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Dreams are fine, but reality has a way of wedging itself in there. Goats can smell. The male perfume is not something someone with health issues wants to be around. Rabbits are notoriously difficult to keep healthy. Larger animals can kick and wound. All animals require some money to keep them fed and healthy AND well kept farm animals require care EVERY SINGLE DAY. No exceptions. A budget that requires public transportation is not a sanguine start to an organic farm.
Buck goats smell; the girls and the wethers (castrated males) don't.
One does not have to keep a buck goat; in fact, I don't recommend it even for those who live out of town and who are only breeding one or two does a year.
I breed one doe a year (for the milk) and I use a quality buck from a friend's goat dairy. It costs me $35.00 and a trip in with the doe in the back of my station wagon. If I don't catch the doe at the exact right time, it might mean an extra trip to the dairy (it's guaranteed breeding, so no extra cost there). Well worth it and much less cost (and hassle) than if I were keeping my own buck.
And if the OP and her mom just want the goats for fiber, there would be no reason for re-breeding every year - just if and when they want babies (if ever).
A couple of fiber goats, if maintained well, shouldn't make too much of a mess on a city lot. There would be daily clean-up and maintenance, to be sure, but for a dedicated person and someone who's committed to making it work, it could be done.
Good fencing, shelter, feed, minerals, worming, hoof care, etc. would also have to be considered.
As far as larger animals, I don't believe the OP mentioned anything larger than goats.
Edited to add: I went back and checked and see the OP did mention alpacas. Probably not as doable on a city lot as goats or rabbits.
Unless the OP can find a working livestock farm already within the city limits (ie, grandfathered in because it existed as a livestock farm pre-zoning/pre-city sanitation regs), I don't see the OP having much success with this. Most cities prohibit keeping farm animals. Many suburbans prohibit them from residential zones as well. People wanting to keep urban chickens have had long, hard fights to do so, and for every success in getting hens approved, there's probably at least 1 failure and perhaps more. While you can make very rational arguments for why allowing chickens or livestock in the city would not adversely impact the QOL of surrounding neighbors, many will still object.
Even if a city were to allow farm animals, it would require an area significantly larger than a city lot, probably a minimum amount of land large enough to be measured in acres NOT square feet. Most city lots are probably between 3,000 and 10,000 square feet. An acre is 43,560 square feet.
For any sort of large animal yes, but I don't think chickens require an outsized lot. You could make your backyard their pen, so long as you fence them effectively. Not sure what method takes care of the droppings. Not being in the country, I don't think a chicken owner could just say "let nature take care of them". I have a neighbor who has some, so I could ask him. But it would take very little land to make them free range as long they aren't jammed inside some building.
For any sort of large animal yes, but I don't think chickens require an outsized lot. You could make your backyard their pen, so long as you fence them effectively. Not sure what method takes care of the droppings. Not being in the country, I don't think a chicken owner could just say "let nature take care of them". I have a neighbor who has some, so I could ask him. But it would take very little land to make them free range as long they aren't jammed inside some building.
Many, many communities and cities are allowing a small flock of chickens now in residential areas.
There is usually a limit to the number you can have and roosters are usually not allowed because of the crowing.
There are building plans available for small, backyard coops, as well as ready-made coops that will hold three or four hens:
Dreams are fine, but reality has a way of wedging itself in there. Goats can smell. The male perfume is not something someone with health issues wants to be around. Rabbits are notoriously difficult to keep healthy. Larger animals can kick and wound. All animals require some money to keep them fed and healthy AND well kept farm animals require care EVERY SINGLE DAY. No exceptions. A budget that requires public transportation is not a sanguine start to an organic farm.
I have had rabbits for over 20 years now, I bred them for meat at one time and now just keep a few for the manure. I never found them difficult to keep healthy and they have gone throught extremes from a low of 15º one winter week and a high of 118º one summer that had 2 months of temperatures from the mid 90's to the 110's. My oldest rabbit died last year at the ripe old age of 14 and he and all my rabbits have been outdoors in cages kept in an open shed structure.
Many small and medium sized cities allow farm animals. It’s all a matter of Zoning. Anyone considering farm animals will first have to check that city's zoning regulations to see what is allowed on what type zoned property. With that in hand, you will need to limit your property search to those with the appropriate zoning. There are cities of over 1.4 million people that have working farms within city limits.
Currently we have 3 dogs, 2 cats, 2 rabbits, 9 cockatiels of which one is 21 years old, a blue crowned conure, 13 budgerigars, a rooster, 7 chickens and 5 chicks. I may also be adopting a female patagonian conure if things work out. One of the rabbits is a small chocholate brown male bunny that showed up in my yard and one of the budgies is a blue male that also showed up in my yard. The blue crowned conure showed up at my boss' house back in 95. Our town is unincorporated and considered rural, most of Humboldt county is rural.
I have had rabbits for over 20 years now, I bred them for meat at one time and now just keep a few for the manure. I never found them difficult to keep healthy and they have gone throught extremes from a low of 15º one winter week and a high of 118º one summer that had 2 months of temperatures from the mid 90's to the 110's. My oldest rabbit died last year at the ripe old age of 14 and he and all my rabbits have been outdoors in cages kept in an open shed structure.
Minnesota gets into negative temperatures, and we have an ever-growing popoulation of wild rabbits, so I guess I wouldnt worry about the hardiness of rabbits.
I doubt that there is any city that has a public transportation system good enough that no car is needed, that will also allow enough farm animals to produce fiber in a commercial amounts.
Alpaca farms in my area that produce fiber have more than 50 alpacas. Some have over 100 alpacas. You can't fit that into a back yard.
You can raise angora rabbits in a garage, in town, but a couple of dozen rabbits won't give you squat for fiber. It would take years to get enough for one sweater.
OP would be more successful to buy a small farm outside the city limits and figure out an alternate way to get Mom to the doctor.
I always say that transit runs out to the 'burbs, and you can find a place that allows a short trip to reach it.
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