Small "farm" about 3 blocks from house? Doable?

gabbyraja · #1 06/03/12, 06:53 PM

Well, after trying our darndest since Feb to get at least 3 acres to homestead the best we could come up with is a great house on 1.4 acres.

But, there are 3 pieces of land in our vicinity with about 7 acres on them. We only want about 5 more than we've got, just for homesteading a few animals for our own needs, so one of the 7 acres would work if we can get the sale to work. However, is it ever a good idea to have your animals on a lot that does not adjoin your house? The land is surrounded by other houses, anywhere from 3-10 acres away from the proposed fence lines. But, WE would not be right there to keep an eye out all day and night. We'd visit once or twice a day, and that would be it.

WWYD?

gabbyraja · #2 06/03/12, 06:54 PM

And, believe me, we've exhausted every single option on the market in the area in which we need to be. Short of waiting another 6 months for the "perfect" lot/house to come on the market, this is the best we've got.

ronbre · #3 06/03/12, 07:04 PM

why not buy the acerage and move to it?

willow_girl · #4 06/03/12, 07:08 PM

Shoot; my farm is 28 miles from my husband's house!

Closest acreage that I could find in my price range ... most land goes for $10,000/acre+ around here.

Three blocks would be a piece of cake for me!

goatlady · #5 06/03/12, 07:08 PM

I would never have animals in an area I could not check by looking out the window or at least being close enough to hear any cries for help! Too many roaming dogs that can cause horrible damage to farm animals in about 2 minutes especially at night.

CornerstoneAcre · #6 06/04/12, 01:27 AM

I have to agree with goatlady to a degree. I have goats, chickens, small pigs and horses - and all of these I like to have close to home. However if cattle was my goal, it wouldn't bother me to have them few blocks away. If you invest well in fencing and maybe even guardian dogs, smaller stock may be okay. With that said, my biggest worry may be of the two-legged kind instead of the four - legged. How will all the houses surrounding this land feel about animals there with "no supervision"? Or animals at all for that matter? Being that you currently live about three blocks away, do you know your neighbors well that will be surrounding the "new" property? They can either be a great help or an great PITA!! Remember also that there are certain issues with attractive dangers (ie a horse in a pasture or a cute goat is an awful temptation for a small child and without proper fencing someone could get injured). It would be just as easy if you lived on the property, but sometimes when there is no visible presence of an owner all the time people tend to get more lax on following the rules of ettiquette.

luvrulz · #7 06/04/12, 06:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goatlady

I would never have animals in an area I could not check by looking out the window or at least being close enough to hear any cries for help! Too many roaming dogs that can cause horrible damage to farm animals in about 2 minutes especially at night.

OTOH, I have 46 acres and cannot see everywhere or be everywhere. I have to go out and roam the farm to check on the orchard, the cattle, the chickens, blueberries and etc. You catch my drift. That parcel would be close and easy - 3 blocks?? A piece of cake.

If you make it part of your day, it would be just part of your chores! Go for it!

PD-Riverman · #8 06/04/12, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gabbyraja

Well, after trying our darndest since Feb to get at least 3 acres to homestead the best we could come up with is a great house on 1.4 acres.

But, there are 3 pieces of land in our vicinity with about 7 acres on them. We only want about 5 more than we've got, just for homesteading a few animals for our own needs, so one of the 7 acres would work if we can get the sale to work. However, is it ever a good idea to have your animals on a lot that does not adjoin your house? The land is surrounded by other houses, anywhere from 3-10 acres away from the proposed fence lines. But, WE would not be right there to keep an eye out all day and night. We'd visit once or twice a day, and that would be it.

WWYD?

My animals are on my property where I live, but are close 1/2 mile from my home with no problems except that I have worn out 2 used golfcarts over the last 12 years riding back there to them several times aday---LOL. But my garden is between them and my house. Some days I do spend several hours back there doing things around them. I can (sound) monitor mine at night if I choose with a FRS/GMRS radio. You have to be "smart" about it----you can not allow your chickens/animals to free range where they are visiting your neighbors land or where all the neignbors dogs are visiting Your animals/land for a meal. If you got a chicken/animal yard with wire around it---you got to use wire heavy enough that a dog/animal will not walk right through it. I see No Problem!! good Luck!

motdaugrnds · #9 06/04/12, 08:14 AM

I agree with others in here who have referred to the need to have animals close. Too many things can occur (especially at night) that could require immediate action on your part; so unless you're comfortable with not knowing what is happening at night, it might be wise to place animals even that far away. (If you decide to go ahead and get it, you might want to check into some type of system that will let you monitor what is occurring there.)

tojo66 · #10 06/04/12, 08:36 AM

What kind of animals? I have a couple goats, some poultry, and some rabbits on my one acre. I think if I was going to expand, I would put the garden or fruit trees on the other property-unless I was adding cattle.

