How would you set up 5 acres?

[Old Mission]

We have 5 acres here in MI and dont know how to use it to its potential.
We both basically lived the city life but always wanted to live in the country and got our place out here about 5 years ago. So we dont have any knowledge or friends or family who farm so we learn all we can online and in books but have never had anyone else to talk to who does this, so this site is a godsend for us!
So far we just have chickens and ducks and cats and dogs. We have a large veggie garden, herb garden and fruit, berry and nut trees. We used to have large ponies but they were leased and went back a few years ago. We want to raise more of our food and some for profit but have no idea what. Our land is all grassy and very rich soil. We have no tractor, whatever we do is by hand at this point. The township only allows
2 large livestock animals on 5 acres (whats the point!) even tho we are totally sourrounded by hundreds of acres of farm land with no neighbors.

What could you do with 5 acres, how would you set it up?


Stephanie

[luv2farm]

if it was me, and was only allowed 2 animals, they would be 1) a feeder pig that I would kill off each fall and then replace each spring, and 2) a good milk goatof your choice. Now I know folks are gonna say that the goat (and probably the pig, too) needs a "friend", because they are herd animals. But, the goat will also "herd" with a good dog. Just saying, if I wanted to be as SR as possible,s far as livestock, thats what Id do. Now, I would also invest in a good breeding pair of meat rabbits. That will add quite a bit of protein to the freezer! The only thing we have for a "pet" is the cats, and they earn their keep by keeping the mice eat up around the barn--and NO, I dont buy cat food. In other words, keep everything for a pupose. Eveything here is either for production, or consumption. Other than that, sounds like you are doing a pretty good job to me!! Fruit trees, berries, and a large garden---sounds good!

[Old Mission]

Oh I can have more smaller animals such as pigs and sheep, the 2
large animals means cow or horse. Smaller things such as the pigs, goats
sheep, chickens, rabbits I dont remember the 'limit' but I know its a much
higher number, the previous owner used this as a hog farm 15 years ago
but the facilities for that were rotted beyond disrepair so we gutted all that out. I believe they kept around 15 or so. Before that it was a cow farm but the owner was made to get rid of them by the city because she had
like 15 of those and that was over the 2 limit by the city. If I would have known about the small limit before hand I would have bought more land, I did not even realize it would be a issue living in the middle of nowhere in a farming community.

We tried rabbits but we could not find a way in winter to keep their water
thawed in each cage? We dont have electric in the barn. We have never ate them, but we raised them for our dogs to eat but it ended up being more work then it was worth since I have 4 great danes, I'd have to raise a LOT more then I was to even make a dent in their diet. I suppose we could raise them for ourselves but I just never tried rabbit and have no idea what to do with it.

When you only have 1-2 animals to be butchered/processed
such as hog or goat and have no trailer,
what do you do? I do not know how to do this myself yet.


Stephanie

[Helena]

We have 5 acres and seem to do an awfully lot with it. Yes, I would check into the limit on aniamls again. But I would have a goat for sure. Milk, cheese and even meat with the We have aalways had goats since we began hojmesteading 30 years ago and we had no..knowledge of homesteading except an old MENS magazine givien to us. city slickers we were for sure. ABut we grow about 80% of our veggies and with the usual chickens, goats and a couple of horses for pleasure..fruit trees and all that seems to find a homestead too. Read and learn from others. Ask question from old timers in your area. Visit the senior center to find any farmers that would give you suggestions and learn to live simply on your land. Everything doesn't have to make a profit as long as you are enjoying what you are doing and not totally wasting time and money of course. Really how much more land would you really want. We burn with wood totally, no central heat in this old farm house..and more trees on the back of the property would be nice but we have survived nicely with getting free or buying our logs for our wood burning stoves. Raised 2 girls on this homestead and they survived very well and I know they can take cre of themselves and their families if they ever need too. Read, learn and trial by error will be your best teacher in the homesteading life. I wish you all they best.

[tinknal]

I guess the first thing I would do is ask yourself what you WANT to do, and how much time/effort can you devote to it. Start with your strengths and interests and go from there. You will be much better off doing a few things very well than doing everything half-arsed. Before doing anything with larger animals figure out what you need in the way of fencing, shelter, feed supply, etc and have it all ready before you even look for stock. Sounds like you already learned this with the rabbits.

[TurnerHill]

To feed your dogs, buy a shotgun.

My dogs live almost entirely on venison and canada and snow geese, mixed with rice. They've never had processed food in their lives.

I don't imagine that this really saves me a whole lot of money, and it takes time, but it is more fun than buying dog food at Walmart. And I believe, though I can't prove it scientifically, that it is better for them.

[Dexter]

Check out John Seymour's "Self sufficient life and how to live it". There are some great drawings of small acreage lay outs. Worth purchasing actually.

