If you had to pick livestock to raise, very small scale

pancho · #21 10/14/12, 07:11 PM

Fencing should be done before even thinking about animals.
No matter what you decide you will need a fence.
Get that done then start thinking about animals.

BobbyB · #22 10/14/12, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alice In TX/MO

Milking twice a day = food.

Milk
Yogurt
Soft cheese
Hard cheese
Ice cream

Most folks cook three times a day. Are THEY high maintenance?

My thinking on that is, both parties working and may not want to milk and cook.

Here, Karla is a stay at home mom. So she'll be milking when the time comes and does a lot of cooking. A big win for me!

Quote:

Originally Posted by pancho

Fencing should be done before even thinking about animals.
No matter what you decide you will need a fence.
Get that done then start thinking about animals.

True that pancho, but I think knowing what you want would have a definite affect on what type of fence to build.

fantasymaker · #23 10/14/12, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alice In TX/MO

Milking twice a day = food.

Milk
Yogurt
Soft cheese
Hard cheese
Ice cream

Most folks cook three times a day. Are THEY high maintenance?

compared to livestock?....yep!

fantasymaker · #24 10/14/12, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobbyB

True that pancho, but I think knowing what you want would have a definite affect on what type of fence to build.

I think it might be even more important to know what to fence OUT!

pancho · #25 10/14/12, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobbyB

My thinking on that is, both parties working and may not want to milk and cook.

Here, Karla is a stay at home mom. So she'll be milking when the time comes and does a lot of cooking. A big win for me!

True that pancho, but I think knowing what you want would have a definite affect on what type of fence to build.

Fence for the most difficult and you won't have to worry about it anymore.
Fence for the easiest to fence and you will loose the ability to choose anything else.

SkyridgeFarm · #26 10/14/12, 07:50 PM

I only skimmed the replies, but I don't think anyone mentioned yaks. They're becoming quite popular all around the country. Their meat is even more nutritious than grass-fed beef, they're very easy to care for, can handle all kinds of weather with minimal shelter. They can be very tame & have great personalities. They'll eat a lot of plants that cattle won't & they also eat quite a bit less than cattle. They calve without any help, are very quiet, are good at keeping predators away. They have many uses besides meat - can be used as pack animals, they have great hair that can be made into wool. Of course in Tibet they're used for milk & cheese & their hides are used for clothing & shelter. I could go on & on. Just google Tibetan yak & you'll find lots of info. We have 6 at the moment, which we keep at my sister & bil's, but we'll soon have our own acreage so we can keep them ourselves.

Cindy in CO

fantasymaker · #27 10/14/12, 07:52 PM

Pancho is way right.
Sheep dont need a fence, but the dogs that would eat them DO!
So we wind up back at what I almost always recomend for boundry fence.
8 feet of 4 inch square woven wire topped by 2 smooth hot wires and with another hot wire on a seperate charger a foot up from the bottom on the outside.

fantasymaker · #28 10/14/12, 07:53 PM

How about Buffalo or Reindeer?

Maura · #29 10/14/12, 08:00 PM

Different breeds of sheep taste different. Find out what breed of sheep your neighbor has and look up online what they taste like. Usually when someone says the meat is better they mean it is mild. Some shepherds like their lambs born in January, so by early June you pick up the lambs. Some shepherds like late lambs, in which case you can pick up the lambs earlier, as soon as you have pasture. When you butcher they will be older and bigger.

I don't see why you think sheep would be hard to keep. Sure, they are going to be standoffish with you- you are a predator. They can be trained to grain. Get a pound of oats and once a week bring them a little oats (a handful is plenty). This is so they will follow you. Any animal is going to be testy when you want to load it up onto a truck. For this reason you will need to train them to go through a chute for their oats. The chute needs to be sturdy enough to hold them in when they get scared. If you can get them into a chute you can press them into the truck. Having a chute also comes in handy if you need to shear, trim hooves, or medicate.

As CalliesLamb wrote, just buy weaned lambs and grow them all summer on your pasture. If they have nice fleece, shear them before butchering. You can even get one lamb from three different breeds and butcher one at a time in the Fall so you can be sure which one you are tasting. The following year, get three more of the "good" meat. If three is too many, sell what you don't need or give it away.

CesumPec · #30 10/14/12, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pancho

Fence for the most difficult and you won't have to worry about it anymore.
Fence for the easiest to fence and you will loose the ability to choose anything else.

that's like saying buy a school bus for your daily driver in case you ever want to tote around 32 people.

Fencing is a big expense so it should be built with thought towards what will be within and without and how future plans may change. Something like a 4 strand HT can become a 7 strand electrified HT if needs changed.

plowjockey · #31 10/14/12, 08:20 PM

3 acres of pasture, is not going to feed large animals - at least well, for very long.

BobbyB · #32 10/14/12, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fantasymaker

Pancho is way right.
Sheep dont need a fence, but the dogs that would eat them DO!
So we wind up back at what I almost always recomend for boundry fence.
8 feet of 4 inch square woven wire topped by 2 smoth hot wires and with another hot wire on a seperate charger a foot up from the bottom on the outside.

You would put up an 8' fence with 2 hot wires on top? WTH for?

