No, I am NOT building the next Noah's Ark!
I thought that I would take a moment to take inventory of our animals and share with all of you the reasons that we have each of the animals that we do. While we have had some others in times past, and while there are some others that we may wind up with one day, the purpose of this post will just be to show you the animals that we currently have and why we have them. Hopefully this will put some things into a better perspective for some of you. Enjoy!
THE ANIMALS ON OUR HOMESTEAD AND WHY WE HAVE THEM
Chickens are one of the common animals that can be found all around the world. Because they are so useful and yet smaller, they are one of the first animals that many people use either to survive, or when they are starting a homestead or becoming more self-sufficient. For us, they are a continuous source of eggs and a source of meat too. Since we also keep roosters, we can hatch out eggs as well and make a new generation of chickens any time that we desire. Besides being useful for eggs and meat, chickens also help reduce the pest population in the area by eating all sorts of bugs and insects. As an added bonus, their manure can be composted and used to feed our garden and other plants.
Muscovy Ducks are a lot like chickens in some ways. They can produce an excellent amount of eggs and their eggs are larger than chicken eggs. Also, they grow bigger than chickens and can provide a lot of meat. Many people claim that the meat changes flavor as the birds age and can even taste like venison or roast beef on an old enough bird. We like them because they reproduce very well on their own and can do an excellent job of feeding themselves in the summer months. Any edible creature that can not only make us more of themselves but also do a great job at feeding themselves and their young is a great animal for the homestead in our opinion. The young ducklings are really good at eating flies too. Thankfully, these are also getting along great with our Guinea Fowl and Chickens!
While our land and especially our pastureland may be limited, we still have a heifer on our homestead. We were able to trade three piglets to a nearby friend for this beautiful cow back when we were getting rid of our pigs, so it was an offer that we couldn't refuse. Thankfully, this little girl is a Dexter heifer, and they require about half as much pasture as other cattle. We are hoping to breed her this summer and then have her calf in the following spring. The goal is to have her as a milk cow. If she calves a male we will most likely raise him for meat, but if she calves a female we will probably sell it. Whether we end up with meat or money as a byproduct doesn't matter much to us, we are mostly hoping for the milk! So far she's growing, but we've still got to get her friendly. Much like with our sheep, we are hoping that she can help keep the grass form growing too tall and therefore reduce the tick habitat.
Goats are another fun one on our homestead. While sheep are mostly grazers goats are more known for browsing. The have an appetite for plants like Poison Ivy and Blackberry bushes so they will be used to help "tame" our land. I'm currently working on fencing in some larger areas for them so as the plants in the forest begin to wake up these goats can help remove some of the less useful ones for us. Like the sheep they will be part of an edible property maintenance crew that also reproduces after its own kind. Also, some of the goat varieties that we have are commonly known as "milk goats," so that will be another source of milk for our family, along with the cow. So far ours have pretty much respected the fencing that we have provided them, and we are super excited to watch them clean up the woods for us this spring and summer.
While we have switched the purposes for our rabbits recently, we've still got some on the homestead. At the moment their primary purpose is manure. Rabbit manure is called "cold manure" because it does not need to be composted prior to garden use. Some other manures contain so much Nitrogen that they are called "hot manure" and can "burn" your plants if you apply the manure directly to the garden. To skip the composting stage is a huge bonus for us and we are looking forward to the results of using more rabbit manure in our garden this year. While rabbits are also just nice to have around, we also like to breed them as a potential animal for sale or trade. At the moment we are just having fun mating some different colored ones and watching the results of the breeding in the next generation.
As always, I'm @papa-pepper and here's the proof:
proof-of-animals-on-our-homestead
Until next time…
Don’t waste your time online, invest it with steemit.com
GIF provided by @orelmely
You have a lot on your plate I guess. How is the weather where you are ?
Looking good that you can have such an inventory of animals for all purpose like to lawn the land, meat, milk. etc..
Keep on steemit.
Ｍａｙ ｂｅ ｙｏｕ ｃａｎ ｉｓｓｕｅ ａ ｃｒｙｐｔｏ ｆｏｒ ａｎｉｍａｌｓ！
Interesting idea!
Oh man, I like your job. I am very confused seeing that how a person have many types of pets on his homestead.
They all have their purposes and we have the land to support them.
That's good.
@papa-pepper , you already own an animal kingdom in your homestead, congratulations.
Well, I would have said that is quite a lot of energy you put into the rearing of all those but, you seem to be very pleased and relaxed doing that.
