Any Texans here?

I have 10 chickens garden area 2 pygmy goats 2 miniature cows a donkey and had 2 pigs (in freezer now) I live on 8 acres in south texas I supplement with some feed but for the most part they graze all day

That depends on the land. I have 12 acres and currently have 4 cows on the back 9. I am feeding them almost 100% hay and feed. My pasture needs alot of work.

Hmm dealing with drought.....depends what your doing, what animals, and how many your trying to feed and water when your tanks dry up,and your fields burn up....just a few chickens, or a couple goats won't be a problem, if you have access to water, and don't mind buying some hay for your goats,
the cattle in Texas took a big hit due to drought, every body was running out of hay, water and sold their herds way down. You couldn't hardly give a horse away, people would dump horses and donkeys out on the back roads, and the county would have to pick em up...but as with everything, the pendulum swings the other way too and it's improved somewhat, cattle are at a all time high, and horse sales are picked up, and hay is cheaper. The farmer/rancher ain't much on giving up the fight...cuz next year will be better, just got to hang in there.

Very cool- can I ask where in south Texas?
Do you think how much water you get impacts that your animals are primarily grass fed?

Yikes, scary scenario. I'm glad it's better!

We also live in Texas. In between Austin and San Antonio. When we first moved here it was a long drive to either, but now both have expanded so much it is as if they are growing almost together. The drought has been rough on the lakes and some of the trees in the area, but our pecan, cedar and mesquite all came out fine. Last year we had a decent amount of rain, I'm hoping this year has even more. We have geese, ducks, chickens and soon to have rabbits. Texas is nice because our seasons allow for longer growing, however the lack of rain can make a garden pricey if you are on city water. I am lucky because we live right off of the Guadalupe river, so we have great deep silt soil. This year we plan to grow a garden, using the pond water from the goose pond to water it. Welcome to Texas!

Sarah

I live south of corpus Christi about 40 miles south we have what is called costal hay that we feed the amount of water does impact the price especially if it's a dry dry summer last yr to 2 yrs ago the price for a round bale jumped to 100 bucks a piece due to the shortage of hay. This yr you can easily get hay for 45-50 bucks a round bale. For the chickens they diddnt seem to care about the drought they still had bugs and ticks and fleas to eat plus the feed o supplied them the goats really depended on the hay I fed them plus feed so it can effect the price of the hay if your fields go south I don't irrigate my fields at all I rely on the rain to water the fields this yr has been great I had to cut twice and both times the fields where 3 ft tall last yr I cut once

Looked at the replies and I will chime in from East Texas. Yes we do get more rain here and generally speaking you can put more cows per area here. I was told by a rancher in south Texas you can put one cow per 20 acres. Not much sustainable grass there I guess. Here 1 cow per acre is fine if you keep your pasture in good shape. If you feed you can do more than that. I have had as many as 6 on 4 acres here when I was a kid. Not counting maybe a coupla calves that get sold or butchered.

We do have our own troubles though like too much rain sometimes then periods of no water. The soil is mostly sandy loam but we do have pockets of clay too. The sandy soil is acidic because of the pine trees but easily amended with extra lime. You will likely need extra potassium too.

Hay is cheap because everyone and their grandma cuts it here. If you move here and have some land you can get yours cut free on the halves if that's all you need. Some local with a tractor trying to make some weekend money will be happy to do that for you.

Good luck on your journey and PM me if you need any info in my area.

I live in NE Texas, about half way between Dallas and Shreveport, LA. I've never had goats but had other livestock. You probably will not be able to grass feed only. The grass freezes in winter and although there are winter grasses here they don't grow much when it's really cold. Old timers raised corn and feed that during winter. Chickens and I'm sure goats will need supplemental feed to keep the protein up so they will have enough protein to be able to produce the eggs or milk. The acreage needed for the goats will vary according to where you live. In some parts of Texas the estimate is one acre graze land per cow. In other parts it's about 10 acres graze land per cow. You need to pick a general area and then try to contact the county ag extension agent there. They can give you a good idea of how much land you need.

Land for a large garden is subjective. Subject to what you consider large. Some folks call an acre a large garden while others think a 50'X50' plot is huge. I'd suggest you decide how much of each crop you want to pick, can or freeze, do research on best case yields per 100' row, and decide how much you want to plant. Make a list or chart of the proposed garden, then decide how much land it will take.

I can tell you from past experience that a well tended, watered small garden can be just about as productive as a large, half tended, under watered one. I can also tell you that a large, well tended garden in full production will almost work you to death! By the time you hoe out the weeds, pick the produce, prepare the produce, and then process it for canning or freezing your day is pretty well used up. Now, it's good to have the food put by and it's a satisfying type of work, but it is work all the same. And in my case, eventually I just gave up on that weed hoeing deal. I just couldn't keep up with an acre and three little kids all by myself.

