Meaghan
Ridin' The Range
Hi! I just joined the BYC community, and the suggested we join here as well since we will be raising more than just poultry. 
I'm Meaghan, a graduate student and prospective veterinary student and my SO Nathan is a nurse at a local hospital. We just purchased our first house on 5 acres and are closing in just shy of two weeks! Currently, we have a ton of indoor pets including 5 cats, 2 dogs, and a pair each of guinea pigs, rabbits, rats, and ferrets.
So far we have quite a few projects lined up, including a garden, poultry, goats, pigs, a guard llama, and a cow by the end of the year. I'll just start from the top.
We have bought quite a few non-GMO seed packets from Seed Saver Exchange, and plan on having a large garden including herbs, all sorts of vegetables, ornamental species, as well as fruit bushes and trees. We've been using the Mother Earth News Garden Planner to lay out our plan as well as figure out when we need to start planting indoors to transfer outside.
Our poultry plans consist of Orpington and possibly Wyandotte chickens, Muscovy ducks, and Bourbon Red and Royal Palm turkeys. We'd like to add quail, geese, and guineas eventually, but do not have the time or money to set up more than 3-4 coops this spring.
We have a deposit down on four doeling Nubians from a local show breeder. They are due sometime in early to mid January, and we are hoping to get them no earlier than 4 weeks old (just for bottle feeding cost savings). In addition, we are waiting until later in the year to purchase a buckling from a separate breeder with different lines a bit further south of us. They don't sell their kids until they are at minimum 3-4 months old, so we are hoping to acquire him in May or June.
We have also got a guard llama on hold from a local breeder for these goats. He's white, fully trained, 7 years old, and castrated. Not sure what variety he is, but then again I'm not a llama person in the slightest.
We also have a deposit down on 5 Berkshire gilt piglets that are going to be due in May or June depending on how the breeding goes. We won't be keeping all 5 of them, only 2-3 that are of good breeding quality. We're also planning on buying a boar as soon as we find another good source of Berkshires.
Last but not least, we are planning on purchasing a Jersey cow at the end of this next year. I've had plenty of experience with the breed, and they are by far my favorite. We are waiting on her because we want to see what damage the goats can do to the already installed fencing on the property before we make that sort of purchase.
At some point in the future we may at sheep, but have been told by local farmers that they just don't do particularly well in Florida and that goats are far easier to maintain here. So we will see!
Anywho, that's just a little about us and our plans for our new farm! Any info or tips are greatly appreciated.
I'm Meaghan, a graduate student and prospective veterinary student and my SO Nathan is a nurse at a local hospital. We just purchased our first house on 5 acres and are closing in just shy of two weeks! Currently, we have a ton of indoor pets including 5 cats, 2 dogs, and a pair each of guinea pigs, rabbits, rats, and ferrets.
So far we have quite a few projects lined up, including a garden, poultry, goats, pigs, a guard llama, and a cow by the end of the year. I'll just start from the top.
We have bought quite a few non-GMO seed packets from Seed Saver Exchange, and plan on having a large garden including herbs, all sorts of vegetables, ornamental species, as well as fruit bushes and trees. We've been using the Mother Earth News Garden Planner to lay out our plan as well as figure out when we need to start planting indoors to transfer outside.
Our poultry plans consist of Orpington and possibly Wyandotte chickens, Muscovy ducks, and Bourbon Red and Royal Palm turkeys. We'd like to add quail, geese, and guineas eventually, but do not have the time or money to set up more than 3-4 coops this spring.
We have a deposit down on four doeling Nubians from a local show breeder. They are due sometime in early to mid January, and we are hoping to get them no earlier than 4 weeks old (just for bottle feeding cost savings). In addition, we are waiting until later in the year to purchase a buckling from a separate breeder with different lines a bit further south of us. They don't sell their kids until they are at minimum 3-4 months old, so we are hoping to acquire him in May or June.
We have also got a guard llama on hold from a local breeder for these goats. He's white, fully trained, 7 years old, and castrated. Not sure what variety he is, but then again I'm not a llama person in the slightest.
We also have a deposit down on 5 Berkshire gilt piglets that are going to be due in May or June depending on how the breeding goes. We won't be keeping all 5 of them, only 2-3 that are of good breeding quality. We're also planning on buying a boar as soon as we find another good source of Berkshires.
Last but not least, we are planning on purchasing a Jersey cow at the end of this next year. I've had plenty of experience with the breed, and they are by far my favorite. We are waiting on her because we want to see what damage the goats can do to the already installed fencing on the property before we make that sort of purchase.
At some point in the future we may at sheep, but have been told by local farmers that they just don't do particularly well in Florida and that goats are far easier to maintain here. So we will see!
Anywho, that's just a little about us and our plans for our new farm! Any info or tips are greatly appreciated.
Others we know have not had the same experiences though. We tried 3 different lines... all the same results. 
I like the Delaware for the dual purpose bird as before the cornish cross came about the Delaware was the meat bird, yet they are excellent layers. They grow really fast! Our cockerels were ready for the freezer by 16 weeks. I love the heritage breeds. You are right on... there is no meat on a med bird. 
