Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Me and my wife now have ten Hens and a Rooster. Figure with hatching some Eggs we can have plenty of Eggs, 50 Butchering Chickens and some to sell to cover Feed cost.
We have three Does and a Buck Rabbits. Figure we can have 75 Rabbits for butchering and some to sell to cover Feed cost.
We have a Worm Bed that we can get plenty of Night Crawlers that we take below the House and catch Trout and several other varieties of fish.
Plus Raised Beds for Vegetables, Strawberries and Blackberries.
We could do more but with our age and health this is all we are comfortable with.
im in the eary stages on my homestead.
right now I have mature runner ducks for eggs (after eating duck eggs I dnt thin I could go back to chicken lol) rabbits for meat and wil be bringingin quail this week also for meat (and eggs) hoping to hatch about 60 a month for my own and mydogs meat, extras hopefully sold to help with feed costs nd eggs inbetween incubation periods will be perfect for pickling.
I have standard and bantam cochins...the banties are primariyfor tick control in the back yard but hoping they'll hatch their own chicks to pay for chicken feed. the standard cochins wll primarily be used as walkingbrooders for my runner duck eggs since my incubator will be busy with quail lol) runners lay heavy but tend to bebad mothers so hopefully the cochins can take over that job as cochins are notoriously broody. (mine are still young however)
I also have a small herd of Nubian goats, for milk, I have no problems wethering any male kids that don't selland sending them to freezer camp, but mostly they are for milk.
I also hav 2 pigs, the hope is o use them as breeder sows (they are heritidge old spots) and keep back a piglet or 2 each year for the freezer.
ive also ust reacently starteda small orchard, and plnted a number of raspberry and ackberry bushes. didn't do much with them this year due to funds, but ive crretly got 4 4x8 raised beds and hope to add another 8 to that over the fall,winter and spring.
also hoping toput in a large hoop house and st up ydrophonics system that would utilize tilapia and catfish in the water tank for acess to fresh fish.
im hoping to add more fruit trees and bushes a well as grape vines over fall and spring...as well as expand the vegetable gardens, and id lie to expand on the ducks too with more layers.
My father and I raise Scottish Highlander cattle for meat, milk and they make pretty good work animals as well. My father has a pair he broke to drive, (they have calves on them right now though), and the one would make a great pack animal.
We also have some chickens and turkeys, but my sister in law raises most of the chickens and supplies eggs for the family as well as we eat the older ones and the extra roosters. She also has goats for milk and meat. My Brother and SIL used to have sheep too, but keeping them alive in wolf country was an impossible task.
My sister and brother in law raise the hogs.
My wife and I raised rabbits, Flemish Giants for several years. The neighbors dogs got into the rabbitrie one night and killed 60 of them, so we don't raise them anymore until I can put them in a secure building.
Wild game is a big part of our meat supply in Montana, we have 11 big game species, (10 are good to eat, wolves are not ), multiple small game species, 10 upland bird species and as Montana straddles 2 flyways for migratory waterfowl, we have a wide choice there as well.
We have a lot of freshwater fish available too, and while fishing the spawn works pretty well to gather large numbers of fish in a hurry, I prefer ice fishing for fun, but it isn't as productive.
All in all, If you have a rifle and shotgun and fishing rod, getting food isn't real hard.
But hunting is hunting, nothing is guaranteed, so raising our own stock secures a steady supply of meat. Just have to use the resources you have to their best advantage
Best of all, Archery season just opened and the elk rut will be starting soon!! Time to try and fill the freezer!!!
We got chickens and rabbits along with King Pigeons. I have the pigeons in their own house and am getting quail this winter to be raised in the same pen. I am toying with the idea of catching rural pigeons and pen raising them and then making a pigeon loft up off the ground where they can live sort of wild and forage on their own. Of course we'll keep the 12 gauge at both doors outside for the predator birds.....
Also we have a raised bed garden and fruit trees old enough to start this years bearing fruit. Also have sunchokes,jeruslem artichokes,growing well. Deer seem to leave these alone!!!
I raise ducks geese, turkeys, rabbits, eggs, Cornish Cross chickens.
I do it it because the meat and eggs are better. I know how it was raised, butchered, and handled. It is NOT cheaper.
If you keep honest track of every expense, it costs a lot more than store bought. Not that it is really comparable. They are two different products: home raised vs store bought.
I've got $7,000 in fences that are the only way to keep coyotes from killing the livestock. Another couple of thousand in covered pens for night to keep th great horned owl from flying in for a free dinner. I'm not even including that expense in my costs, although I'd have to eat a lot of fried chicken to pay that off.
I raise ducks geese, turkeys, rabbits, eggs, Cornish Cross chickens.
I do it it because the meat and eggs are better. I know how it was raised, butchered, and handled. It is NOT cheaper.
If you keep honest track of every expense, it costs a lot more than store bought. Not that it is really comparable. They are two different products: home raised vs store bought.
I've got $7,000 in fences that are the only way to keep coyotes from killing the livestock. Another couple of thousand in covered pens for night to keep th great horned owl from flying in for a free dinner. I'm not even including that expense in my costs, although I'd have to eat a lot of fried chicken to pay that off.
I agree, predators are always a threat, depending on what you raise the costs can be significant.
We started raising Scottish Highland cattle because they are very self sufficent and have long sharp horns and have no problem taking care of themselves.
This was proven this summer because the neighbor lost nearly all their goats and some horses to a wolf pack. The state FWP had to eradicate that pack.
Our herd was wild and pretty mean when we loaded them to bring them home for the winter, but all of them lived so they were able to take care of themselves all through a summer in a place with high populations of grizzly bear, black bear, cougar and especially wolves without losing a calf.
Scotties don't bring as much in the sales ring because their horns and long hair don't work in feedlots, but we don't have to vacinate them for most diseases, they handle extreme cold and adverse weather well, they are super hardy and can live on feed most cattle species would starve on.
Their meat commands premium prices when sold to individuals, but there is more work involved in selling them.
When we had sheep, we lost basically 100% of the lamb crop one year to coyotes and bobcats. (Last year we raised sheep).
We find that hogs do well in an open range kind of setup where we keep them in a large pasture, but then the predation usually comes not from outside predators, but from other hogs on the young plus the injuries to each other when fighting over food or whatever sets them off.
Raising your own stock is never easy or cheap if you figure in the infrastructure required and the labor you put into the finished product, but the meal on your plate makes it all worthwhile.
I can't begin to describe how good a roasted rare slice of Scottie Prime Rib is!
I forget all about all the hours of fencing and riding and fighting predators, cutting, bailing, hauling and feeding hay, the hours spent cleaning barns and corrals, the repairs, all that fades with that first bite of that indiscribably excellent beef
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
), multiple small game species, 10 upland bird species and as Montana straddles 2 flyways for migratory waterfowl, we have a wide choice there as well.
