This particular part of the series became a two-parter (and then THREE PARTS) because there’s just so much to cover when it comes to choosing livestock. Livestock will be, by far, your largest investment in your small farm. In time, resources, and heartache. Choosing the right animals to fit your needs, your goals, and your farm space will make the best use of your limited resources, and be less stressful for you AND the animals. If your tractor dies, there will be financial pain and angst. When you lose a mature, well-producing ewe that you’ve raised from birth, carried through 5 pregnancies, and recently sat up through the night giving fluids, antibiotics, and watching her fade away…well, there’s costs and then there’s costs.

One thing about small farms is you often hear people talk about not getting attached because you know you’re going to harvest the animal. Well, the good news is that’s not completely true! If you have layers, you’re not harvesting the hens, you’re harvesting the eggs. So you can be attached to them. They’re going to be around for a while. Our breeding flock of sheep–the lambs are born in February and sold in September/October. But the ewes (the mommas) and the ram stay for years. You can get attached to them. You can name them. You can know them. So it’s good to focus your heart-attention there. That’s the fun part! You want to be sure you have animals on the farm that you enjoy being around–because you’re going to be around them A LOT.

So far we talked about 3 specific areas to think about before you bring animals to the farm…

Part 1 was, are you ready for livestock on the farm? Do you have, or have access to everything you’ll need to take good care of them, and have you made the big, systematic decisions to set yourself up for success. Have you thought through the challenging parts and committed with eyes wide open to what’s coming up for your farm?

Assuming we got to YES with all those questions, we move on…

Part 2 is, what type of livestock should you have on your farm?

And coming up, our Part 3 will be, what breed of livestock will suit your farm?

WHAT TYPE OF LIVESTOCK SHOULD YOU HAVE ON YOUR FARM?

The first thing you should realize is that smaller means less–less of just about everything. A chicken costs less than a sheep. A sheep cost less than a cow. A chicken coop cost less than a barn. Constructing a sheep pen takes less material than constructing a cattle pen. Chickens will fit in the backseat of a car, sheep will fit in the back of a truck, a full-grown cow is usually going to require a trailer. Chickens eat less than sheep, sheep eat less than cows, everything eats less than horses. {smile} So size really does matter.

The only place this really breaks down is in labor. Labor investment is really about your management style, not the size of the animals. For example, a rotational grazing system, where the animals are basically feeding themselves 70% of the time can be light on manual labor for most of the year. However, a stationary chicken house requires a lot of cleaning, bedding, changing, disinfecting, etc. Also, a multi-species grazing system means that your sheep, cows, and even chickens are all eating the same thing at the same time and sharing a water source–less labor. Keeping species separate (which we do for different seasons) increases your workload because you have to provide shelter, food, and water to each location.

So here are some questions to think about when deciding what type of livestock will suit your farm…

How much experience do you have?

Be honest. We’re talking hands-on experience here, not book learning. Like I’ve said before, I had none. All animals can be dangerous and unpredictable. Being flogged by a rooster is no joke. But I’ll take an angry rooster over an angry bull any day! Less experience means smaller animals are probably a better way to start. I’m not trying to wreak any dreams here, I’m just staying to start with! {smile} Sheep were our goal when we started out, but the first livestock on our farm were bantam chickens. Then sheep. Then full-sized chickens. Then cows, then a donkey, then horses.

This gets to the male/female question as well. Personal anecdotes to the side, uncastrated male animals are more challenging to handle than female animals. No matter what species, if you’re a newbie and it’s bigger than a chicken I would strongly suggest no males for the first year or two. Usually, you can start with bred animals or borrow a breeding male once a year for a fee until you get your feet under you in the handling department.

How knowledgeable are you?

Here’s where I’m taking books, as well as real life experience. Every species has different needs. Some are more similar than others–sheep and goats are very similar. Sheep and chickens, not so much. So how much do you know about the animals that you want? Do you know food/shelter/breeding differences between chickens and ducks? Do you know the copper toxicity differences between sheep and cows? Do you know the foraging differences between donkeys and horses?

