Best Animals For My Farm

Chucknbob · #1 11/21/12, 02:22 PM

So my wife and I just bought 3 acres in southern Ohio. About 1.5 acres is fenced pasture. The pasture is good flat land with little to no weeds. Fence is typical 4' tall wire with a single strand of barbed wire at the bottom. I do have a barn with a small 3 sided stall (could easily be opened up to keep animals indoors). The previous owner had freezer beef, and when he got too old for that he bailed it and sold the hay.

What I'm looking for is the best animal for my needs. I want it to mostly live off the grass in summer, the less supplemental hay I buy the better. My plans are to either eat what I raise, sell and make a little cash, or both.

I have considered buying 2-3 katadin lambs in spring, butchering one in fall and selling the others to recoup some of my initial costs. However, I also thought that a couple of zebu would be fun, but I'm not sure if there is a market to sell them down the road. Any thoughts on which would be better, or is there another animal that I may be overlooking that would be good for my small plot?

Callieslamb · #2 11/21/12, 02:35 PM

I'd go with the sheep. You can buy them weaned, raise them until the grass is gone and not buy any hay. If you sell them from the butcher you'll make more money than selling at a sale barn.

What kind of fencing do you have?

bergere · #3 11/21/12, 04:27 PM

Zebu are really spendy. I looked into not that long ago.

So I would also recommend sheep. They are pretty easy to care for and cheaper to feed.
Might want to get a few hens, for fresh eggs and bug control.

Maura · #4 11/21/12, 05:28 PM

cattle and equine prefer grasses. Sheep prefer forbes. If you put sheep on the pasture they will appreciate weeds.

Dusky Beauty · #5 11/21/12, 07:17 PM

What about a few geese to compliment? Very yummy meat... like sirloin steak! they do very well on vitamin rich weeds and tall grasses.

Chucknbob · #6 11/21/12, 08:06 PM

Definately getting a few chicks this spring. May do a couple ducks as well, depends how ambitious I feel.

Mostly just trying to figure out the pasture situation. Have to do something (not mowing 3 acres)

I was set on the sheep, but just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything and wanted to run past the pros.

CesumPec · #7 11/21/12, 09:12 PM

another vote for chooks no matter what you decide on sheep or cattle. They are a joy to have come running when you go outside. You'll find all sorts of uses for the eggs. Surplus eggs can be given to neighbors to make friends and repay them for all the favors done. And you can feed surplus eggs to your pig (hint, hint) as well.

The advantage of the pig and sheep is that you can get them with a low initial investment and be done with them in about 6 months. Then you can re-evaluate your situation and decide what direction you want to take your homestead.

I have a neighbor who has a mixed herd, 1 horse, 1 burro, 1 steer, and 2 goats. They run as one herd and I've never seen them more than 20 ft from one another. At the end of season, the non equine will go to freezer camp and he will start over next year.

jen74145 · #8 11/21/12, 09:22 PM

Take it slow. Get chickens and a small number of preferably terminal hoofstock.

Don't run out and get breeding stock of three different species and expect to learn as you go and have that end well.

mountainlaurel · #9 11/22/12, 05:55 AM

What kinds do you like? That is the best place to start. Then weed them out if they can't fit into your grazing area.

You said chickens and sheep are good. But do you want to shear them? If not, you either have to hire that out or you can go with hair sheep. That's how we started.
Goat for milk? Are your fences good enough for these little Houdini's? A milk stand is nice for milking on.
Pigs, do you have the place for them? Is the fencing good enough?
Those are the type of questions you need to ask yourself. Then you get the pleasure of searching out what breeds of the animals that you select to keep are.

Have fun

pheasantplucker · #10 11/22/12, 06:09 AM

guineas

luvrulz · #11 11/22/12, 06:12 AM

FWIW, ducks will eat everything and anything else you plant....flowers, strawberries, garden, young trees.....they are worst than locusts. Don't do ducks unless you like poop *everywhere* also.... Not worth the trouble, IMO...

Get chickens, guineas, turkeys.... Brahman cattle do much better in hotter climes, you could maybe get a Jersey bull calf or 2 pretty cheap and raise them up for meat.... The sheep are a good idea to weed control too... What trees, fruit or otherwise, were you going to have? Plan out where the garden all other stuff will go too!

luvrulz · #12 11/22/12, 06:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mountainlaurel

What kinds do you like? That is the best place to start. Then weed them out if they can't fit into your grazing area.

You said chickens and sheep are good. But do you want to shear them? If not, you either have to hire that out or you can go with hair sheep. That's how we started.
Goat for milk? Are your fences good enough for these little Houdini's? A milk stand is nice for milking on.
Pigs, do you have the place for them? Is the fencing good enough?
Those are the type of questions you need to ask yourself. Then you get the pleasure of searching out what breeds of the animals that you select to keep are.