It makes me wonder if there is really work to be done in rearing the above numerous you mentioned.
More grace and fruitfulness to your homestead endeavours @papa-pepper.
Hope when the milk from the dexter heifer starts coming in, I would be welcomed in for some drink?
It may seem like a lot of work, but I think that just about everything in life is. If you are going to do something, it might as well be something that you enjoy! Thanks!
Wow...looks like you have well balanced farm animals and fowls to self substainability no matter if shxxt hit the fan. I grew up on a milk farm age 11 to 16 in Manfield, MO where we had chickens, cows, a horse, cats and dogs, ticks ticks....
You grew up in Mansfield? I love it up there!!
Really....how do you know that area? I was not too fond of the hard work on the dairy farm as a kid but helped me to be very disciplined worker later in life. Which town do you live now in AR . I live in Rogers, AR , the home of Walmart corp office.
Your homestead is similar to ours! Except we have hair sheep instead of meat sheep, we no longer have rabbits at all (we get manure from a rabbit rescue), and we have the addition of draft horses!
We also really like Muscovy ducks! I have one sitting on a nest of about 20 eggs right now!
Nice! We are going to let the chickens and ducks sit shortly! Very cool!
Dem Wabbits make a good gravy too Popa..
Such an exciting farming adventure you live
That it is!
wow!
nice & informative post...
thank a lot for this post..
nice pet, thanks for sharing your friends, happy for you.@papa-pepper
Excelente idea, @papa-pimienta. Tener una granja puede ser un trabajo fuerte y duro, pero si tienes animales que ayuden al mantenimiento y reproducción del espacio, entonces mejor.
It is like "do not put eggs in one place."
you proved it all,,, papa,,,, :)
this is proof that you are indeed a true economist. :)
Thanks for sharing papa,,,
hopefully I can be like you,,,
Really make the inspiration for all,,, :)
LOL! - GOOD POINT!
:D i think,,,,
We just picked up a few more Dexter heifers earlier this year. It brings our total to 9 cows/heifers, 1 older bull, and 1 younger bull to eventually replace our main herd bull. They are a great breed and one of the better ones that I have had.
Ours were kind of standoffish at first but if you start occasionally feeding them "treats" and spending sometime with them, they will come around. We like to give them a little sweet feed and that seems to work well.
I'm looking at the Highland breed.
Thanks in advance for some pointers...
@WizarDave
For several years, I only kept around 2 cows and just recently (within the last year/year and a half) I have gotten more cattle, so I could not honestly give you a definite answer as to the most profitable setup.
There are several things to consider though. One thing is are you selling them as a breed or for meat? If as a breed, is there a demand for them in your area? I can say that I have had a 2 beef cows and would try to sell weaned calves and this did not work. Other than get experience, I lost money selling weaned calves. If you are finishing them out and selling them as a butchered product you may have better luck. This is what I am trying now with my Dexters.
One issue you may face is room and amount of grass they have assess to. I believe the Highlands are a bigger breed and will need more food than some smaller cattle. So if you have lots of room with lots of pasture, then you should not have an issue. Our grass grows really well where we live, so for larger cattle we budget one acre/cow/year.
As for the size of your herd, there are a couple of things to consider. If you want to start small with just maybe 1-5 heifers/cows, then you could think about artificial insemination. There is usually a vet that can do this and eliminates the need for a bull, but the downfalls are that you have to watch for heats and inseminations may not take each time. In our mind, with the space we had and from talking to other farmers in the area, we came to the conclusion that having around a minimum of 5 cows/heifers would be more beneficial for us to keep a bull around. So one bull to service our 9 cows/heifers works out fine. Everyone will tell you something different about when to trade out your bulls. We had it in our minds that if we were keeping all our heifers, then we would switch them out every 2-3 years to ensure that there is no inbreeding going on. If you like your bull and can separate his offspring from him, them you could keep him longer.
This seems like a lot and is just some of the conclusions that we came to for our situation. I would recommend doing your own research to make sure if fits your needs or if you find a better way. I hope it helps and good luck with the Highlands!
That's kind of along the lines of what I've been thinking.
I would like to keep purebred, not necessarily registered...
Thanks for sharing that info @knowledge-seeker
this is so cool my pal @papa-pepper.
there are so many animals that you have, it makes your job more and more, you also will not be unemployed too, because you have your own duty, like shepherd and also planters.
I am very happy to see you succeed like this @papa-pepper.
will I later be like you, a successful person on all fronts.
