# How many acres would do?



## Dolly1218 (Dec 1, 2012)

Hello all! I have a quick question about acres for a future herd. Here is the list of what I hope to soon have: 2 mini cows, 1 yak, 4 sheep, 2 llamas, 4 alpacas, 1 goat, 2 mini pigs, 2-4 horses, 8 hens (4 standard, 4 bantam), 8 ducks, 8 turkeys, 2 geese, 20 quail, and if aquirable and allowed 1 camel. I am ok with supplimenting feeds etc and of course the animals will all be bought over a period of time, but I just wanted a general idea on what size of a ranch I should be looking for. Currently we are in southern Colorado, so fairly dry and bipolar weather (hot/cold in any season), however if we are offered a job position in Nevada, we will be moving there. I wanted to start looking for places soon, and yes we are buying so I need a good starting point in regards of size. I will be rotating pastures as well. Thank you for any advice you have!


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## SheepGirl (Dec 2, 2012)

In the midatlantic region, you can have 1 animal unit (1,000 lbs worth of stock) on 1 acre. You would need to call your county extension agent or similar entity to inquire about the AU/acre stocking rate.


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## Dolly1218 (Dec 2, 2012)

SheepGirl said:
			
		

> In the midatlantic region, you can have 1 animal unit (1,000 lbs worth of stock) on 1 acre. You would need to call your county extension agent or similar entity to inquire about the AU/acre stocking rate.


Ok great, I didnt knkw that. I want to be sure my animals were comfortable and not over crowded or stressed. I know more is better, but thats not always affordable! What would be enough acerage for everyone to be comfortable?


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## Alice Acres (Dec 2, 2012)

I know CO needs many more acres to support stock than in MN. If it was good pasture here in So. MN, I would estimate 10-15 acres from your listed animals. In CO - ??
A visiting herding judge (we were talking stock at herding practice) from Wyoming said a MN farm of 40 acres would be in the hundreds of acres out there to support the same # of animals, if that helps.


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## Dolly1218 (Dec 2, 2012)

Alice Acres said:
			
		

> I know CO needs many more acres to support stock than in MN. If it was good pasture here in So. MN, I would estimate 10-15 acres from your listed animals. In CO - ??
> A visiting herding judge (we were talking stock at herding practice) from Wyoming said a MN farm of 40 acres would be in the hundreds of acres out there to support the same # of animals, if that helps.


Oh wow. Maybe I need to move to a more lush state! So 40 MN acres is equal to about 100 CO acres? So I would need about 70 acres or so for my little herd? Thank you for your response!


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## Catahoula (Dec 2, 2012)

As far as zoning is concerned, I am in Boulder County, CO. My property is zoned as Forestry. We are allowed 2 animal unit per acre. Depending on the type of animal...different number is allowed per unit. ie, a horse or a cow is equal to 1 animal unit, 5 goats (sheep or Llama) is one animal unit, 40 chicken is one animals unit. Using that formulation, you'd need about 12 animal unit which is 6 acres to have all these animals in my zone. You mentioned you'd supplement your animals' feed so you are not going to just depend on pasture. 100 acre seem overkill.
Of course you can get as many acres as you can get and your animals can roam. Zoning will give you an idea on the maximum number of animals. BTW, you should have at least a couple goats...


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## BrownSheep (Dec 2, 2012)

Nevada is pretty much southern Idaho. I would read this as well http://www.cnr.uidaho.edu/what-is-range/curriculum/MOD3/Stocking-rate-guidelines.pdf . This just for straight rangeland.
Are you irrigating or thinking range pastures?
I would suggest keeping the yak separate from the sheep.our cow ignores them for the most part while our bull like to play chase the sheep. Yaks also don't get along with regular cattle all the time depends on the yak itself.
I would say you need at least 20- 40 acres of irrigated land in my opinion. I know Nevada s little drier than us so maybe more. I also don't know how available irrigation is down there and what there water laws look like.


