Looking for a new farm.

[miss_thenorth]

Most of you might know that we only just under three acres. When we bought the place, we only had aspirations of having chickens and our two horses on our land. Well, then I got sucked in to the hobby farm life. Now, I have my two horses, my chickens, (over 40 of them, plus 30 meaties), a handful, ok, two handfuls of ducks, plus two sheep, a cow, and a goat. We feed hay pretty much year round.

Well, the cow is at her boyfriends place, hoping she will be knocked up when she comes home. The sheep are going to need to be rebred this fall, and so is the goat. So, on top of the critters we already have, we will be expecting a new calf, up to 6 little lambs (our ewes had triplets last year) and possibly two little goat kids.
so, we talked to the farmer who owned th land next to us to see if he would rent us some land. Well, he took a few days to think about it, and he came up with a totally unrealistic amount for renting 4 acres. For what he wants, we could buy ALOT of hay for that amount.

So, I said to hubby, we either need to get rid of some animals or we need to move.

We are looking for a new country property. I am happy about it, but also sad, but c'est la vie.

So, considering the amount of animals that we have or will have, how much land do you guys think we need? I have one place that we are looking at that has 7 acres. Also considering looking at one with 25 acres, of course a bit pricier.

How much land would you be looking for, if you had my critters?

 

[Kala]

Most of you might know that we only just under three acres. When we bought the place, we only had aspirations of having chickens and our two horses on our land. Well, then I got sucked in to the hobby farm life. Now, I have my two horses, my chickens, (over 40 of them, plus 30 meaties), a handful, ok, two handfuls of ducks, plus two sheep, a cow, and a goat. We feed hay pretty much year round.

Well, the cow is at her boyfriends place, hoping she will be knocked up when she comes home. The sheep are going to need to be rebred this fall, and so is the goat. So, on top of the critters we already have, we will be expecting a new calf, up to 6 little lambs (our ewes had triplets last year) and possibly two little goat kids.
so, we talked to the farmer who owned th land next to us to see if he would rent us some land. Well, he took a few days to think about it, and he came up with a totally unrealistic amount for renting 4 acres. For what he wants, we could buy ALOT of hay for that amount.

So, I said to hubby, we either need to get rid of some animals or we need to move.

We are looking for a new country property. I am happy about it, but also sad, but c'est la vie.

So, considering the amount of animals that we have or will have, how much land do you guys think we need? I have one place that we are looking at that has 7 acres. Also considering looking at one with 25 acres, of course a bit pricier.

How much land would you be looking for, if you had my critters?

Well the 25 acres of course would be more maintenance and property taxes etc. But my bet is that you'll outgrow the 7 acres pretty quick too!

We just took our budget and bought a house that we liked that had the most property with it we could afford comfortably. Plus we have all of those woods (our property isn't completely cleared) to do wild foraging and hunting in now. So it was really a nice added benefit to having plenty of space for our critters. Plus we can expand as we need or want.

One of the bad things though is the $$ it takes to fence in a large area for grazing for all the critters. Truthfully ours is still a work in progress and we just buy and put up fencing as we have the time and $$. We have 14 acres but only have 2 goats and 40 some chickens. But we bought this place knowing that we would be expanding a little bit every year. So I guess my advice is go BIG!! Lol. Ours isn't a whole lot of maintenance though because as I said alot of it is wooded so we just let it be wild.

 

[TanksHill]

I can't believe your little cow has a boyfriend already.

I am not an experienced farmer.. at all. But I spend a lot of time drooling over them on line. One thing to consider is your grazing space. The more you have the less you will need to supplement feed.

Then there is the possibility of growing your own hay.

Another is that if you buy a set up homestead, fencing, barn outbuildings etc you will get a much better deal. I see a lot of little places priced so low that the buildings are worth the price alone. Well at least here in the US.

Are ponds common up there? A natural spring would be the best.

Oh, I could go on forever...

g

 

[miss_thenorth]

Actually the taxes are about the same for both places, but the house with the 7 acres is much nicer, plus has two barns. plus an attached two car garage (for my hubby who is a gearhead). the house with 25 acres has only a driveshed, and the house is old and old means work. and it's not exatcly what we want, but we want the land. Plus it is$30,000 more. And that is the cheapest one with that much land. Most are over $400K.

i had it figured out that 7 acres would be minimum.Considering all the babies would only be here a short time, (lambs 4 months, goat kids about the same, and the calf, not sure how long it would be here.) The only other animals we would be getting here would be pigs, and they would only be here for about 4 months also.

I truly hope that this will be the last time in a long time that we move, so I want to get it right this time. We had considered moving to BC for a a bit, but hubby can't find a job there that he would be happy with.

http://www.realtor.ca/PropertyDetails.aspx?&PropertyId=10952573&PidKey=2051359973

or:
http://www.realtor.ca/PropertyDetails.aspx?&PropertyId=10761096&PidKey=-1086613507

 

[miss_thenorth]

I can't believe your little cow has a boyfriend already.

I am not an experienced farmer.. at all. But I spend a lot of time drooling over them on line. One thing to consider is your grazing space. The more you have the less you will need to supplement feed.

Then there is the possibility of growing your own hay.

Another is that if you buy a set up homestead, fencing, barn outbuildings etc you will get a much better deal. I see a lot of little places priced so low that the buildings are worth the price alone. Well at least here in the US.

Are ponds common up there? A natural spring would be the best.

Oh, I could go on forever...

g

I agree. one thin we are thinkng about is gowing our own hay. And I am not bothering to look at any properties that do not have outbuildings. I have seen first ahnd how the taxes jump when a building is added, so I don't want surprises. I am looking for land first, outbuilding, and then a house. Fencing we can do and is not a biggie.

 

[TanksHill]

I have to admit I like the look of the second house more. It seems a bit more cheerful and bright. And it has the land and pond.

My thinking is you can save for a barn or out building but the amount of land is a definite thing.

The one bathroom could be a problem.

Such a hard decision.

 

[freemotion]

I like the house with the 25 acres best. For the land and for the house. The other one....white rugs! Yikes! On a farm!!!

It is not a huge deal to add a half bath. The older home has way more charm, jmho. But I won't be living in it.....

 

[Kala]

I like the house with the 25 acres best. For the land and for the house. The other one....white rugs! Yikes! On a farm!!!

It is not a huge deal to add a half bath. The older home has way more charm, jmho. But I won't be living in it.....

I'm with Free on this one. The second one is darling!

 

[Lesa]

I looked at a place with 17 acres. Sounds like a lot...When I looked at it- I realized, really not enough. I don't want to be able to see from one end to the other of my property. When it comes to land- IMHO more is better! Good luck with your search!

 

[FarmerChick]

if you really want to farm...25 acres

if you want to hobby, 7 is enough plus you don't live ON land, you live in a home. I would gear for a nice house cause if you intend to stay long...then you won't have to dump money into an older home.

25 acres means alot of fence money plus tractors, hay wagon, baler etc to be bought and none of it cheap.



sounds exciting...take your time. that perfect property will come...never rush this purchase