Ideas for mini farm expansion/diys

Hi all,
I have a small hobby farm with pigs, chickens and a small not very productive garden. I would like to try something new. I have limited space and a limitted budget. I have lots of spare time in the winter so winter things would be fun too what do you do for self sustainability/diy/homesteading/hobby farming?
Thanks

Sounds awesome! I love pigs!

Do you want it to be a project? Animals? Plants? There are so many things to do! And lots of books to help! Pigs can be used for plowing, goats for milk, ducks for meat and eggs, and so much more!

I would love pictures of your animals!

I'm not really sure what I want lol. Goats R probably not an option cuz I doubt my parents would ok that. Here is a pic of one of my duckies and some of my chickens.He is a silver appleyard.

Beautiful birds.

During the winter we mostly stay inside and try to stay warm. I have to go out and care for the animals. Our house is heated partially by the fire place, so during the summer and autumn we are chopping, collecting, and stacking wood. I wish we had more fun things to do, but the rest of my family are all really in to playing on the computers right now. This is okay, but it kind of leaves me with nothing to do.
I've found that drying and collecting mowed grass is a great way to get free nest box liners and bedding for chickens. I just did that this evening. It wasn't quite dry yet so I spread it out around the barn and will collect for nest boxes when its dry.

Some of my flock (right now I have 62 chickens! We're cutting down to 45 before winter)


Some rabbits we pet-sat for




Our pet Nigerian Dwarf goat who needed a C-section in order to free her adorable little baby, Buckeye


A chick (Baby Cakes) whom we helped hatch. Apparently the shell was too thick.


Some of our past and present dogs


A litter of kittens we adopted out


Our barn cats and chickens getting a drink together

Wow! I want rabbits.

Rabbits are quiet, can be raised as pets, for show, or as food. Cold hardy and require minimum maintenance. Their poo is excellent fertilizer to help your garden, no composting needed.

Our first official pet was a pet rabbit and she was amazing! So full of personality, so unique, intelligent, so sweet when she just wanted to cuddle up. She was the boss of the world and she would jump on the table to eat your food. She was also very tough. Loud noises didn't scare her a bit (she would flop out on her side and relax), and she would eat meat given the chance!


Bunny (we called her bunny but her real name was Snuggles) with Robin Hood, an orphaned Robin we raised and released


Bunny with a cookie (don't worry, we didn't let her eat the whole thing)


Bunny with a Christmas Tree drawn onto her face

So how cold hardy are we talking about? Could it live outside (with a propper hutch full of hay to burrow in) in minus 25 celcius weather? It gets really cold here.

K R 2709 said:

So how cold hardy are we talking about? Could it live outside (with a propper hutch full of hay to burrow in) in minus 25 celcius weather? It gets really cold here.

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It doesn't get that cold here, but if that is nighttime low, they should be able to take it. Mine are in a shed with an always open door and regularly survive -6°C to -10C and days never above 0°C in wire cages without hay or straw, just draft free. Heat is worse than cold. Just remember you'll be changing water frequently.

Raising worms (Vermicomposting) is easy, fun, and gives you an excellence compost in a very short amount of time. If you do get rabbits, you can place a cage or hutch with a wire bottom right over the worm bins. They are several threads about it, too. Here is one, https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/262672/vermicomposting-with-rabbits.