[FarmerChick]

Originally Posted by Old Mission

We have 5 acres here in MI and dont know how to use it to its potential.
We both basically lived the city life but always wanted to live in the country and got our place out here about 5 years ago. So we dont have any knowledge or friends or family who farm so we learn all we can online and in books but have never had anyone else to talk to who does this, so this site is a godsend for us!
So far we just have chickens and ducks and cats and dogs. We have a large veggie garden, herb garden and fruit, berry and nut trees. We used to have large ponies but they were leased and went back a few years ago. We want to raise more of our food and some for profit but have no idea what. Our land is all grassy and very rich soil. We have no tractor, whatever we do is by hand at this point. The township only allows
2 large livestock animals on 5 acres (whats the point!) even tho we are totally sourrounded by hundreds of acres of farm land with no neighbors.

What could you do with 5 acres, how would you set it up?


Stephanie

Set up 5 acres correctly and you can live your whole life without ever having to visit a food store again..LOL

Be sure you give your home plenty of room first to manuever trailers, trucks, etc. Do not put your home on the edge of the property line. You have control then what is around you.

from there......you must say---what do I want?
You want a small orchard with apples and peaches?
Small plot of blackberries, raspberries, blueberries?
You want a basic garden for veggies
basic herb garden

2 livestock in a zoned area is WONDERFUL.....with that 2 big livestock you can get milk, cheese and all from a holstein, and then meat from the calf.....you can have a hog. One hog will give you tons of meat. A few hens give meat and eggs.

On 5 acres you can do so much it is insane!

[Wolf mom]

Before you do anything with your land, live there - even if it's to visit a few weeks at different times of the year. See how the shadows fall, the wind blows, the water runs off. Do your homework on types of animals and what it takes to raise them. Then figure how much time you want to invest in animals and gardening daily, monthly, in the winter.

The more homework you do, the fewer mistakes you will make about setting your out buildings in the wrong place, etc.

Start small, increase as your knowledge increases.

Above all, have fun!

[7thswan]

Do you have a local Feed store? A actual mill would be better. They probably know of someone that would haul a cow or pig for butcher. Look for your local Livestock auction. Go there and watch. Learn what people are buying and why. They also usally have a Hay auction, calf sale and pigs are sold on certian days. When you get used to being able to spot a healthy animal from a sick one, you will be better at picking one. I'm not suggesting that you must buy one from the auction, because there are reasons(health) not to, but you will learn so much there. Ask questions, especially from the old farmers. Look for your Farmers market, see what there is an abundance of, then find yourself a few specialtys to sell there. I live in the Thumb, our soil sounds like yours, there isn't much our soil won't let us grow here. Let us know where your general area is because Michigan has huge variances in soil and weather. Any questions, just ask, you'll for sure get an awnser here.

[BTO]

Originally Posted by Old Mission

We have 5 acres here in MI and dont know how to use it to its potential.
We both basically lived the city life but always wanted to live in the country and got our place out here about 5 years ago. So we dont have any knowledge or friends or family who farm so we learn all we can online and in books but have never had anyone else to talk to who does this, so this site is a godsend for us!
So far we just have chickens and ducks and cats and dogs. We have a large veggie garden, herb garden and fruit, berry and nut trees. We used to have large ponies but they were leased and went back a few years ago. We want to raise more of our food and some for profit but have no idea what. Our land is all grassy and very rich soil. We have no tractor, whatever we do is by hand at this point. The township only allows
2 large livestock animals on 5 acres (whats the point!) even tho we are totally sourrounded by hundreds of acres of farm land with no neighbors.

What could you do with 5 acres, how would you set it up?


Stephanie

I'd raise a couple of Dexters and a few Katahdins.

[Nature Man]

If you are in a rural township/county in Michigan and are surrounded by 100's of acres of farm land with no nearby neighbors I would not worry about having more than 2 large animals. Many rural township zoning administrators do not hassle residents, if no one complains.

Bill

[Callieslamb]

I think you are on the right track already. It might be better to just let things happen naturally. What are you interested in? what are you absolutely NOT interested in? How much funding do you have?

Build slowly. As you learn one thing - another idea will come to you. I have 7 acres and I have plenty to raise 2 calves, 2 llamas and 4 sheep. I can produce a lot of my own hay too. I am not against buying it if needs be- for that few animals it is not cost prohibitive. So- do you want to grow all the feed for your animals too? Or just the hay? or neither?

Note: to keep one goat in milk, you have to have a way to have her bred each year. That usually means 2 goats.

It only takes 4-5 months to bring a lamb to butcher size - like pigs. So no overwintering there either. Provide shade in the summer and a protected pasture area. Have you thought about turkeys and meat chickens?

I don't do any of my own butchering, I just can't handle it yet. I will have a steer that needs to go by late summer if not before - I don't think I will have any problem locating someone that would like to earn some extra funds to take my animal to the butcher. Craigs list is your friend.

