Homesteading with animals...post a pic!

[ticks]

I thoguht those goats were dogs at first.

 

[Alaska Animal Lover]

I raise goats- only 2-3 does. They are Boers. The girls are for weed eating and making kids for meat.
I have had two heavy doeling years in a row but luckily for me one of my goats is much admired and I have been able to trade every doeling for bucklings so I have yet to have to send a doeling off for meat.
I don't know if it is cost effective but I know where these animals are raise- they have good, healthy lives til the end.

This is Tmber and this years doelings-
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e201/4humboldt/roofventandkids017-4web.jpg

Wow they are so beautiful! I would love to have one.

 

[FarmerChick]

We farm for profit.
80 acres in hay give or take
10 acres in produce to sell weekends at farmers markets.
70-80 boer goats. meat goats for sale at auctions, make goat milk soap in the house and sell (big business now my soap), make definite profit on eggs, 400 chickens. 100 hogs for sausage we sell after processing. Do not sell live hogs, we need them all for the year. Definite profit.

we do value added for produce....our corn, most sold in husks, then we shuck smaller corns and cut bad parts and bag and call that bag "kid nibblers"---sell like crazy for $5 per bag. Then we also make a bag of "to go toppings" for salads....we put some hot peppers, bell peppers, cukes, tomatoe or 2, etc. etc. in a bag and sell as 1 unit and charge alot and get it. People want to buy that convenience. Alot of work for us on harvest day before the market but we provide what they want and we make extra money on those iitems for our work time. So works well for us.

I won't do anything on the farm that will not make money. I experiment very carefully....I need my money to operate the real expense of what I have operating vs. losing money on experiments.

Like I bought 100 buff orphingtons. 50 male, 50 female. Sold the males for $10 each (made a smidgen of money)--then hubby decides to keep my girls for the henhouse production. Well "MY EXPERIMENT" to see true profit etc. went down the tubes. I wanted to complete this project.....oh well...I got an idea and it wasn't going to pay cause cost of buying those chicks was too high to start. oh well....I work on things like this carefully now cause like another poster said---TOO MANY IRONS IN THE PAN and real fast you get $$ to death cause you lose control over way too much work and involvement.

real fun to read this thread on what everyone is doing.

 

[Beekissed]

WOWZA, Karen!!! Now that is farming for profit! Who does all that work for all those livestock? Do you have to hire or do you have an automated system for feeding, watering, etc. Large family to help feed all those animals? How do you manage to organize your time for all the diversities you have going on? Can you give us some tips on how you organize....say, describe a typical busy day during harvest for us?

Can you post a pic of your corn that you were describing? Or even the bags of salad toppings and what you package them in? Is this farm your only income or do you work away from the farm? Sorry, don't mean to sound nosey, but I'm trying to give folks an idea about what they could expect if they try to generate all, or most, of their income from a farm, or homestead.

Thanks so much for contributing to this post! So very informative for us all.

 

[BrookValley]

, Karen! You really live up to the name "FarmerChick," huh? 80 acres in hay. I wish that I had enough flat land that wasn't in pasture that I could grow/bale my own. Decent hay is real scarce around here. And I'd love to have a market garden, but again, we don't have a place to grow anything (other than my small kitchen garden). All of our clear land is in pasture for the horses and goats--and it's mighty steep.

See, the thing is, every animal has to have a purpose if you're going to make any profit. You don't get anywhere with all of these pets, like I have. That's fine for now, I do love them all, but as the old ones go I will be more careful about getting up in numbers of "pasture potatoes". It's really not very effective when you're trying to do things towards being more self-sufficient.

 

[ticks]

We farm for profit.
80 acres in hay give or take
10 acres in produce to sell weekends at farmers markets.
70-80 boer goats. meat goats for sale at auctions, make goat milk soap in the house and sell (big business now my soap), make definite profit on eggs, 400 chickens. 100 hogs for sausage we sell after processing. Do not sell live hogs, we need them all for the year. Definite profit.

we do value added for produce....our corn, most sold in husks, then we shuck smaller corns and cut bad parts and bag and call that bag "kid nibblers"---sell like crazy for $5 per bag. Then we also make a bag of "to go toppings" for salads....we put some hot peppers, bell peppers, cukes, tomatoe or 2, etc. etc. in a bag and sell as 1 unit and charge alot and get it. People want to buy that convenience. Alot of work for us on harvest day before the market but we provide what they want and we make extra money on those iitems for our work time. So works well for us.

