As more and more of us strive to live more environmentally friendly lives, growing your own food is becoming increasingly popular. Additionally, you may want to consider having your own livestock to provide food for your family. Do you know what kind of backyard animals you can keep as livestock?
Photo by Hannah Smith on Unsplash
Chickens
When it comes to livestock, chickens are one of the best places to start. Keeping chickens in your garden is now legal in many towns and cities because they don't require much space. Chickens are a great way to get fresh eggs on a daily basis for a much lower price than buying them at the store and without the associated costs. Furthermore, chicken meat is a nutritious white meat that can be used in many different ways.
In order to be able to protect them from predators and to help the chickens lay their eggs, you will have to provide a protected area for them to live in. Besides being able to protect them from the elements in the winter, you can also think about constructing a simple chicken coop which can work in most gardens.
Rabbits
They may be cute and cuddly, but rabbits are livestock as well. When it comes to reproducing, their skills are excellent - their only problem is stopping themselves! It is possible to keep rabbits in small gardens as long as they have somewhere to live and an area where they can run and forage.
Young animals can be kept as pets or older animals can be sold as meat. Their pelts can also be turned into coats and other items.
To raise a rabbit, you need to ensure that they have a safe place to give birth and protect them from predators. As a way of birth control, you might want to separate the male from the female.
Sheep
There is absolutely no reason you can't keep sheep in your garden if you have about an acre, including a small wooded area. Having a flock of up to 10 sheep will enable you to produce enough resources for your family as well as enough to sell or barter.
Wool and milk from sheep are used to make clothes and home goods. Generally as backyard animals sheep do not require much care; they just need somewhere to graze, grass to eat, and some protection during the winter months.
Pigs
As a side benefit, pigs require a little bit more space than a typical garden, but can easily be fed. A couple of pigs will provide a good yield in terms of meat, since kitchen scraps and garden waste make good food for them. Then slaughter them after they have grown to about 200 pounds, which can be achieved by buying them as weanlings. You just need to provide them with food and water during this process.
For your pigs to stay in place and to find shelter, you must have a strong pens and fencing system in place. They are less vulnerable to predators than smaller animals, but protection can still be useful.
Bees
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The smallest garden owner should consider keeping bees, even though they may not seem like livestock. Honey can be made from a backyard hive and sold for a profitable profit of about 100 pounds a year. There are also the added environmental benefits of keeping bees - if you choose the right varieties of bee, you will have the best pollinated garden!
There is some learning curve involved when setting up a hive, but after mastering the basics and having a healthy colony, the investment easily pays for itself.
Do some research
If you are thinking about starting livestock of any kind, you should consult your local regulations to be sure you won't face any problems. It is fantastic to become self-sufficient, but only if your local regulations permit it.
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