them.

 

[huck]

I know that country a little bit . I l;ive on the right side not the west side . But if it was me I would get 6 hens 1 rooster on a elevated chicken house on wheels there easy to move. 3 or 4 nanny goats for your black berrys and 5or6 meat rabbits . 1buck the rest does , your rabbits can establish under the chicken coop ,you can butcher the goats any time you see fit . they are small enough for 1 guy to handle with a respectible meat yeild. The rabbits are where the protien is if you can keep the skunks, coons and weasels out of them until they wild up a bit.

 

[dieselchessy]

Chicks in the early spring should start laying around august/September time frame. Around my AO laying hens are $20+ each. Feed store chicks are $3-4.
If you get cold hardy breeds they will lay all winter if you keep a light on in the coop. They need about 14 hours of light a day to lay.
Chickens we deal with northern fowl mites. Other than that and varmints they are easy.

Turkeys are relatively easy. I think we pay about $8 each. They grow up to eating size in 4 months or so. Turkeys and other game birds need 20% or so protein feed. Don’t feed them 12-14% layer feed.

Ducks and geese always seemed like more hassle than they are worth.

Quail are easy, and good eating.

Dealing with chicks is a learning process. I make brooders out of large plastic storage tubs. Cut out most of the lid and zip tie in hardware cloth. Then use a 125watt heat lamp on top for heat. Paper towels for the floor. Keep them in the house as long as your wife will put up with the smell. Clean the brooder 1 or 2x a day. Hopefully 4 or 5 weeks. Then move them outside to a larger brooder pen with 250 watt heat lamp.

If your going to eat your birds think through the processing part. Maybe there is a processor local to you you could use.
Scalding, plucking, gutting, shrink wrapping, and then freezer space are concerns.
Turkeys are easy if you skin, breast, and then grind the legs and wings for turkey burger. Whole they take lots of freezer space.

Goats aren’t bad. We had pack goats, and also raised Boer meat goats. The meat is great. One of our favorites.

Pigs aren’t bad either, but need pretty well grain fed to get a good result. Might be Idaho pasture pigs could use less grain, haven’t raised those. You could raise 4 pigs and sell 3 to cover costs leaving you with a free pig. They aren’t bad to butcher/process if you already process your own deer and elk. If not then you should pay for mobile slaughter and processing. Book your slaughter appointment when you buy the wieners. Them folks get booked up in the fall.
Pigs born Dec-Jan timeframe will be ready to eat come august. Knock them down before hunting season starts.

I have 2 acres. I don’t overwinter anything but the chickens. Too much of a pain.

 

[Dash]

Chickens to start, Guinea hens are great if you have predatory birds or 4-legged types. They are loud, but you get used to it and it’s kinda nice having them around. Do your research on chickens, there are tons of good youtubers that have great guides.

A game changer for us was barn cats. Got 3 kittens and now they catch mice, moles, voles, rats and snakes (and lizards and frogs…) And be prepared for snakes in your coop. Rat snakes inevitably get into our coop.

We finally got 1 rooster (for a flock of 30 now) that’s not aggressive. Ate the last 2 because they kept tearing the feathers out of select hens. We free range most days and have a run for convenience. You can train chickens to MOSTLY lay eggs in a coop, even if they free range.

If you decide on pigs, make sure you have a fenced in area for them. As others have said, they will destroy your property faster than you could imagine.

We are doing rabbits next. Building hutches soon.

Advice on turkeys is to make sure you have a hoop house or something similar. We’ve tried twice to keep them with the chickens and it never works out.

Be prepared to make mistakes, lose animals and spend lots of time figuring out a rhythm. If you enjoy doing the work, a small homestead is great!

 

[Mt Al]

Another vote for chickens and goats. Had chickens with the kids and when we do it again we're going to obsess about the design of the whole system to make it as low maintenance as possible and highly recommend this. Solar powered auto feeders, auto waterers help if you travel and just want to shut them in the coop and run for a few days and not worry about it. Chickens are relaxing to watch and awesome for keeping bugs, slugs, etc, down.

Designing feed storage, feeding, gathering eggs, where your gates/pastures are for goats - the entire system of care, feeding, butchering, etc., is a pretty big deal to make it so you own the animals and they don't own you!

My friend mapped his whole goat/sheep/chicken/butchering system around when he wakes up and comes home from work. Minimal extra trips, chicken feed is stored right next to a hatch that goes into the coop and he pops the lid, pours it in when needed and heads to work. Eggs are gathered from the back of the coop right next to a walkway right outside the kitchen. His small pastures gates are all next to each other, he raised the ground level a few inches and put down gravel in the high traffic areas near these gates for no mud. The barn, hay and goat feed storage is all right next to his garage.

Hope you keep us up to date on what you do and how it's working out.