Have fun

Kahtadin's don't need shearing, do they? I thought I remembered that they were hair sheep??

Big Dave · #13 11/22/12, 06:58 AM

I have Llamas, Chickens and Guineas. I do not mow the llamas do a great job on the three acres. The fowl free range and keep bugs down. Cover in wire what you do not want the chickens in. Alpacas are good browser's as well.

CountryWannabe · #14 11/22/12, 09:13 AM

Sheep are a good idea - easy to care for, reasonable on fences, will live on your pasture till fall and then fill your freezer.

Pigs tend to be hard on fencing. Mine are inside cattle panels and still manage to root out now and again. They are a relatively fast turnover meat though - but they will not likely live just off your pasture, you will have to feed them.

Chickens are easy to care for, produce eggs and are just plain fun to have around. Ducks are messy. REALLY messy. Turkeys are easy to care for and can produce a little cash if raised for the Holidays.

Cattle are OK - but you are looking at feeding them over the winter, so you have to take that into consideration. You have more upfront investment as well.

Goats are great, give milk (if you get a dairy breed) and have wonderful tasting meat. BUT your fences will suffer unless you make it really bite hard. I love my goats, but just sometimes I think I would love them even more if they were in the freezer.

Mary

CesumPec · #15 11/22/12, 09:32 AM

Llamas and alpacas are fun ornamentals; I would love to have a llama. But I was assuming the OP was looking for something that provided a financial return. yes, show-grade ornamentals can provide a nice profit, but that takes knowledge the OP probably doesn't have and it takes a gamble of lots of time and finances.

Maura · #16 11/22/12, 10:17 AM

Ducks are great if you have a pond. They prefer to be on the pond all day. But, they are very susceptible to predators when they come off the pond. Their favorite food is the snail and in the spring they will go over every inch of your property looking for them. This is a good thing because snails carry sheep liver fluke.

Silvercreek Farmer · #17 11/22/12, 11:53 AM

In my experience, sheep grow faster on pasture than goats do, but some folks don't like lamb. If you have never had one or the other, give them both a try before you commit to anything, grow the one you like best. I'd add a strand of hot wire on the inside of that fence too, about shoulder high on whatever you decide to raise. It'll keep the animals from rubbing on the fence (tearing it up) and getting their heads stuck.

Chucknbob · #18 11/22/12, 05:15 PM

I guess I should have prefaced that I grew up raising cattle and pigs for 4-H so I'm not a complete novice with livestock, just not used to sheep. Just wanted to make sure sheep were a decent choice.

Onto the next questions. I was planning on Katadin or Dorpers because I'm not planning on shearing. If I buy lambs in spring and slaughter in fall, will I need to shear, or would I be able to expand my breed choice?

Also, how many head can I keep on 1.5 acres? It is good pasture, I would give it a 7 out of 10. I was thinking 3 would be a manageable size herd.

Callieslamb · #19 11/22/12, 05:46 PM

You won't have to shear a dorper or Katahdin. Or any sheep really if you are just keeping it to butcher before it's a year old. It would be a waste of some types of fleece but you don't have to shear them if they are only there for meat.

wogglebug · #20 11/23/12, 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Callieslamb

You won't have to shear a dorper or Katahdin. Or any sheep really if you are just keeping it to butcher before it's a year old. It would be a waste of some types of fleece but you don't have to shear them if they are only there for meat.

True. You can also get good fleece sheepskins this way, if you want to tan them. Use for furniture, or get them made up into vests and coats. OTOH, bare sheepskin makes a beautiful butter-soft leather that would also be ideal for clothing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chucknbob

Definately getting a few chicks this spring. May do a couple ducks as well, depends how ambitious I feel.

I'd strongly recommend Muscovy ducks - lots of them. Unlike ordinary ducks with their fatty meat, Muscovies have a very fine-grained lean meat similar in texture to lamb or lean pork. They lay eggs pretty well if you can find them, although they'll generally try to hide them and hatch out many many babies. Provided you can protect them from predators, they'll multiply like crazy, and a Muscovy is a handy-sized package without needing to take up freezer space until you can get to eat it. They also don't need water the way ordinary ducks do. They'll certainly use it if it's available, but all they really need is drinking water deep enough to immerse their entire head.

I'd recommend keeping your poultry in a pen attached to their coop until about noon. That way they'll lay most of their eggs where you can find them, many predators will have bedded down, and then you can let them out to free range. Have them pre-trained to come for scattered grain in their pen when you call, so you can pen them up before dark, then maybe lock them in their coop at night.