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## Dolly1218 (Dec 2, 2012)

Thank you for the replies! Catahoula your right, 1 goat would be lonely, I may need to have 2 goats! Hmmm and 2 yaks to be fair!




			
				BrownSheep said:
			
		

> Nevada is pretty much southern Idaho. I would read this as well http://www.cnr.uidaho.edu/what-is-range/curriculum/MOD3/Stocking-rate-guidelines.pdf . This just for straight rangeland.
> Are you irrigating or thinking range pastures?
> I would suggest keeping the yak separate from the sheep.our cow ignores them for the most part while our bull like to play chase the sheep. Yaks also don't get along with regular cattle all the time depends on the yak itself.
> I would say you need at least 20- 40 acres of irrigated land in my opinion. I know Nevada s little drier than us so maybe more. I also don't know how available irrigation is down there and what there water laws look like.


Ok, I hope I dont sound too horrible, but what is the difference with irrigating and range pastures?


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## BrownSheep (Dec 2, 2012)

Range is just fencing off the natural flora( sagebrush, bunch grasses) basically fenced desert while irrigating is pastures reseeded with actuall pasture grass and watered through the grazing season.
 I reread your post and am downing guess to abou 15-25 acres.


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## Dolly1218 (Dec 2, 2012)

Oh ok. Thank you. I think I would just range pastures. It is too expensive to irrigate here, and thats if the weather stays normal throughout the seasons. Right now we have no snow and it still isnt cold enough to wear a jacket, but in the 'warmer' months it is cold and snows! I am ok with supplementing feeds etc and having them in range pastures.


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## EllieMay (Dec 2, 2012)

Start off small and you'll be able to determine how much pasture is being eaten up.
Supplementing feed is good, too, but can get very costly.
If you can feed on pasture alone, you stay ahead of the game!
Of course, I don't know how much pasture you would even have in CO.
Good luck and enjoy your livestock!


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## treeclimber233 (Dec 2, 2012)

When I was growing up my mother had 4-5 cows and 5-6 ponies on 18-20 acres of land. The cows were for milk and meat so were fed some hay and lots of grain yearround.  The ponies had to scrounge for their food unless the snow was too deep.  Then they got to clean up the cows hay at night and got a handful of grain if the weather was really bad (freezing rain/sleet/snow).  She was located in the northern part of Virginia close to the mountains.  She had 15-18 acres.  She had 9-11 animals at a time.  You are talking about 20 animals and 46 feathered friends.  Plus a camel.  Are you going to let your feathered friends roam free.   If you do they will destroy any grass they can.  They will eat what they want and scratch up the rest looking for bugs.  I agree with whoever suggested you should start small with the number of animals and see what your property can support.  For the amount of animals you are talking about I would suggest at least 50 acres.


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## Dolly1218 (Dec 6, 2012)

treeclimber233 said:
			
		

> When I was growing up my mother had 4-5 cows and 5-6 ponies on 18-20 acres of land. The cows were for milk and meat so were fed some hay and lots of grain yearround.  The ponies had to scrounge for their food unless the snow was too deep.  Then they got to clean up the cows hay at night and got a handful of grain if the weather was really bad (freezing rain/sleet/snow).  She was located in the northern part of Virginia close to the mountains.  She had 15-18 acres.  She had 9-11 animals at a time.  You are talking about 20 animals and 46 feathered friends.  Plus a camel.  Are you going to let your feathered friends roam free.   If you do they will destroy any grass they can.  They will eat what they want and scratch up the rest looking for bugs.  I agree with whoever suggested you should start small with the number of animals and see what your property can support.  For the amount of animals you are talking about I would suggest at least 50 acres.


Thank you. Yes I was going to start out very small and grow slowly, I just wanted to know how much land I will need if I ever get the animals on my dream list. Out here land is more expensive for very little, unless you happen to get lucky and find a 'hidden' one, so I want to look for quite a few acres to grow on, but I dont want to over do it with too many acres! My feathered friends are not going to free range, too many predators here, only supervised outdoor time.


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