I'd suggest you plan for a large garden but plant a smaller one the first time unless it's absolutely essential to raise the food yourself. I'd think it would be better to kind of work up to a large garden instead of overloading yourself. I wish you well, and hope you find what you're looking for soon.

Great advice, thanks!

Will definitely follow this advice, thanks!

We moved to south Texas a little over 5 years ago. We have 18 acres with most of that in pasture but we have a 1/2 acre garden fenced off (way too big so far) and about that much fenced in for an orchard and chicken yard. The actual yard the house sits on is an acre. We have 6 horses and an ever changing number of dairy cows (currently 3 and one on the way next week). We could have many more and most likely will in the future. The only time they are able to keep up with the grass growth is in January through Feb.

The dirt here is black clay, delta dirt from the Rio Grande River before they put up the levy. As long as it has water it will grow about anything. Our pasture has native Bermuda grass that grows like crazy almost year round. It grows so thick and consistent that the only weed we have is Mesquite due to the cows eating the beans a pooping it out but we bush hog yearly to keep them down. We let them grow on the fence row for shade and privacy

Our property is next to an irrigation canal and we water our place whenever needed so we are not dependent on rain. It is easy and the price is reasonable so we really don't buy much hay. We may get one frost a year and most years we don't even get a freeze so the growing season is very long. As far as heat, yes it gets hot in the summer. Three months out of the year I stay in doors except for mornings and late afternoon but the rest of the year is simply heaven. While the rest of the country is shoveling snow, I'm out romping with the animals or playing in the garden in my shorts and tennis shoes. As a crow flies, we are about 20 miles from the coast so it doesn't get as hot here as it does even in Dallas because we have the breeze off the coast. I hear folks say it is humid but it is not nearly as humid as summers were back in Missouri unless we just had a rain storm which rarely happens.

We are in Harlingen which is about an hour north of Brownsville. The cost of living here is very low and I got more house and land than I could have found anywhere else. Our place is very productive and we love it here. In fact, we love it much better than any place we've ever lived and that includes Missouri and Arkansas but its not for everyone. Our place has no ticks, chiggers, or mosquitoes unless it is after a rain which like I said, is seldom. I have never seen a rattler here but if you go west an hour they have them. We do have some really cool birds that stop over to enjoy our big live oak trees and different ones that eat bugs from the pasture.

Here's the bad, or not, depending on your outlook. It is very Hispanic (many of those illegal) and the jobs don't pay a lot unless you are a professional of some sort. Once you leave the "Valley" as they call it, there is nothing to see or do until you get to San Antonio which is 4 hours away or Corpus which is 2 hours away. We are close to South Padre Island so you can certainly enjoy the beach and all the tourist things there which we do sometimes but I find our ranch more entertaining. It is not as pretty as the hill country but then it doesn't cost as much and the dirt is way better. So, if you seriously think you'd like south Texas just send me your questions and I'll do the best I can to answer them.

__________________
Living Large Down on the Farm.

In northeast Texas, you could probably do all that on as little as 6 acres. You could do it out here with irrigation. Good luck!

I hope all of the folks from Texas are very proud of a colleague of mine from the Austin area. Did anyone see the Grammy Awards last night? Brooke Axtell took the stage after President Obama called attention to violence against women. Her speech was amazing, and I hope men were listening to every word she said. Brooke works in communications with Allies Against Slavery and we both advocate regarding domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. If you missed her passionate speech, search for it online. She was followed by Katy Perry.

Yep. Five acres in the Llano Basin, about 45 minutes NW of Austin.

ImageUploadedByHomesteading Today1423501740.156764.jpg

Nice place Txsteele. Does the creek ever dry up there?

try reading Comeback Farms by Greg Judy,some good lessons in there on how to revitalze your pasture even without a tractor

__________________
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.
Henry David Thoreau

WE moved to Texas from Alaska in 2008. Found a nice 30acres in the hill country mason county. Living off the grid and raising Grass fed beef. Loving It, heat and all. With the rain this winter we are going to have some awesome wildflowers

Attached Images

	IMG_2224.jpg (80.0 KB, 0 views)
	IMG_2225.jpg (96.6 KB, 0 views)

Great! We absolutely love it here since our move in 2013 to Canton and then bought a bit of property in Lindale area.

That map that Buffy offered is spot on for us - we are surrounded by pines and are working with about one open acre composed of 75% sand and 25% sand spurs. My BIL trucked in loads of compost, and I've been adding lime, peat and manure hoping to grow something other than the sand spurs, yuccas and fire ants. I'm optimistic, but that's just my nature...

We're working on getting some animals - just poultry for now. We've raised pigs, goats and poultry before, but there was considerably more grass so this is a fun little challenge.

__________________
Kevin and Katie and our four little blessings