# Desert living



## Harvest

I will soon be the proud owner of a few hundred acres in the hot Nevada desert outside Henderson. What I was wondering was what kind of livestock would really thrive out here? I don't mean can handle the climate, but actually enjoy it. I'd like to have a range of meat sources as well so I'm open to any animals or even maybe fish.heard tilapia thrives in was. Water.


----------



## oldasrocks

snakes, lizards, buzzards, and maybe a jack rabbit or two.


----------



## cnsper

Talk to some Navajo out there and see what they raise. I believe Jacob sheep and goats are what they raise. You might also want to contact the agricultural extension office.


----------



## cowboyhermit

Congratulations on getting a large piece of land can't help you much on specifics because the desert is not the place for me.


----------



## Tank_Girl

Dorper and Fat Tailed Sheep do well in hot conditions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damara_(sheep)

The Fat Tail rams have huge horns and they tend to be protective.

You can either go with domestic livestock or get some tags and hunt. Organic, free range venison and/ or pork. YUM


----------



## swjohnsey

Do you have a year round water source?


----------



## Harvest

Currently it is very underdeveloped land. No well water, no nothing haha. I will be building it as my funds will allow. Are big horn easy to raise as stock? Rabbits I was thinking of cause of how many I could house.i hear tilapia grow well in warm waters as well.


----------



## swjohnsey

No water, no livestock.


----------



## cnsper

Harvest said:


> Currently it is very underdeveloped land. No well water, no nothing haha. I will be building it as my funds will allow. Are big horn easy to raise as stock? Rabbits I was thinking of cause of how many I could house.i hear tilapia grow well in warm waters as well.


Rabbits do not do well in heat. Especially 100+ temps.

Water is the first concern that you need to look into. Although there may be tanks somewhere on the property that holds water that you have not found yet.


----------



## Harvest

What about some species closer to the jackrabbit? There all over. And I will be purchasing a 10000 gallon tank to put in the property.


----------



## swjohnsey

A guy at the local college, Texas A&M University-Kingsville works extensively with a hairless rabbit bred for hot, third world countries. Goats will survive where most other animals can't. 

Jackrabbits are good to eat. Taste just like chicken!


----------



## jsriley5

Probably look to history and see what historically has been raised in that area. there are some good arid climate breeds of beef but they do need a water source. As with any desert property I'd make water catchment and water sources the highest priority. Once you have a reliable water source it will open it up for far more critters to live there. NOt to mention the ways to irrigate and grow fodder for them and you.

OH and about the tanks I beleive what the poster meant was natural water tanks somtimes natural cisterns or tanks are formed and can hold significant amounts of water year round or nearly year round. You can look for these by looking for wild critter concentrations and following game trails especially where there are rock outcrops and such in areas where water may run or gather after any rainfall. following a game trail is a good way to discover any natural rescources your property may have hiden away.


----------



## Caribou

It might be worth chartering a small plane for an hour to check the place out. A camera and a map to take notes on might be useful.


----------



## Harvest

What I've seen on the property isn't too promising. It's open mostly flat land. I could rig a rainfall collection system up, but this is Nevada so I dont know how much it will help. I've found an online breeder of a species of big horn that does well in lower areas. Thinking that might be my first one out there. I'm doing a survey in a week to see what's on the land.


----------



## Locutus

I've read that true Texas Longhorn cattle do well in arid and hot environments. The book "Surviving Off Off-Grid" has a chapter about the author's experience with true Texas Longhorns on his homestead in a desert region of Texas.


----------



## cowboyhermit

There are cattle that can do well anywhere on the planet  They do need water though.


----------



## swjohnsey

Locutus said:


> I've read that true Texas Longhorn cattle do well in arid and hot environments. The book "Surviving Off Off-Grid" has a chapter about the author's experience with true Texas Longhorns on his homestead in a desert region of Texas.


Lotsa folks have Longhors as pets 'round here. They have to have water nearly every day just like normal cattle.


----------



## cnsper

Yeah I was talking about natural water tanks.

On another note about the water, put shade over it to reduce the amount of evaporation that you will have. One way to do this is to repurpose an old satellite dish. You know, the big ones. Just face it down like you would do a roof and attach thatch to the top of it and now you have shade over the water trough. Cheap and inexpensive and will last for a long time.


----------



## hiwall

If there is no water on the property chances are there will be no vegetation for the critters to eat. Are you going to haul all the water and then haul all the food too?


----------



## Harvest

As I said in the previous post the land will be surveyed properly shortly. I'm hoping there's underground water I don't know about yet. As I've read I decided that I'm probably going to be growing a lot of Egyptian wheat out there for animal feed. There are typical desert plants, bushes, and cacti , so I figure ill have growing seasons to do what I need.


----------



## cowboyhermit

Permaculture certainly has some things to offer for improving water and vegetation if you are interested. It can be a bit tough to get through the ideological stuff at times if you are not into that, but the actual techniques can produce amazing results.
Geoff Lawton in particular has some really good strategies for arid climates.
Wish I could find a condensed version with results to show you but this is something. By the way, pigeons could be an option I guess 
First 3min is just showing how bad it is there


----------



## Harvest

Well that video just told me how much they failed haha. Anymore links for permaculture?


----------



## cowboyhermit

It actually worked quite well but it does require some protection from misuse. I know what you are saying though.
I don't have much on the desert, maybe others do.

Here is a short one from Arizona


----------



## cowboyhermit

Found a decent video about the Sonoran desert


----------



## dirtgrrl

Wow, Harvest, have you seen that land yet? Seriously. Henderson is not the Sonoran Desert. It is the nastiest, hottest bit of the Mojave you've ever seen, except maybe Barstow.

There is no livestock breed that will survive on just a few hundred acres out here. Even using the toughest desert cattle there is (Commercial Corriente Mix, which is like the mutt of cows) you need at least 500 acres per AUM. I suppose you could fence that few hundred acres and have a few sheep or goats. There is no public grazing land available in Clark County, where Henderson is located. The State of Nevada will not let you drill a well. Water rights are worth more than gold here. You can 'doze tanks and cachements to harvest some water but keep in mind our average annual rainfall is only about 4.5 inches a year. Last year we got about half that. If you don't have water service you'll have to haul it. But to give you an idea, my suburban lot (approx. 5000 SF) with about 300 SF of lawn, several large trees, about 50 shrubs and about 200 SF of garden uses from 6000 to 30,000 gallons a month. Our pan evaporation rate is sky high, over 9 feet a year.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but southern Nevada is probably the worst area in the country to try to homestead or make a living off the land unless you have deeded water rights. I've lived here my whole life and I know Clark County and the Henderson area pretty well, but I'm moving to central Arizona for my homestead/BOL. Arizona isn't nearly as restrictive on water rights and well drilling, plus the summer monsoons are a lot more reliable. 

You may be better off hanging onto it for a few years and then selling it to a developer. Depending on where you are, you may have mining potential too.

If you like, PM me and I'll answer specific questions you may have. I've been a horticulturist, landscaper, and ecologist here for over 25 years, so I do know a thing or two about the desert.


----------



## dirtgrrl

Harvest, I replied to your PM. Let me know if you didn't get it. Thanks


----------

