# Best profitable animals?



## RedFordFarms (Mar 19, 2012)

So I was wondering what animals are the best profitable animals? Also tell me which animals would break the bank just so I never find myself interested in them. LOL


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## SheepGirl (Mar 19, 2012)

Any animal can be profitable...you just need a good, cheap source for stored feeds (grain & hay) and a market for the offspring.

I have gone through and made an enterprise budget for a sheep operation and I came out with a $100 profit/ewe.


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## RedFordFarms (Mar 19, 2012)

Lucky you!!! LOL


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## carolinagirl (Mar 20, 2012)

I think sheep can be the most profitable.  See what the ethnic market in your area is though because in some areas, goats do very well.  It's often more profitable to just buy, grow out for a brief period of time and sell them for meat.  This applies to goats and sheep.  I find sheep cheaper to raise because of their hardiness, resistance to parasites and less demand for grain.  They don't need the shelter that goats need (unless lambing in the winter), they can often be raised on just pasture and hay, and some of the more primitive breeds can be raised without the use of dewormers (although the growth rate on the primitive breeds is slower).  They also don't challange fences like goats do so fencing is easier.  Cattle are the easiest to contain with just electric fence but it's hard to grow out your own calves (and be profitable)  unless you have a lot of pasture.  

In my area, several growers sell meat at the farmer's market.  They take the animals to a USDA certified processing plant and sell the processed meat at the local farmer's market. The cuts are vacuum packed and frozen and sold out of coolers.  She told me it costs more to use the vacuum pack than it does to use butcher paper  but customers like to see the meat so it's worth it.  They make a LOT of profit selling goat and sheep meat......even the cheapest cuts of stewed meat and ground meat sell for over $5 a pound, with some cuts bringing well over $10 a pound.  Check local laws in your area though.


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## RedFordFarms (Mar 20, 2012)

We already raise cattle. I will have to look into sheep and goats.


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## 77Herford (Apr 3, 2012)

The best profit animal or product is what we all look for, lol.  That niche market can be a challenge but basically whats the cultural aspect in your area and whats lacking.  
I always figured I'd just raise Cattle and that would be it but as I grew into an adult and eventually got my own place I learned being diversified helped.  I knew in my area for years that there was a large ethnic population that wasn't really being catered too so recently I started raising Goats for meat and milk and have seen alot of interest.


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