I won't do anything on the farm that will not make money. I experiment very carefully....I need my money to operate the real expense of what I have operating vs. losing money on experiments.

Like I bought 100 buff orphingtons. 50 male, 50 female. Sold the males for $10 each (made a smidgen of money)--then hubby decides to keep my girls for the henhouse production. Well "MY EXPERIMENT" to see true profit etc. went down the tubes. I wanted to complete this project.....oh well...I got an idea and it wasn't going to pay cause cost of buying those chicks was too high to start. oh well....I work on things like this carefully now cause like another poster said---TOO MANY IRONS IN THE PAN and real fast you get $$ to death cause you lose control over way too much work and involvement.

real fun to read this thread on what everyone is doing.

DANG!

 

[FarmerChick]

hey everyone
it isn't as "big" as it sounds on paper..LOL
the hogs require 2 hog barns, they are on open dirt floors with open pasture to the outside--that is the big ones getting ready for processing. They have automatic waterers and automatic feeders for the bigg'ins. The "other sizes" from little to medium being raised up for replacement are in stalls with outside run pens. We hand water and hand feed those. Not too hard. My father in law Ralph is the main pig rangler..LOL thank goodness for him.

Goats are pasture kept. I hand feed them. I have long feed troughs in a penned in separate area. When I feed I go in and fill up the feed and then open the gate and let them in. If not I am run over, jumped on, pushed over..LOL..they are quite energetic and big. My buck is about 250 lbs. Monster and he can hurt ya bad. Friendly but size is his advantage. We have big water troughs we clean and fill for them. We built 2 kidding barns for mom and babies when they kid out. Good to keep the babies separate for about 4 days for them to get their feet under them, then they are let us with the herd. I have about 50 goats kidding at one time...ugh....if it all goes well it is great most times. If not, the babies can require alot fo care and time. Do all I can not to lose any cause that is my money for feeding them..HA HA

Summer they are fed every 3 days cause pasture is great. Winter is hay and feed everyday. Kids bring aobut $1-1.25 per lb. Best to sell them during the holiday seasons that coincide with latino type events. Best money then so we breed to hit those dates.

Hay is easy except at baling time..LOL

Price of lime and fertilizer is horrible now..EKK

10 acres of produce is everything. Taters, greens, onions, maters, cukes, squash etc. etc. etc. Corn is about 20 acres and watermelons is about 2 acres. All this is sold on saturdays at the markets. We do 3 markets and make between $1500-2000--which sounds wonderful but there are tons of expenses out of that.

400 chickens in old hog barns under cover with outside fenced pasture. Nothing can run free here....it gets attacked..LOL...they are on monster feeders and waters. Eggs gathered 2 times per day. I have 4 refrigs. at my house and wash eggs everyday and store til market day. about 100 dozen eggs give or take per week are sold.

It certainly keeps me hopping big time. Worst day is Friday. Harvest early AM then come home and wash all produce, make value added things, and this is an all day killer...but we like it..HA HA

I wanted to do more and more things but realized with Tony, me and his Dad..the 3 of us are at our limits. Can't do anymore.

We are a small farm compared to some that do the market, but alot of the farmers at the market do their business on like 10 acres. So much can be done on small acerage for profit.

Biggest problem ---numer 1 problem----having animals keeps you tied down big time 24/7--365 per year. Very hard to get away for vacation (what's that)---lol---we love to camp and can never leave long...things like that. Animals need meds, care, etc. and die and cost money. At least with the produce if a tomatoe plant dies it is not as horrible.

Farm pets---ugh---they cost money--LOL--I have about 20 goats out of the herd that Tony is not allowed to sell EVER. That makes him mad but I can't help it. I don't care about the money I lose etc. Pets are pets...HA HA

so all in all, alot of work, fun hard times, but also decent money. like any farm I guess..

sorry no pics, camera died and haven't bought a new one yet. might hit a store and get one or have Tony get me one for Christmas or something.

