Raising more than you can eat?

[Ducksarecool12]

I'm moving next July on between 5-10 acres to start living my dream of a hobby farm. The land is an empty slate for the most part so I'm definitely wanting to start out slow and not over work myself, but over the next few years I would like to raise dairy goats, meat and laying chickens, feeder pigs, and rabbits for healthier food. I'm planning to start out with Laying chickens as I've had a few before and know pretty well how to care for them. I would also like to get my dairy goats pretty soon after. My question for other small homesteaders, do you raise just enough to support you/ your family, or do you raise more to sell also?
Should I raise 3 hens or 15 hens and sell the eggs? Raise a few more does and sell the milk? Raise more meat chickens and sell them when they are older? I like the idea of living off the land but also know that's not really realistic on 10 or less acres, but it would be nice to make a little bit of an income to pay for some bills.

[crazyfarm]

I think that would depend on your area and the market for such things. Also, will the input equal the output? I've sold turkeys before and I didn't break even on it. I certainly have never made money off of anything I've sold.

[CraterCove]

http://www.amazon.com/Five-Acres-Ind.../dp/0486209741

http://www.amazon.com/Ten-Acres-Enou.../dp/048643737X

Are good reads for people on small steads. I know that last one is pretty old but it's still good to read.

With modern science and management one can really pack a lot into 5 acres and still keep things clean and renewable for the environment.

My big advice would actually be to start with the garden and work from there. Chickens, especially if you can free range them are pretty easy and rabbits are a great return for what one invests, in my opinion too. Chicken poop tea is excellent for plants and if you grow worms in your rabbit poop then you have bait and more loveliness for the garden. The dairy goats... well I love mine but if you go really small, like 5 acres, I might keep two does and rotate who is milking but not keep a buck on site. Oh, and you can pop the goat poop into the worm bins too.

Good luck!

[kasilofhome]

In my case 17 families were gifted with meat. My goats are very productive with high multimedia births some had five babies..twins and triplets are more normal than single births. If the timing will allow them to be raised on just browse on the land I can donate the cost of a bit of feed in the fall till a person comes to harvest the goats. I have a few guys that will take six at a time and he and his friends care for the meat for the elderly, vets, and working poor.

Just had to get the names of the people in need to the man he gets the guys to do the work.

People helped last year are now helping the man for others and learning at the same time.

I get the milk and it is nice to give back to the community..This year I have milking culls to turn too burger. Any doe that is not an improvement to the herd goes to in in two weeks. That looks like six more. It is a win win.

Note my community helped me and I know what it is to go without. Plus the laws are such that too sell holds too many risks.

[stanb999]

Fact is most folks won't utilize 5 acres of a 20acre homestead or 10 of a hundred acre homestead. You can grow a tremendous amount of food on an acre. 2 acres properly managed can support a family income. 5 acres could be a huge undertaking. This is not to say you can't let a horse waste a 5 acre paddock.


I'd suggest you learn about Plasticulture and high tunnels. Protected culture produces 10 times the yield of field grown. You use less resources and inputs and generally have less pest issues. You can grow more in an 1/8 acre under plastic than you will eat.


Livestock will in most cases cost money. Eggs? ours cost about 3.00 a dozen. Without labor.
Goat milk will run you about 5 dollars a gallon if she is a great producer and has no health issues.
Don't take this to mean that I don't encourage you to keep livestock. Do so. There is no better fresher meat and milk. Making money on it?

[Vickie44]

I would start slow , doing what you dreamed of and what you like the most , work on supporting your self before worrying about potential excess.

Eat fresh in the summer then start working on preservation, your goal being to provide for yourself during the winter. Then share excess with family and neighboors. Time will tell if you might eventually start selling , or if you even want to .

Plant fruit and nut trees and work on fencing first

Welcome to the forum!

[bigjon]

started as a 10x10' garden 30yrs ago.evolved into 2acres lol! I feed my family-sell at the stand-supply squash(summer/zuke winter) to 2 local stores.and donate bushels to local pantry.its fun&keeps me busy.

[Dixie Bee Acres]

Start out with a goal of producing just for you and your family. Once you are able to do that and have a good handle on it, increase your production.
But, start small and add one project at a time, I.e., get hens, then plant a garden. Then add rabbits, then meat birds, then pigs. Dairy goats will be last.
Once you have all of that under control, maybe increase garden space.
But, I will say, it doesn't take any more time to care for 30 hens than it does 6 hens. And if you are going to raise one pig for your family each year, if you have the fence area, might as well raise two or three, same time to care each day. Sell the extras.

[lmrose]

All the above is good sound advice. Start small with a garden you can manage to properly care for. Consider weather patterns where ever you live. We switched to garden beds and have a spruce hedge to shelter them from the wind here. Beds are easier to manage, rotate crops, water in a drought and drain if too wet, mulch and can be fenced with a solar electric fence or othe kind to keep deer out. We were glad our garden was in beds and sheltered when a hurricane hit here this summer.

Here we have cut back to a dozen hens which gives us plenty of eggs and some left to barter with. We are reducing the goats to three does and eventually two. This is so we can provide our own mowed hay for them and grow feed for them. Buying good hay here is almost impossible and grain is too expensive. Every year we have at least three or four goat kids raised from Spring to late Fall for meat. We keep one for us and sell the rest of the meat.

Our other cash crop is garlic and rhubarb. Occasionally we sell eggs but usually give them to neighbors who are kind enough to help us get around as we don't have a vehicle anymore. We give away excess vegetables when I have enough stored for us. What goes around comes around the saying goes. We give vegetables and many times people bring us apples and fish.

To us the farm has always been a way of life not a business.To eat well here would cost too much money wise and everyone needs to eat. So raising a few goats and chickens and growing food is as natural as breathing air or drinking water to our way of thinking. It is just what we do. Have a nice day.

As I've posted repeatedly, we have a garden and an orchard both combined are about a quarter of an acre. We were going to farmer's markets, selling excess fruit and vegetables, along with canned leftover vegetables as salsa, and fruit as jam, jelly, and preserves. We also sold homemade bread, both sourdough and slicing bread, and fruit bread, sort of like the ubiquitous banana walnut, but always with fruit we grow here. Couple hundred pounds of flour goes a long ways.

Anyway, we grow more than we can eat, and generated about 250-400 bucks a week. However, there was the packing stuff up, getting up at an insane hour, driving to the farmers market(all the ones around us are at least 25 miles away) setting up a tent, getting everything out, and so on. Took time away from tending the garden, and my job(which is living. My job is living). I think that it's worth the effort in you need the money, but if you don't, its too much work. All I ever need was the extra bucks to cover the real estate tax for the year, but it was nice to get $3 a pound for organically grown vegetables, instead of spending the afternoon canning, or feeding it to the chickens. You'll have to try it for a few weeks, to know. I've never cared for people coming to the house to buy vegetables and fruit, so I never got into that.

[motdaugrnds]

The first thing I would do is talk with the local authorities, especially the agricultural department, and find out how to legally sell your produce. (In some areas it takes a very expensive stainless steel set up.) I would especially check on what is needed to sell milk and meat. Veggies are usually not problematic.

Also, check your local flea markets because, as Zong said, that is a nice way to get a few extra bucks. (Sometimes you can sell your meat products "on the hoof", i.e. sell the animal and charge the buyer extra for preparing it the way they want it. Some people I know get around legalities doing it this way.)