# Suggestions for someone starting out with livestock



## 8thDayStranger (Jan 30, 2013)

The misses and I are thinking about getting a couple of cows, maybe some pigs, and chickens. The problem is we know absolutely jack squat about keeping animals. We had a couple horses last year that were temporarily put on our land. 

We have 16 acres and its pretty much all fenced. Already have a couple of barns that just need some sprucing up and the junk hauled away. 

What would be our first steps and what things should we have in place to get started?


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

Chickens need very little space or care. Pigs are pretty labor intensive. A milk cow needs to milked twice a day everyday.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

Awesome, I think livestock give people a huge advantage in being prepared.
Chickens are cheap and easy to raise, if you like eggs layers are an awesome asset but eggs need to be pulled regularly, chickens are a daily chore for most people.
Pigs take pretty good care of themselves, can eat a lot of scraps and are pretty cheap.
Cows are great for so many reasons.
First of all you will see many people make the statement "A milk cow needs to milked twice a day everyday" THIS IS PATENTLY FALSE!
If you don't need all the milk a cow can provide (which is substantial) you simply do not wean her calf. 
It is really easy, you just need to separate her and her calf for awhile (8hrs is enough) then milk her and let them be together again. Then if you are not around for a few days everything is fine and you will have a healthy, growing calf.


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## cnsper (Sep 20, 2012)

Chickens will need a place to roost and lay eggs. You may also consider a small yard for them for times when you do not want them to free range.

Pigs - The are NOT a lot of work. We had ours confined in small pens and not on the range but they only crap in one spot. Now I get them when I have finished the garden for the year and they have the run of the garden cleaning all the scraps out of there. They also root and keep the soil turned and of course fertilize. They are very respectful of electric fences. They are also a lot stronger than people give them credit for. They can go a lot of places if they get their nose under something. They will need the ability to get out of the sun and a water trough they can wallow in to cool off.

Cows - Also fairly easy to handle. They will need a place to get out of the weather or into some shade.

You will need some place to securely store the feed to keep rodents out of it. You will need a source for the feed and hay.

We always raised our stuff in nothing less than pairs. We killed 2 hogs and a steer every year. We would have the next calf before we butchered the steer for that year so we always at least had 2 on the property.


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## PackerBacker (Dec 13, 2012)

swjohnsey said:


> Chickens need very little space or care. Pigs are pretty labor intensive. A milk cow needs to milked twice a day everyday.


Have had any of the three?


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

First congrats!

If you can get a copy of Carla Emery book "The encyclopedia of country living." (and start reading ) It is a great book that covers most farm critters and gives you a feel of what you will be getting into.

And I agree with cowboyhermit & cnsper ...
Chickens are cheap and easy to raise, Pigs can take care of themselves (ours are on pasture) and no you do not have to milk twice a day, just leave the calf with her. (as cowboyhermit said) I would start with an older cow for a first ... They can teach you alot.

I would start out small and work your way into it. Critters need food, water and care (your time) ... make sure you have a plan for vacations (if that is part of your lifestyle). Finding someone to "sit the farm" is never easy.

Best of luck and look forward to more post.


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## sgtrunningfool (Dec 8, 2012)

I am looking to get started as well as soon as I move to Texas in August. My father in law says it becomes addictive and I am hoping my wife catches the bug. Good luck!!!


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## 8thDayStranger (Jan 30, 2013)

Thanks!! Still gonna be probably mid summer before I can do anything. Probably start with cows. I don't like chickens but the misses wants some. I got and old silo looking thing about ten feet tall and six feet across. I figure with a little work it'll make a mighty fine roost.


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## smaj100 (Oct 17, 2012)

How are goats as far as keepers? I've heard they are nosey critters and will and can get into everything? Has anyone ever kept all those critters on 1 pasture? I know chickens and goats/cows can all cohabitat have seen it before. How will cows/goats and horses all fair together? We have 3 15-20 acres pastures with small ponds setup for horses so obviously would need to change fencing for goats and even the cows.


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

smaj100 said:


> How are goats as far as keepers? I've heard they are nosey critters and will and can get into everything? Has anyone ever kept all those critters on 1 pasture? I know chickens and goats/cows can all cohabitat have seen it before. How will cows/goats and horses all fair together? We have 3 15-20 acres pastures with small ponds setup for horses so obviously would need to change fencing for goats and even the cows.


Here are a few older threads ...

http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f15/goats-protein-meat-7578/

http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f15/sheep-vs-steers-633/

http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f15/small-diary-cows-12460/


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

PackerBacker said:


> Have had any of the three?


Yep. Been a long time since there were free range hogs round here but one of the local old guys taugh me how to ear notch. My cow got a little testy when you didn't milk her.


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## Bobbb (Jan 7, 2012)

8thDayStranger said:


> Thanks!! Still gonna be probably mid summer before I can do anything. Probably start with cows. I don't like chickens but the misses wants some. I got and old silo looking thing about ten feet tall and six feet across. I figure with a little work it'll make a mighty fine roost.


I have no idea what I'm talking about here and I claim no expertise, but it seems to me that starting with a cow might be a decision which is the opposite of what one should do. Start small, start with livestock which requires the minimal amount of your time and care and then see how you can incorporate their requirements into your lifestyle and then ramp up.

You seem to be jumping in with both feet right at the start.