But I feel sad at the sight of your rabbit, because my one rabbit is gone.
That's a good collection of animals! Sounds like a fabulous homestead, a lot of work, and a lot of fun. The pic at the end made me smile, you with an armful of cute critters. ;)
I also have my friend's goat .. please help me so my friend yes.@papa-pepper
![IMG20180113141013.jpg]
)
(
POA (Proof-Of-Animals), the original decentralized investment. This is fantastic that you are raising so much including a family. Your children will learn so much and be healthy because of it. I grew up raising chickens, cows and horses. Now I live in the city. I do miss the old way.
good point!
Yay! What a nice array of animals you'got there. I am not sure though why the cow looks different to cows in Phils? 😅
Hlw @papa-pepper sir as I am from India in our country the most basic domestic animal is cow but we the Hindu culture's people only use it for agricultural purposes because all of the Hindu's worship and revere cows. The cow also symbolizes the divine bounty of earth therefore, it is considered a sacred animal of India.
Thanks for a peek around your place @papa-pepper and sharing your reasoning on the livestock.
Grandpa always had some, but I don't remember eating them...
How many does it take to get enough fertilizer for a good size garden?
How many would you add for that?
How many does per buck?
Thanks for always sharing your common sense!
(common sense is not so common nowadays...)
Guineas are all dark meat birds but completely edible. I have yet to eat my first, but I am looking forward to it.
Rabbits = depends. We keep six in a pen with a slanted bottom so that the manure just rolls into five gallon buckets. My plan is to make small holes for each plant, fill it with the manure, and then plant directly into that. Otherwise a lot of the "soil" around here is rock and clay, so the manure should definitely help. Rabbits reproduce incredibly well and one buck can breed as many does as you've got.
I do not have any posts on the feed program or costs. In the summer we get our rabbits up to about 75% yard waste so the cost then is incredibly reduced. Winter is when people generally cull their animals and therefore have less to feed. Then they breed for spring births and start over again.
Thanks for sharing this info...
that's awesome!!!
Yes, you are doing an excellent job asking questions around here! STEEM ON!
Looking like too much fun!
Not too much yet, but certainly fun!
Very well planned usage for some unplanned animals!
LOL - We have no plan.... sometimes it works!
nice thinking man, go ahed and make your plan succeccful
The business of this farm is pretty good and can be said almost complete. I love raising chickens and ducks. One day I also want to cultivate a cattle ranch. What you do is enough to inspire others to develop the livestock sector.
Thanks @papa-pepper have sharing good information today.
We also have lots of pets, one of them is this cow, this is my younger brother who is cow herding, one of his own fun can play with his own pet.
And next door is the next section of the Ark, you will be needing it soon with the increase of animals on the homestead land.
LOL - You do keep saying that!
I will come and haunt you in your sleep,
I need someone with experience that will put
me through the whole process of boiler bird farming because am thinking of starting a poultry farm .
I almost asked you few weeks ago, the type of animals you have on your homestead when i keep noticing your posts on new animals. Hahaha. This is lovely sir. Really excited about the fact that, you didn't get them just to have them, or make money off them, but because they all serve their purposes. This is the part where i respect, hugely, your in-depth knowledge and research ability. It takes a whole lot of research to know all these, and experience of course, coupled with adequate planning. Your family is blessed sir. Even every family member have their roles, hahaha. I respect you, massively. Nothing is a waste, to you Papa, everything serves a purpose, and that is quite commendable. Well done. Look forward to visiting your homestead one day...one day...hopefully, one day.
Wow, quite a number of animals you have at your homestead
It is, I can't even count!
You have a really nice mix of animals on the homestead, @papa-pepper. Rabbits also make some tasty eating. Do you miss your pigs?
We don't really miss the pigs, we've got enough going on to distract us. ;-)
This is awesome, animals farming is one of the best objection when it comes to farming,i think I really appreciate your kind of person as a good entrepreneur. I also dab a little into farming hope to share with everyone here someday.
That ought to keep you busy.
So far so good!
Thank you for helping me out with my charity effort!
Hmmm.... don't have one of those yet!
Good job! Sounds like you have quite a productive homestead.
I envy your lifestyle, sir. We moved from the old Victorian we restored to a simple one story, ranch style home back in 2012, but I wanted two things, a pond or a high water table to dig it out myself and far enough into the country to have chickens. I didn't get either. It's okay, I'm getting too old to shear a sheep : )
Wonderful collection of farm animals.