And another hot wire a foot up isnt going to slow down any diggers.

MO_cows · #33 10/14/12, 08:32 PM

Another vote for pigs. In and out, not on the land constantly. No over-wintering. They would probably need supplement feed besides the pasture to finish spring to fall.

CountryWannabe · #34 10/14/12, 08:33 PM

Hair sheep are probably the easiest for pasture, but if you don't like lamb then there is no point unless you plan on either selling or trading the lambs.

If you only buy two weanling pigs and raise them for 6-8 months on the pasture they would not ruin it - I have kept a pair on about an acre and a half and they were fine. However, I did find that I had to buy them bagged feed as well.

I have a couple of Dexters - they really do need to be grown out for around 18 months, particularly if you plan on only grass feeding them. Their meat is delicious, though.

Goats are browsers rather than grazers. You need REALLY good fences. My buck will clear a 5 foot fence from a standstill. If they soar over it then an electric fence won't help.Meat goats seem to be marginally better about jumping, but I prefer Nubians because I like to make cheese and yoghurt from the milk plus they are a good dual purpose breed, being large and well muscled. I milk twice a day, but you can get away with once a day.

Mary

CaliannG · #35 10/14/12, 08:39 PM

Last week, DH and I timed how long it took to milk out each of our goats that are currently freshened. We have 5 goats that are in milk right now, each with different production levels, different teats, different orifices, etc. The times were as follows:

Cypress, at the longest, small First Freshener with little teats, and big orifices. She currently give 4lbs, or about a half a gallon, per milking. We milk twice per day. 6:32 That was 6 minutes, 32 seconds to milk her completely out.

Brie, 3rd freshener, medium teats, nice orifices. 4.5lbs, or a bit over a half a gallon per milking: 3:18

Mardis Gras, 3rd freshener. medium teats, faucets for orifices. Gives about 3lbs, or a quart and a half, per milking: 1:48

Nipper, older FF, in late lactation, huge teats, medium orifices. Currently giving about a quart per milking: 2:42

LuluBelle, FF, small teats, medium orifices, currently giving about 3.5lbs, or kinda close to a half a gallon, per milking: 4:35

If you add in the washing of udders, etc, then it takes myself or DH about 30-40 minutes to milk 5 goats.

When we only had 2 goats in milk, it took us 10-15 minutes to milk them out. That is from the time of leaving the out of the kitchen door to the time of coming back in the kitchen door.

In the OP's shoes, I would get a couple of dairy goats, put a Boer or other meat goat buck on them, milk the dairies, and eat the kids. Best of all worlds. And with only a couple of goats to milk, it is not like she would be spending all day in the barn.

ChristieAcres · #36 10/14/12, 08:47 PM

Great points about fencing made! Fortunately for us, we KNEW our pigs could stay in the fenced orchard, and were prepared to protect the trees, if/when necessary. In that orchard area, we have 18 fruit trees, semi-dwarf, maybe two dwarf, and a few full size. We lost zero, and harvested a much better crop of fruit than everyone else we know. Those piggies sure fertilized well!

ChristieAcres · #37 10/14/12, 08:50 PM

Hey, you can always raise a few pigs, a few miniature goats, and a few Dexters. Since pigs don't need as much space, by rotating pasture areas, you could choose all three. That is my eventual goal!

CesumPec · #38 10/14/12, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaliannG

In the OP's shoes, I would get a couple of dairy goats, put a Boer or other meat goat buck on them, milk the dairies, and eat the kids. Best of all worlds. And with only a couple of goats to milk, it is not like she would be spending all day in the barn.

At least for my fam, it isn't the time. heck, I would love to have a dairy goat or cow. i love fresh milk and making yogurt, cream cheese, and would love to give some of the others a try.

But committing to being there twice a day, at a specified time, without fail is a non starter for us. For me it is work and travel for work. For the DW, it is riding horses off into the forest, showing horses, visiting family with horses, training horses, attending meetings with people who like horses, being a judge at horse shows, ...

say, can you milk a horse?

CaliannG · #39 10/14/12, 09:05 PM

Yes, CesumPec, you CAN milk a horse. In fact, in Russia (and other parts of Eastern Europe) they have "Dairy Horses".

As for twice a day at a specific time, believe it or not, goats don't have watches! Nor would they do anything with a watch but try to play with it.

There are times, such as at peak production on a first freshener, when you really DON'T want them going longer than 12 hours before milking. But most of the year, that can be varied by 2-3 hours before or after a normal time.

Goats don't have time clocks, where you have to punch in at the exact same time every morning.

No matter WHAT the goats say!

Haven · #40 10/14/12, 09:09 PM

I suppose this field is between 2 and 4 acres to be safe. The rest of my land is being used, so the hay being taken off of there now, would no longer be harvested once animals are added. The goal is simply to fill the freezer for a few people, with minimal input of supplemental feeds. Between work and taking care of the other 3 species I raise, I don't have time to be getting tied down to a milking schedule, etc.

This won't happen till next year, but I prefer to research things for a long time before jumping into raising new animals and ending up making dumb mistakes and wasting tons of cash. Reading all the input, thanks!