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## 8thDayStranger (Jan 30, 2013)

Bobbb said:


> I have no idea what I'm talking about here and I claim no expertise, but it seems to me that starting with a cow might be a decision which is the opposite of what one should do. Start small, start with livestock which requires the minimal amount of your time and care and then see how you can incorporate their requirements into your lifestyle and then ramp up.
> 
> You seem to be jumping in with both feet right at the start.


Cows we are pretty much set for. My MIL used to live on this land and had animals. We just got rid of horses. Plus that's the only animal I care to have. The rest will be the wife's.

About goats- these I know about. We raised goats when I was a kid. You better have a doggone good fence cause they are like Houdini. My MIL put some goats in our field a while back while she was working on hers and them stupid things got out every stinking day.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

Many people see a cow or a steer and think they must be a lot to manage, that is not really the case. With any kind of livestock there are countless intricacies that can seem overwhelming but the basics are not so bad. 
Many people think, "Oh I only want a few horses"  That is great and don't get me wrong, I love horses, but what most people don't realize is that if kept in the conventional manner a few horses will take at least as much maintenance as half a dozen cows with calves.
The main reason I would recommend chickens would be cost, you can very easily get some birds and the equipment for a reasonable amount of money. With cows on the other hand if you want decent genetics you will have to put out considerable money just for the animals. For instance just weaned calves have been selling for over $500 minimum up here, not selected for breeding stock.
Granted you can get by with very limited equipment with cattle. We keep cows outside year round, without sheds in -40, they need a windbreak in that kind of weather, then they are fine. If you have adequate grass you don't need to buy any grain at all but they eat a lot, not sure what your land is like and how many cows per acre is possible.
Best of luck with whatever you try.


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## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

I've raised many different animals. Larger ones (like cows) sometimes break things. They can break fences even though the land on the other side of the fence is exactly the same as where they are standing. If you have an automatic waterer they will break it just to show you they can. When they get out they sometimes decide they want to see the world and start looking. If you put them in the barn, let them pick their own stall so they have no excuse to want to get in the next stall over.


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

Range cattle can survive on their own if they have access to water.


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## labotomi (Feb 14, 2010)

I'd ring the noses of any hogs and definitely have electric fencing. I'm sorry, but hogs are one animal I hope to never raise again. I can still hear the high pitched squeal of the piglets when castrating them (not that I blame them). I hated the stench, the lot was always a mud pit because of the rooting. The good thing is that they will eat just about anything. Canning season is a great time to fatten them up with the leftovers.

But I love a good pork roast 

Cows... As long as you don't have too many as in the ones you have can get enough to eat, they don't usually take interest in getting out. Well, if you have a bull and there's another cow close that's in season, you're going to have problems. You need someplace sturdy to keep him because a fence doesn't stand a chance.

Wintertime you're going to need a source of food for them. If you can't grow your own hay, you'll have to buy it and sometimes it can get pricey.

Chickens. A shed with some crates for nesting and poles for them to roost during the night. Ours was about 10x20 but a lot of people just raising for themselves won't need that much area. We also had a high fenced area (probably about 1 1/2 acres to let them run, but let them out during the summer time to roam in the yard. You'll be amazed at how effective they are at feeding themselves when allowed to roam freely. It's been a looong time since I've been involved with chickens (my grandmother passed in 86) so I can't remember the feed mix that was required. I know we used something with crushed shells to help them with calcium (or maybe to help with digestion). I've heard some feed their own egg shells back in the feed after grinding them, but I don't ever remember doing this. If you have dogs and one starts killing them, you only have two choices, the dog or the chickens. If you have dogs that don't kill chickens, they're hilarious to watch when you're killing the chickens. Headless chickens flopping around on the ground seemed to scare the dogs more than anything else I've seen. 

Choose your breeds wisely, some don't get along with others and are fairly aggressive (especially to children). I was chased, flogged, spurred enough times that I started toting a tobacco stick finely carved and molded to my satisfaction.
(ok, so you can't really get much quality from a tobacco stick, but I was proud)


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## labotomi (Feb 14, 2010)

hiwall said:


> I've raised many different animals. Larger ones (like cows) sometimes break things. They can break fences even though the land on the other side of the fence is exactly the same as where they are standing. If you have an automatic waterer they will break it just to show you they can. When they get out they sometimes decide they want to see the world and start looking. If you put them in the barn, let them pick their own stall so they have no excuse to want to get in the next stall over.


Maybe it's the breed, but I've not seen this behavior. Never had an automatic waterer so can't comment on that. Sometimes the hay rings get damaged, but I don't think it's the cows being malicious.

Some areas of our farm have fencing that's ragged to say the least, but the cows don't wander as long as they have enough food and area to roam.

Horses on the other hand, have a mischievous streak. We had to separate them for a while because the horses decided to heard the cattle to the other side of the farm and then back again. Almost did in a few of the cows. After a few weeks we put them back in the same pasture and it hasn't happened again.

_Edit: We've always had a mix of Charolais, Limousin and occasionally Simmental._


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## sgtrunningfool (Dec 8, 2012)

I have been asking these questions to an old west Texas farmer and he gave me a piece of advice that no one else has. He said get what you are interested in that way you are more likely to stick with it. Also if u enjoy the animals u are around the work will seem better even though it is still tough.


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