Do You Have Livestock on 3A or Less?

[FarmerChick]

3 acres isn't much for bigger grazing animals.....they require roughage and alot of it.

horses, while great, require lot of feed and roughage and for 3 acres and less for a garden etc...a good big tiller will do. you don't even need a tractor.

I have close to 160 acres so it doesn't apply to me but one thing I know, while you can stack smaller animals easily in smaller acreage, I know that grazing animals means forage or BUY it. you can't produce all the hay needed on little acreage yourself....so just keep that in mind.

chickens are fab. they give 2 great things. eggs for a long time and meat at little room/expense
ducks etc. Most fowl are good small acerage critters.

not sure how you eat---if you like to gear mainly toward vegetarian style, then the fruit orchard, nut trees, gardens etc are a way to spend that land way cheaper and easier work vs. animals.

a hog is easy on small acerage and can be kept in a small pen, or like Bee I think did, electric fence in a small plot of garden and let him live and til that til slaughter time. A hog in the freezer goes a long way.

buy a small beef, grow him a bit for short term and put him in the freezer....another way to get max out of little acerage.


best of luck to you!

 

[ndprairiegirl]

Are you looking for a place to move to? Or do you already own the three acres you are talking about? Would you be interested in moving to a place that would allow you to have your animals in exchange for work? I'd even have the animals... Let me know. Ranee

 

[Leta]

Cat broke laptop so am on darn iPod. Great inspiring responses! Don't have land yet but growing desperate to move. BBL.

 

[Leta]

Ranee I PMd you but the short answer is yes, I am interested and would like to know more.

 

[Mattemma]

I have 8 chickens and have less than an acre. There is a self suffient book I got from resale that was written in the 70's.There are pictures of what could fit on a 5 or 1 acre plot.Pretty amazed at all you can do with an acre,so you will do well with 3 if you plan it out.

 

[TanksHill]

I'm on less than 2 acres. I only use about 1. Lots of chickens, turkeys, gardens, small orchard. Meat birds...

g

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

Bad news: FIL died.

Good news: inheritance will allow us to finally fence our 2 acres and set up paddocks.

So, here's what we're thinking.

We have mini goats and chickens. Wondering if we can put mini cattle and mini pigs in there too? On the back acre, we'd have:

Pen one:
2 mini girl goats (have)
various chickens (have)
2 mini girl cattle
2 mini girl pigs

Pen two:
1 mini boy goat, buck (have)
1 mini boy goat, wether (have)
various chickens (have)
1 mini boy cattle, bull
1 mini boy pig, boar (?)

Okay, obviously I have more research to do, but on our road to self-sufficiency, we want to provide all of our meat needs.

From time to time, we'd let the cattle on to the front acre when it needs "mowing".

Also, during our trip, we found out that a grain called MILO is easy to grow, drought tolerant, and perfect for goats and chickens (needs to be cracked and possibly soaked for other livestock). Already planning on increasing our sunflower and corn production, and possibly add wheat.

I realize it's not the 3 acres that the OP wanted, but ... thoughts?

 

[Farmfresh]

I have been farming on a postage stamp for YEARS. My personal yard is 120x39 and that is feet! I also have access to my D1's 3 acres.

Chickens, ducks, geese, quail, and rabbits are perfect for small space farming. I used to raise much of our meat in the form of rabbits in my garage! As for eggs 5 or 6 back yard hens will keep the average family well supplied. Ducks, geese and quail are also easy to do on small spaces as many around here will attest. Sheep are very efficient grazers and can provide fiber, meat and milk for the family. If you are not interested in the fiber, buy a hair sheep that sheds. Goats do well on rough ground that other animals would not. Pigs if confined to a small area provide a lot of meat, but you MUST have buffer space and proper zoning on a small acreage.

Larger animals like cows and especially horses, need more room. Everyone thinks about the feeding aspect, but large animals produce LOTS of manure as well that must be delt with. According to Clemson University a 1000 pound horse will generate eight to ten TONS of manure in a year! Most smaller acreages just can't keep up with that much fertilizer.