Make friends EVERYWHERE. I have met the most interesting people since moving here. They just find me. Get to know your local feed store people by their first names. Ask them questions - even if you don't like their answers. Frequent the local grocery stores - get your hair cut at the local barbers. Attend every pancake breakfast, etc. Get to know people and tell them what you want. Someone will know someone else who knows so and so. Soon you will have lots of contacts. I have found this to be the best, most reliable source of information and availability alerts!

Have fun! Good luck to you!

[firegirl969]

I second the idea of at least a pair of dairy goats and or maybe a smaller breed cow for milk and then you can raise the calf for meat. Best of both worlds in my opinion! Do you have Carla Emery's book, "Encyclopedia of Country Living?" If not, I highly recommend you get a copy. That will answer alot of questions for you and show you ways to butcher your own meats, process them, milk goats or a cow, make butter, sour cream, etc. I learned to milk my goats with her book in my left hand and the teat in my right, so it can be done. You can get the vet or a farmer near you to artificially inseminate the goat or cow so that you won't have to feed a buck or bull. You order the semen then have the deed done. There are several guys here in our county that do that for a nominal fee compared to keeping the male. If you are interested in goats, request a catalog from Hoegger Supply here in GA. The catalog has lots of info in it and that family raises dairy goats, so they are a good source for answering your questions. The goat forum here is equally valuable. Sounds like you are already doing very well with your SS, so keep up the good work and keep us posted. Blessings, firegirl

[ChristieAcres]

I'd definitely be planting fast growing trees for firewood or possibly for sale later? We have 6.68 acres, currently 5 acres are in forest (Alder, Maple & Cedar- lg most 2nd growth w/Maples bordering old growth). We have a fruit orchard, 2,500 sq foot raised bed garden area, chickens (for eggs), rabbits (just for the garden & occasional sales---show Mini Rex's...), and we plan to expand for a small CSA which will grow by the year. I'd like to have 1/2 acre in gardening... Now, we also plan to raise a pig, probably our own beef, and are debating a milk goat. We have decided to take out some more trees, but our forest is so thick that we could have a permanent self-sustaining wood source for our 3 wood stoves (shop, home, & office) from just 2 acres... I'd like to keep 3.5 to 4 acres in forest. Great info Firegirl... I better get to reading about them goats...!

[Wags]

We have 4.8 acres and used to have a couple of Dexter cows. I loved them, but hubby was always worried about our young children getting in with them. So he asked me to concentrate on our Nigerian Dwarf Goats instead. With both Dexter and Nigerians you need to be sure and buy from milking lines.

A Nigerian Dwarf Doe is roughly half the size of a larger breed dairy doe, and should produce about 1/2 gallon a day of very rich milk. They come into heat year round - so you can stagger breedings to keep yourself in milk at all times if you want. Because of their small size it is relatively easy to trim their hooves and transporting them just involves a large or extra large dog kennel. Plus they are just so darn cute and cuddly.

We currently have a 16 Nigerians, a dozen chickens about 18 trees in the orchard and are switching over to Square Foot Gardening this year. That still leaves us quite a bit of untapped space that will probably go into berries and/or grapes along with sunflowers for the goats.

[ChristieAcres]

Wags- this link is especially for you since you mentioned Sq Foot Gardening... I married that with Companion Planting/French Intensive. It shows my almost finished garden cabin & also some of our forest in the background. There are additional pictures of the garden & also veggies. Here is the link to my thread:

Garden Gone Wild, the way I like it! Pics

[Buffy in Dallas]

Another thing to think about, how old are you? Are you in great shape, in your 20's or disabled in your 60's? Big difference!
I always wanted to get goats, sheep, pigs, chickens...ect. when we finally moved out to the farm but now I'm getting older, bad back, knees, hips & get tired easy. I thought, I've got 5 kids that can help. Well, they grew up and got a life. No help there!
So I'm planning with an eye towards low maintenance, easy access and would like to take a vacation or at least have a sick day every now and then.
(not something you can do with dairy animals around)
I'm keeping chickens, a small garden and enjoying the country atmosphere.

[indianheadranch]

Dont want to be negative about this, as it sounds like you have a good start and i know its probably all you can afford like some of us, but me i dont want no city county or state gov telling me how many animals i can have on my land, I want to be the judge of what i think my land capacity would carry, i would sell out and get gone, if that is the way the township is, what if you wanted to fatten 4 or 5 steers for the neighbors and supplement your income, Thats just my thoughts on it good luck what you decide.

[Starlighthill]

When you only have 1-2 animals to be butchered/processed
such as hog or goat and have no trailer,
what do you do? I do not know how to do this myself yet.
Stephanie[/QUOTE]


Hi Stephanie,
We use a custom butcher who comes here, kills them and takes them back to his facility for processing. The local division of the Michigan Department of Agriculture can give you names of licensed butchers.
Starlighthill