 

[Wellsdw]

Not sure if you considered this, but I’d steer clear of alpacas. Our first livestock were alpacas and they can be finicky. (We still have 5) They are fun for sure but can be very difficult. Financially they are a poor money maker also, 10 month gestation, 6 month weaning, and only have one. Consider getting a couple great pryense or Anatolian Shepherds and breeding them. You’ll make a lot money.

 

[Wellsdw]

Low maintenance, big litters, As big live stock

 

[Cameron.25]

Fiancé is gonna be pissed at you guys, dashing her hopes and dreams of pigs and cows. Looks like I'm gonna get my pack goats though...thanks fellas!



BTW, how much of a pain is bee keeping really? I use honey every day for various things, substitute for sugar as much as possible, so I'd like to get my own hive. Local Co-Op sells a complete gear setup sans bees for relatively cheap (to the inexperienced keeper).

I plan to put in a 1/4 acre garden to start, orchard of around 30 fruit & nut trees, and then multiple pollinator & Blacktail friendly gardens/plantings in various areas. Got a nice little 2 pt that likes to come by with his girlfriends.

The bees are awesome but take a decent amount of work and research to get started and do it right. Its more work at first. Depending on the season and how they are doing you might have to do maintenance with them every other week or once a month once the hives are established. Ive been pretty minimally involved in the bees but i get to reap the benefits, i have picked up supplies and materials, built bee boxes and killed wasps nests mainly. We use it in our coffee everyday and it makes a great gift for friends and family. Also helps with my pollen allergies IMO. Its my wife and father in law's project, he has always wanted bees and they both seem to really enjoy it.

We have 8 hives and one of the worst climates to beekeep in here in oregon, so its a lot of work but the struggle is definitely worth it to us. A quick search shows you might have a more ideal climate than us but you will definitely want to do your own area specific research and connect with the local beekeepers in your area. She says if you start with only one hive it'll be a piece of cake tho. They started with 3, then they split a couple to prevent swarming cause they were doing well, and they also captured a couple swarms that ended up in trees on the farm. Its a fun hobby so have fun if you do it!

 

[dieselchessy]

Fighting with varoa mites to keep your bees alive can be a time suck.

 

[Cameron.25]

Fighting with varoa mites to keep your bees alive can be a time suck.

We havent had that issue luckily but we suspect one of our hives got into some pesticides or a toxic weed, it was doing bad for a couple months but its hanging in there lol

 

[Jstumbaugh]

We started with free range egg chickens to keep the ticks down and now have done 4 pigs the last two years. I get the piglets in March and butcher in August. Best pork out there by far and having the fat to add to the venison is amazing.

 

[The Ri Guy]

Appreciate all the input guys, kind of a (un?)related question for those that are into the homesteading lifestyle -- do you have a root cellar, and if so, do you feel it's good value?

We have a random mound of dirt with a flat top that the previous owners built up for unknown reason, thinking about hollowing it out and framing it to convert to a root cellar.

 

[Wvroach]

Appreciate all the input guys, kind of a (un?)related question for those that are into the homesteading lifestyle -- do you have a root cellar, and if so, do you feel it's good value?

We have a random mound of dirt with a flat top that the previous owners built up for unknown reason, thinking about hollowing it out and framing it to convert to a root cellar.

Look into galvanized trash can root cellar if your looking for easy, we located them inside a lean to shed. Works well for us. A conventional root cellar is on my to do list but this works for now.

 

[robertchutch]

Could also supplement rabbits in. They have fantastic meat production capabilities

 

[Cameron.25]

We have considered rabbits and egg laying ducks too, for our raw dog food mostly. We also considered growing mushrooms for local restaurants. Our main thing we plan on doing now is a lavender farm tho. We also plan to build a root cellar but have other things in front of it on our to do list. We have about 50 different fruit trees that were already established when they got the place, just recently got one of those harvest right freeze dryers and we've started messing around with it. Excited to try and make some of my own freeze dried meals and not have to figure out what to do with thousands of apples every fall lol we all still have jobs so this is just a side hustle/fun for us at the moment

 

[rvalleyp]

I have raised meat birds using a chicken tractor. You get the benefit of free range with the security of a fence. You can raise a lot of birds on a small amount of pasture, with natural fertilizer

 

[rtaylor]

If you want a hobby as addictive as hunting and fishing then get bees. They are work but it's kind of like putting in food plots. It is work and fun at the same time. Bees will give you honey, candles, and chapstick. Be prepared for strangers stopping by to ask if they can buy honey. Our chickens are fun but they like to roost on my porches when we let them out of the coop so I am constantly pressure washing poop.

 

[The Ri Guy]

Probably another stupid question, but what do you do with your bees in the winter/wet seasons?