Hello from Canada, what inspired you?

[RedShed_almostafarm]

Hello from Ontario, Canada
I am a chicken hobbiest, stay-at-home-mom, wife and wannabe-farmer. We moved to our 2 acre farm in April'17 to raise our kids and dogs in a more open, refreshing environment. When we moved, I immediately bought 6 chickens from a hatchery, plus 2 I acquired from an apartment building!
We lost our flock at their 1 year birthday, minus one hen who survived and immediately went broody. I purchased some new chicks from a local who hatches eggs, and 7 out of 8 are roosters

We have plans of adding goats this fall or early spring, as pets and possibly a breeding project if I decide this is the way I want to go.
I have so many plans but this 2 acre farm sure isn't going to cut it for long. Small scale farmers; what livestock do you have? Pets or purpose?

 

[rachels.haven]

Hi,
Nice to meet you. I live on an acre and we have nigerian dwarfs, muscovy ducks for meat, khaki ducks for eggs, and red english orpington chickens because the meat is wonderful and the roosters are docile and not obnoxious or loud (and I would be the first one to get annoyed). And we might be changing chicken breeds due to lack of reliable egging. Only the goats come close to being pets and I'm not sure I won't eat goat at some point of raising them. I do buy hay and layer feed, but our acre is so determined to stay covered in brush and wildlife for most of the year that it covers about half the feed bill for the birds during the growing season, and right now most of it for the goats. We also garden and fruit bush/tree heavily. We're mostly still just a hobby garden, even with the animals, and we only produce about half of our meat (all of our eggs though). There's not much market for what we can produce here. But still it's better than nothing. And it's fun.

 

[Pastor Dave]

Welcome from Indiana
We have meat rabbits, which can be done on virtually no land. You can do chickens and goats on a couple acres depending on dry paddocks and rotating a pasture if you can fence in that acre your home isn't on. Quite a bit can be done on an acre or two.

 

[Baymule]

We live on 8 acres. About an acre is yard, another 2 1/2 acres is for the horses, which leaves roughly 5 acres for the other animals. We have hair sheep, 9 ewes and a ram. Our place is heavily wooded, been clearing and trying to get grass started. We have chickens, Muscovy ducks, and just got 6 guinea chicks. We have a garden, 50'x70' and an area for a few fruit trees.

For 2 acres, think small livestock. @Pastor Dave is absolutely right about the rabbits. You can raise a lot of meat with a few does and a buck. And they require practically no room. They do best in hanging wire cages under a barn to keep them cool in the summer. Wood framed hutches will work, but they poop and pee in the corners and it will pile up on the wood frame. It must be scraped and cleaned regularly. All wire hanging cages allow the pee and poop to fall right through. MUCH easier and cleaner.

You could have a small breed of goats for milk and meat. I don't have goats, but lots of people here do and can guide you on that.

We raise feeder pigs each year. We have a 50'x50' pen for them with a shelter. They are in and out in about 6 months, give a lot of meat and return for the money invested. Pigs will poop in one spot and keep their pen clean. They do need a wallow to keep cool, they can't sweat, so need some water or mud to cool off in. I heartily recommend buying a couple of piglets and raising them to slaughter size.

Most of all, welcome to the forum. Please put your location in your avatar. It will help when asking for advice. For instance, we are in Texas where it is HOT and we seldom get snow. For me, raising feeder pigs in the winter or very early spring is best, to avoid the heat. For you, raising pigs through the summer would be best.

Gad to have you here!

 

[RedShed_almostafarm]

Thank you for the warm welcoming!
We are currently fencing a 30x40 pen for a few goats, which if I do breed will be for milk and possibly eventually meat (Raw for my 3 dogs).

Fun fact: I am a vegetarian, but am looking at raising broiler chicks in the spring to feed my dogs and family. I'm SO excited to raise meat that I know what it has consumed prior to hubby/kids/dogs consuming it.

Do you ever have a hard time dispatching the rabbits? I feel they are not worth sending to the abbatoir, but I'm not sure I could cull them myself?

 

[Baymule]

Here is a link to my first foray into raising Cornish Cross chicks this spring. As usual, I got the animals first, built shelter later, so don't follow my example. LOL Even with selling 10 of them, supplying our DD and family with chicken, we still have LOTS of chicken in the freezer. Plus I can chicken broth from the bones.

https://www.sufficientself.com/thre...-2018-cost-profit-loss-or-freezer-meat.15621/

 

[Latestarter]

Greetings and welcome to BYH from NE TX! So glad you joined us. Sounds like you're off to a great start on your adventure! There are several breeds of dairy and meat goats. There are also crosses. Since you are interested in milk as well as meat, you really should consider a cross like a Kinder (cross between male pygmy & female Nubian afs.okstate.edu/breeds/goats/kinder/index.html/). There's a wealth of info, knowledge and experience shared in the multitude of threads. Browse around and see what interesting stuff you can find. By all means post away when the desire strikes you, especially if you have questions (provide as much detail/info as possible and pictures truly help)... With all the great folks here, generally someone will respond in no time at all. Please make yourself at home!

 

[Pastor Dave]

Do you ever have a hard time dispatching the rabbits? I feel they are not worth sending to the abbatoir, but I'm not sure I could cull them myself?

You are correct in that there is no profit of any kind sending rabbits to a processor. I began processing rabbits around age 12 with my Dad, but it can be tough. I try not to get at all attached to them. The mothers take care of them, and then they pretty well take care of themselves until grow out is complete. I just have to keep food in my forethought and wipe cute and cuddly out completely. I have heard of dog owners using rabbit for their raw meat, but I don't have dogs. I can replace just abt any chicken in a recipe with rabbit.

 

[RollingAcres]

Hello and welcome to BYH! Glad you joined us. Looking forward to hearing more about you and your farm.
We have 9.5 acres here in upstate New York. We're also wannabe farmers.
We have 2 cattle and currently 1 hen. I just ordered more chicks, coming next week.

 

[DutchBunny03]

Hope your new chickens work out! What do you use your birds for?
I currently have 8 rabbits, 6 of which are Dutch i intended to show. That flopped, so now they are pets/manure factories. Would love to breed more litters, but the demand for rabbits in my area is, nill.