There’s a danger in thinking that size, shape, or one similar trait (like eating grass) makes animals work well together in the big picture. For example, rotating sheep and cows can break parasite cycles, rotating sheep and goats won’t because they share the same parasites. And don’t even get me started on the differences between egg layers and meat broilers…This is where research can help you develop a good overall plan. I’d recommend Barnyard in Your Backyard (whoa–the price has really come down since I bought it, snatch it up!!) and The Backyard Homestead Guide to Farm Animals as good overviews of all the different livestock types and needs.

Sometimes it’s best to take things one species at a time and get the hang of that species before adding anything new.

What do you eat? What do you need?

This gets back to knowing what you’re about. Are you a homesteader raising your own food? Well, if you don’t eat alpaca, then don’t raise it. This would be us and goats. If it’s really important that you process your own food, then how comfortable are you with that part of the job? If you’re new, maybe start with chickens or rabbits–probably the easiest home-processing. If you’ve done deer before, you’re probably fine with a sheep or goat. Hogs and cows take more know how–as well as more equipment and space!

Are you looking for milk to drink or milk for soap? Or both?! Have you tasted the difference between raw, home pasteurized, and commercial pasteurized milk before you committed to that jersey cow? Do you want to make your own socks and sweaters? Cows, chickens, and goats won’t help with that.

Do you know what type of animals produces what you want? Do you want laying hens or meat broilers? You can eat a layer, but good luck getting eggs from a cornish cross! And you know that you don’t need a rooster to get chicken eggs, right? I’m not being flippant here–the number of people who asked us if we ate veal when we started raising sheep was astounding!

What will you sell?

If you’re just trying to be self-sufficient, the question is just what do you eat. But if you’re looking to make a profit, then you have to have a product to sell. You need to think about what market you have access to. Is meat your mail product, or a value-add or by-product your focus? The market for raw wool is practically non-existent if you want a profit. Cleaned fleeces are a little bit better because hand-spinning is kinda in vogue at the moment. But the average crafter doesn’t know what to do with wool until it’s yarn. Yarn also ships easier than a whole fleece. Do you know how to get from the back of a sheep to a skein of yarn?

And do you want multi-purpose species? (Also known as dual purpose, although it’s sometimes more than two.) Wool sheep can be for meat, wool, and milk. Hair sheep are a meat animal only. Cows can be for meat or milk, or in rare cases cow hide, broiler chickens are only going to be for meat. Llamas? I have no idea. {smile}

And do you have a customer for whatever your product(s) are? Meat rabbits are another one that comes to mind for me here. I don’t know anyone that eats rabbit except people that hunt their own rabbit, so make sure you do your market research. Our lamb market is an ethnic market so they are very familiar with the product (probably more than we are!) and prefer to self-process their lambs. For our market, we don’t have to worry about USDA labeling, etc. But we know other breeders that mostly sell to restaurants and had to find a processor, get a label, etc. And if you’re selling to the average homeowner, you’ve probably got some educating to do. The average American grocery store consumer doesn’t have any idea what to do with lamb once you get past lamb chops–just like rabbit, I’d imagine.

Joel Salatin’s book You Can Farm talks about choosing ventures, stacking enterprises, and making a profit in detail. His book Family Friendly Farming also addresses both profitability and holistic farm decision-making. And they’re very encouraging and positive. If making money on your farm is important to your goals, I would definitely read through these two early on. He also talks about strategies to successfully introduce customers to new products to sell what you want to sell. Small Scale Livestock Farming is also a great introductory resource for profitability.

So do you think you’re partial to chickens, sheep, cows, rabbits, turkeys, or something I didn’t mention? Farming is so exciting because there’s always something new out there that you had never considered that is someone else’s passion!

Our series continues with links below–And be sure to sign up below for our newsletter and receive your FREE copy of our Finding Land Worksheet, to help you in your homestead planning!

I’d love to hear about and learn from your experience too! Did you have something you recommend or something that totally didn’t work for you that you’d like to share? 

Dollars and Cents of Starting a Small Farm

Starting a Small Farm : LAND

Starting a Small Farm : BUILDINGS and SHELTERS

Starting a Small Farm : FOOD and WATER

Starting a Small Farm : HEALTH and WELLNESS

Starting a Small Farm : CHOOSING LIVESTOCK  (Part 1) and (Part 2) and (Part 3)

Starting a Small Farm : ORGANIZING