Also cows and horses tend to tear up pastures when they are muddy. Horses in particular need lots of space to run and play in OR LOTS of daily riding and work to do. Their hooves are just perfect for slicing the topsoil and removing the grass in big strips while they run, spin and slide in play on a wet day. In a small turnout they will churn the dirt into deep mud in a short amount of time during rainy weather. If you have access to riding trails, parks or other places to ride it will protect your pasture. Without it you will be tramping and tearing up your horses food.

If you MUST have a horse or a cow they will need a minimum of 2 acres each to do it right. (That is a figure for somewhere, like the mid-west, with wonderful grazing) YES, you can do it on less. We used to have 7 horses on three acres. Trust me you don't need the headaches. The smaller the space each animal has the more they challenge fences, break barns, injure each other, and the more parasites they tend to carry.

If you are planning on a cow, goat or sheep for dairy purposes, you also need to make space and pasture allowances for their future babies. Unless you are planning on butchering immediately after birth (some goat people do that) the babies will need pasture and places to stay. Some people like to graze a calf for two years before butchering. If so that means even more space.

Just some thoughts.

 

[Leta]

So many great replies on this thread!

It wouldn't HAFTA be 3 acres, it just seemed a small enough figure to certainly be small, but a big enough figure to host some critters.

About horses: yes, virtually anywhere in the U.P. we'd have access to riding trails. The Heritage Trail wends its way throughout our county, and since they yanked all the passenger trains (SMH), there are old railway beds that lots of people ride on. IF (and horses are the biggest if) we got horses, we would geta maximum of two. Once my daughter is older (if horses keep her interest) if we got more it would be an economic sideline, something for her to do to keep her out of trouble and make a little money by giving lessons, we MIGHT get a couple more. (This her current riding instructor's situation and it's pretty wonderful.) And yes, I wouldn't get/have horses if I couldn't ride everyday. That's my mother's voice in my head... and she won't be ignored! I can't see us ever having more than four on any amount of land- criminy, that would be plenty!

The only reason cows are more appealing to me than goats is because of butter. Other than that, goats win hands down. So having to buy butter wouldn't be the end of the world, but if we are going to be truly SS in any one way, I'd like it to be dairy.

Pigs and birds we know we could do in a small area. DSS just slaughtered chickens and ducks at the ILs last weekend, so he's getting prepared. DD is pretty freaked out by the idea of meat rabbits, which is weird for her, since she's a pretty bloodthirsty little kid and her definition of "killing" is "getting food from pigs". I wouldn't want it to be a constant source of stress and tension, so I'm willing to forgo meat rabbits, at least until she's older. ( I am a sofie, but have no affinity for rabbits- every pet rabbit I've ever been around has been nasty.)

I really am interested in other's experiences because much of what I've read seems a little rose-colored-goggleish. We are on 1/10th of an acre in the city (well, a small town, but we are within the city limits) and can't do anything other than gardening. I might be able to get a beehive here, but that would be the extent of our livestock here. The place that we are hoping to buy in the spring is on 24 acres, which would be plenty, but that is by no means a sure thing and I am all about having options.

 

[Farmfresh]

The other thing to consider with horses is a more compact model!

When most people think of a pony their mind automatically goes to a Shetland or a Mini. Anything under 58 inches at the top of the withers bone is considered a pony.

We have had Pony of the America's ponies (POA's for short) for years. They are Appaloosa "Indian" ponies and great for a small farmstead. The breed must be from 46 to 56 inches tall, so they are sized big enough to carry most adults easily. They make a great kid horse and they are also plenty big enough and strong enough to pull a single bottom plow and most things that you would need a work horse to do. (Remember a horse can easily pull twice their weight and for short distances up to three times their weight!!) Most POA's range from 700 to 1000 pounds. They eat less, they poop less and they take up less space.

Other pony breeds that would fit the bill are:

Haflinger, Chincotegue, Welsh (section B), Quarter Ponies, and Walking Ponies.