Re Post - Homesteading

[Tracydr]

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My mom grew up on a homestead in N. MN. Her memories of what they ate, in a very poor, very, very rural family was venison, bear, fish, more venison, and more fish. Game was even poached off season. They had a huge garden but meat was a staple and winter was long.

 

[Oregon Blues]

If you know you can eat that many chickens every month, then your plan will work. Just be aware that if you are hatching your own chicks, they will have to grow longer before butchering and won't weigh as much or have the amount of breast meat.

I've farmed for 40 years and my family eats a lot of meat.

Once you get up to speed with the chickens, consider rabbits for variety in your diet. They have an excellent feed conversion ratio and they are quiet and easy to raise. They are also extra delicious and I think they are easier to butcher.

I raise ducks for meat. It costs more than chicken, but makes a nice change in the diet.

If you have good grass, geese are very economical. They eat mostly grass and get rather large. The original breeding stock is expensive, but you can hatch out about 30 goslings a year and not have to feed them much. I consider my geese to be a great luxury and they are saved for holidays and given as gifts.

Pigs have an excellent feed conversion ratio, and if you want to do it, they can be home butchered because the meat doesn't have to age like beef. Also, if you have fruit trees, you can raise a pig in late summer and fall with as much as 50% of the diet consisting of fruit. It slows their growth, but it cuts the cost and the meat is absolutely superb. Apple fed pork? Oh yes, please.

 

[LilyD]

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Sheep and goat are also excellent meat animals. They eat just about everything including the trees and shrubs that no one wants on their property. Plus you have the added product of their milk for making butter cheese and yogurt and the sheep wool which goes for about 75$ a skein once it's cleaned and dried. Goat meat is very lean and better than beef and if you have one buck and one doe you can get as many as 3 or 4 babies each breeding so some for you to eat and if you want you can sell the rest of the meat to offset the feed bill.

 

[zzGypsy]

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ducks are another option, many domestic breeds are very fast growers, and can forage for some of their feed. not to mention there are some breeds that out lay chickens and the eggs are bigger, richer and, I think, better tasting.

we raise sheep (milk, meat, wool), goats (milk meat), ducks, chickens, turkeys, geese, guineas (eggs, meat), and this year will try hogs and a cow. moved in the middle of the season so no garden this year, but next... got 1/2 an acre planned.

from a standpoint of what's efficient, if I consider my time and cost of feed, meat from sheep is cheaper than dairy - sheep are pasture raised, no grain required. goats are pasture raised, but require grain for milk production, and making cheese takes a fair amount of time. (results are worth it, but not fast.) haven't calculated the calories-produced ratio, but time and effort is a limiting factor for us, so it's lamb over dairy in terms of best use of our time.

sheep are much faster to market size than goats, and more meat per animal as well. love my dairy goats, but sheep are less work.

I'm following this thread, interested in hearing more on the subject.

 

[zzGypsy]

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would love to know where you're getting that good a price... I'll send my surplus wool there!

 

[LilyD]

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would love to know where you're getting that good a price... I'll send my surplus wool there!

My sister has a website online and she sells it. If it's clean and spun into skeins she can get 75$ for it but unclean wool can be sold for 18 to 25$ per pound. We have shetlands and their wool is primo.

 

[zzGypsy]

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would love to know where you're getting that good a price... I'll send my surplus wool there!

My sister has a website online and she sells it. If it's clean and spun into skeins she can get 75$ for it but unclean wool can be sold for 18 to 25$ per pound. We have shetlands and their wool is primo.

post her website? obviously she's doing something right and I'd love to learn from her example. I spin, but just for my own use, not enough surplus to sell. still, sometime in the future... it's something to think about.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

We raise ducks, geese,chickens and quail for eggs and meat, and also rabbits for meat.


We have a breeding pair of lop eared rabbits (pets) their babies goto a local family owned pet store. We breed them, then at 4 weeks start to wean the babies, by 6 weeks they are gone to the pet store. Mom gets a 5 week break from when they are weaned, then we breed again. Same rotation for the meat rabbits. This way the does have a break. Sometimes we don't breed again at the 9 week mark. The family who owns the local store can't keep them in more than a week when take the lops in.

The meat rabbits breed the same way, and then we process the young when large enough.

Good luck with your homesteading.

 

[deChickyHen]

I have a few sheep already expecting some babies this winter I guess, I am working on getting a cow for dairy and then maybe later on I will get some for meat.. I am looking into the rabbits as I am typing.. This is all great info... Thank you guys so much

 

[Noymira]

Great post! I'm subscribing for future advice and updates. We only have chickens now, and 2.5 acres, but will be working each year to add something further towards self sufficiency.

Next year I want to add veggie gardens- especially garlic, potatoes and onions! I figure those can be stored and are great staples for many recipes.