Why Goats, Sheep, Cattle? Which livestock should I raise?

So you’re interested in raising livestock. Maybe you love animals. Or better yet, you’d like to do more homesteading and will need livestock for protein and/or its by-products. Either way, you will need to assess a few important aspects of your property, whether you own it or lease it, before you start down the path of owning livestock.

Where to start?

First, you need to determine how much room you are going to have to house livestock. Pasture, dry lot, barn. Which is best?When looking at pasture space you need to consider what will you have available, excluding any wooded area due to the lack of grass being available for consumption. Is the land hilly, flat, prone to flooding, access to a water source? These different tomographies make a difference on how well your animals will graze on pasture and keep their hooves intact. It’s highly recommended to obtain a soil sample to determine what minerals are and aren’t lacking. What minerals the grass consumes, your animals will also consume. What type of grass and/or plants are growing in these pastures? Different plants produce different energy through the sugars they provide to the animals. Depending on the species of animals, some plants will work better on different pastures.

In addition, you will need to consider if you will be housing the animals in a barn. If so, then you’ll need to figure out the square footage to ensure there is plenty of space for the animal to be housed 24/7/365 or at least several hours a day. Don’t forget about the manure… how often will you need to clean the stall, loafing area, and where will all this beading go? Do you have a tractor, wheelbarrow, shovels, pitchforks? These all play a vital role in making raising livestock challenging or less challenging.

Now that you have an idea about the layout of the land, per se, you’ll next need to consider how to enclose the area you are housing the animals. Do you run permanent or moveable high tensel, barbwire, or woven wire fence? Do you run strands of hot wire? Depending on the animal you may need a more permanent and sturdy fence. Don’t forget about gates. Are you hiring someone to put up the fence or are you doing it yourself? It all adds up very fast, especially starting out.

Furthermore, let’s talk about equipment. Do you need panels, gates, chutes, stands, stock trailer, truckbed hauler, pickup truck, tractor, hay equipment, I could go on. A solid plan with considerations of all financial situations will help you determine your livestock limits.

Some farmers help share cost by farming together, sharing some of the expenses. While this does help get a hobby farm get started, long-term it can reap havoc if you have to come up with the funds to buy someone out or if there is a disagreement that breaks the partnership up. It’s best to purchase as much of animals and equipment on your own. If you do partner in anything with the farm, be sure to get everything in writing. Seeking legal advice is highly recommended.