 

[Chickybaby]

Some time around the first of the year, Mr. Wonderful and I started talking seriously about what we could do to raise more of our own food. Partly because of everything added to to stuff you find in stores, partly because of the expense of the food found in stores, and partly because, well, I just find enormous satisfaction doing things for us. So, slowly over the year we have begun adding.... we started with 3 Angus calves (DH uses them to train our horses for now). We will split one with the in-laws and sell the other 2 in a few months, and start again in the spring. Next came the chickens. We started with 8 and are up to 25 now. The breed we chose will be big enough to eat (Brahma roosters get to 12 lbs, and hens about 9 1/2) and are reliable layers even in the winter. They are too young to breed yet, but are supposed to be good setters as well so we should be able to raise our own by spring. I also plan to add some Dark Cornish to the mix to improve the meat quality. They free range most of the day and are locked up at night only. We joked about finding a source of fresh milk to make cheese, but when a gallon of milk reached over $4 here recently, I started researching dairy goats. We go through 4-5 gallons a week. I've visited one small dairy farm so far, and am planning to visit another - no amount of reading will ever be as informative as actually seeing a plan in action as far as I'm concerned. We have friends up the road who are "gifting" us a trio of Narragansett turkeys to start our own flock there, too. We have a large garden as well, which I will expand next year so I'll have extra to freeze or can. This year we consume whatever we are producing. When we first moved to NC, my plan was to have a market garden but being in such a rural area it seems like everyone grows their own. So much for that plan... I doubt I'll ever raise enough of any one thing to make a profit, but who knows... For now I'm satisfied providing for our family

 

[ticks]

hey everyone
it isn't as "big" as it sounds on paper..LOL
the hogs require 2 hog barns, they are on open dirt floors with open pasture to the outside--that is the big ones getting ready for processing. They have automatic waterers and automatic feeders for the bigg'ins. The "other sizes" from little to medium being raised up for replacement are in stalls with outside run pens. We hand water and hand feed those. Not too hard. My father in law Ralph is the main pig rangler..LOL thank goodness for him.

Goats are pasture kept. I hand feed them. I have long feed troughs in a penned in separate area. When I feed I go in and fill up the feed and then open the gate and let them in. If not I am run over, jumped on, pushed over..LOL..they are quite energetic and big. My buck is about 250 lbs. Monster and he can hurt ya bad. Friendly but size is his advantage. We have big water troughs we clean and fill for them. We built 2 kidding barns for mom and babies when they kid out. Good to keep the babies separate for about 4 days for them to get their feet under them, then they are let us with the herd. I have about 50 goats kidding at one time...ugh....if it all goes well it is great most times. If not, the babies can require alot fo care and time. Do all I can not to lose any cause that is my money for feeding them..HA HA

Summer they are fed every 3 days cause pasture is great. Winter is hay and feed everyday. Kids bring aobut $1-1.25 per lb. Best to sell them during the holiday seasons that coincide with latino type events. Best money then so we breed to hit those dates.

Hay is easy except at baling time..LOL

Price of lime and fertilizer is horrible now..EKK

10 acres of produce is everything. Taters, greens, onions, maters, cukes, squash etc. etc. etc. Corn is about 20 acres and watermelons is about 2 acres. All this is sold on saturdays at the markets. We do 3 markets and make between $1500-2000--which sounds wonderful but there are tons of expenses out of that.

400 chickens in old hog barns under cover with outside fenced pasture. Nothing can run free here....it gets attacked..LOL...they are on monster feeders and waters. Eggs gathered 2 times per day. I have 4 refrigs. at my house and wash eggs everyday and store til market day. about 100 dozen eggs give or take per week are sold.

It certainly keeps me hopping big time. Worst day is Friday. Harvest early AM then come home and wash all produce, make value added things, and this is an all day killer...but we like it..HA HA

I wanted to do more and more things but realized with Tony, me and his Dad..the 3 of us are at our limits. Can't do anymore.

We are a small farm compared to some that do the market, but alot of the farmers at the market do their business on like 10 acres. So much can be done on small acerage for profit.

Biggest problem ---numer 1 problem----having animals keeps you tied down big time 24/7--365 per year. Very hard to get away for vacation (what's that)---lol---we love to camp and can never leave long...things like that. Animals need meds, care, etc. and die and cost money. At least with the produce if a tomatoe plant dies it is not as horrible.

Farm pets---ugh---they cost money--LOL--I have about 20 goats out of the herd that Tony is not allowed to sell EVER. That makes him mad but I can't help it. I don't care about the money I lose etc. Pets are pets...HA HA

so all in all, alot of work, fun hard times, but also decent money. like any farm I guess..

sorry no pics, camera died and haven't bought a new one yet. might hit a store and get one or have Tony get me one for Christmas or something.

sorry, but it still seems like a lot on paper or not.

 

[enjoy the ride]

I'm really impressed with those who do so much. Especially the creativity of Farmerchick- way to market. I think those kid snack bags would sell like hotcakes.
I'm retired and only have my goats for my own consumption. The rest are traded or given away. The does are my pets. I call them pets with a purpose but even if they get beyond their producing years they stay at my place.