Island livestock; Looking for suggestions.

You forgot to mention whether or not you're going to be living there or at least spending time working there every day. You also never mentioned what kind of safe shelter, proper food and health care you plan to be providing the animals with.

Nothing can survive on just spruce alone, it's too acidic and they'll quickly become malnourished and susceptible to organ diseases and digestive diseases like scours and both internal and external parasites. The fact that there are so many coniferous trees on the island means the soil is highly acidic and the only other plants that will grow there are also acidic plants and other toxic or non-nourishing plants. That's not good for pigs or goats. The pigs won't thrive and will injure then kill and eat any other animals stuck on the island and competing with them for food. Yes, even the goats will be at risk from being hunted and eaten by the pigs.

If you're going to be living there or at least working there every day and giving them healthy supplemental food besides spruce then the chances of domestic animals surviving might work. But you have to be there.

If your plan is to abandon them there alone with no safe, sound shelter, no healthy daily food supplements and no health care or daily attention from you they won't be safe and they'll likely be gone inside of a couple of months at the most. They'll be gone from attrition and malnutrition or poaching or theft by the most dangerous predator of all.

As soon as word gets around (and it will, you can count on it that it won't take long) that somebody has stranded some domestic animals on an island and left them there all alone and running loose then other people will come and take them.

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Thanks for the replies, I continue to be interested in this *idea if anyone has any experience with specific breeds/animals and related considerations: Water as barrier, LARGE predator/livestock proof auto-feeder would seem to be necessary.

I know of more remote salt water islands(few hours away) grazing livestock until harvest.

Disease is usually introduced is it not? I would think uninhabited island would potentially be healthier.
I'm considering the quality of life in industrial farming vs 2-3 animals on 6 whole acres; predator risk or not, I would argue it gives them a better(if sufficient food) life quality for whatever time they do have.

I am only going by web searches so far, goats, pigs, rabbits would seem to eat spruce needles/bark; what percentage of diet that could make up, I wonder... I suspect it is also breed specific; have heard about 'pasture pigs' being developed to not be supplemented with any* grain...

A couple of pigs are at top of the list so far, they seem to be most predator/disease resistant, mostly (250lb) grown in < 8 months; super tasty. Depends on tendency to swim... Or maybe see how long 6-12 chickens fair; I expect not long with the predator birds.

I do plan to build a little cabin/cottage there, but at first, realistically I'm thinking visit every few weeks.

40 years ago, a farmer was summer pasturing his beef cattle on Sugar Island. This area has numerous pastures, hay fields and Maple trees. Near Sault Ste. Marie, MI. The cattle broke the fence, traveled 5 miles on the island roads. They then swam across a big river, into Canada. The herd split up and came to visit three different cattle farms. The cattle were gone for a couple weeks before they were missed. Took a bit of work to discover where they had gone and a lot of international paperwork getting them back home.

Hunt clubs provide an opportunity for a hunter to shoot a trophy deer. But that's costly. A more affordable wild boar hunt became popular alternative. So, farmers began importing and raising wild hogs. One farmer fenced a 40 acre area of swamp and brush and imported 250 wild hogs. When he checked on them 90 days later they had all escaped, posing a hazard to crop land, ponds, streams and commercial hog facilities.

Isle Royal, in Lake Superior, has both moose and wolves. It has been the wish of environmentalists that if left unattended, they would work out some degree of balance. That hasn't worked out well.

Deer will eat white cedar to avoid starvation. Not much eats White Spruce.