Kazahleenah · #11 06/04/12, 10:14 AM

What area of Michigan?
I wouldn't want my critters where I couldn't see/hear them and check on them whenever I walked outside.... but that's just me.

Molly Mckee · #12 06/04/12, 10:27 AM

I think it would be a problem. You would have to have water on the land, drilling a well is expensive. While having animals that far away isn't in itself a problem, what's between you and the land and around the land is. If it's subdivision type property it could be a huge problem, especially for animals, but in today's world even a garden and tools could be at risk IMO.

**highlands** · #13 06/04/12, 11:04 AM

Based on our own experience and from hearing others talk I would strongly recommend not having a farm/farmstead separate from where you live. Theft, predators, watching over animals and just doing the chores become a lot harder the further you get away from where you sleep and eat.

Cheers,

-Walter Jeffries
Sugar Mountain Farm
Pastured Pigs, Sheep & Kids
in the mountains of Vermont
Read about our on-farm butcher shop project:
ButcherShop | Sugar Mountain Farm

ronbre · #14 06/04/12, 12:29 PM

as with Kaz I'm interested where you are in Michigan

FarmboyBill · #15 06/04/12, 12:32 PM

SDounds like its going both ways pretty evenly.

janetn · #16 06/04/12, 01:08 PM

I would rather see you put your garden away from your home than have the animals there. Murphys law is surely going to come into play if they are not at your home. To many times Ive "heard something" and gone out to find a problem - predator [roaming dogs] animal hurt caught in fence or out all together or just looked out and saw someone not acting right - ie sick.

If you use the 1.4 arcres wisely you have more than enough for a few goats, chickens and pigs. How about turning that other acrerage into a hay field for winter feed?

Plus the neighbors who are going to be around your livestock are not likely to be happy with the animals by there houses. You also have the problems with theft and kids.

gabbyraja · #17 06/04/12, 09:22 PM

We're buying in a small town outside Lansing. We're actually the third house outside the town's limits. In our township you MUST have a minimum of 2 acres for farm animals, despite your zoning, and 5 acres if you want a horse. Now, sure they're probably not going to come around and police you if your neighbors aren't turning you in, but we're not going to get away with more than our layers and maybe 2 milk sheep in the back yard (they're no louder than "pet" dogs). We want to raise one beef cattle and a few heritage breed hogs per year, plus maybe, someday, have a horse. When kids are much better at chores and "playing" with their "pets" more consistently.

There's a slight possibility we could rent or buy some of the acreage across the street, but it's debatable on whether we'd want it. Right now it's 40 acres that backs up to a golf course. They plow and plant something on "everything that's usable" and the rest is "swamp land", according to the 70 yr old owners of the property. There are willow trees and cat tails visible next to the road, across the street, but we've not trespassed to go out there and see what's what and whether animals could be ok over there. So, we can legally have chickens where we are, and that's it. So, we have to find non-adjoining land for animals, or not have them.

opportunity · #18 06/04/12, 11:49 PM

I have a small property in our town only 3.5 ares it was all set up on 10 acres lots orignally then got divided over time. We have horses, cows and they are not on our piece we have them all over town on differnt pastures. i also raised chickens last year and as long as you have a good coup you can keep them anywhere. I know I might not see what happens all the time but who is home 24/7 anyway I sleep soundly and if something is really goign wrong I get a phone call

lmrose · #19 06/05/12, 09:17 AM

We have ten acres of which seve are fenced. There are hills so the horses, goats and chickens are not always in sight. however we can hear them if they hollar for help and can reach them in five minutes! I understand your problem but leaving animals out of ear shot is not such a good idea. Babies get caught in fences, animals get out of their enclosures, predators can take advantage and some people may steal when they get the opportunity. Here we had a neighbor's steer shot and lugged off. Another farm had a cow stolen from the pasture. Both were out of sight and out of ear shot. Leaving gardens out of sight can also invite thieves. Even camps in remote places unattended are targets. A friend had theirs burned down while they were on vacation! It seems some people are getting worse with each generation. What ever happened to teaching children to respect others things so the kids don't grow up being thieves?

Heritagefarm · #20 06/05/12, 01:00 PM

It it were cow/s it would be different... Predators don't frequently mess with large animals. Sheep and goats, on the other hand, are tasty looking snack, i.e., coyote food. However I know people who live some ways from their other farms and run animals on them just fine. I'd run a dog with them if they were very far away.