So the wife and i are moving back to Colorado shortly and are pondering what to do. We know we both want horses but have been thinking about raising a few cattle or some sheep or goats or chickens or....? We aren't necessarily looking to make a living doing so, but more something fun to do/raise our own bit of food.

So, what are your suggestions, thoughts, experiences?

We will probably have about 10 acres or so and at most 2 horses.

Thanks in advance

 

think healthy, lots of folks tout the benefit of ostrich, and that much land is enough for a good bunch of em, aside from that don't name em if ya want em for dinner.

 

http://www.miniaturebull.com/miniature_bulls

miniature bulls would be a GREAT conversation piece. . . and if you ever down graded to a furd it would tow them... HAHA

 

Made me think of my Dad, who has been gone 13 years. He loved his cows, and company might ask, what is that ones name. Pap would say, oh, that is is named DEEP FREEZE.


Cattle seem more suited to Colorado, but what the heck do I know about ostriches. How about South African Boer goats. Few folks around here have them, they get pretty dang big too.

 

My grandpa raised pigs, sheep, and chickens in Nebraska. Sheered the sheep for money, had all the eggs they could eat, and LOTS of bacon!! Also got to eat some awesome free range chicken.

Grands parents raised these animals for food and money along with farming about 500 acres of land.

 

I've raised boar goats and got a buddy that has a large....wait a minute, had a large herd of boar goats. From my learning experience if you want a hassle by all means get boar goats. They get worms easily and even if you have a routine treatment as I did they still get worms and you have to retreat them, hopefully it will save them. If not it's time to bury a goat. I have two seperate fields and leave ample time between letting them run on them. Tried everything and the only thing that really worked, not buying boar goats.

Best goats I've had were just plain ol' brush goats, mix breeds....no boar though. I could treat them for worms once a month in the spring and summer and have no retreatments. They were in the same herd as the boars and I was out chasing down the sick boar to retreat for worms while the others watched on.

I got rid of all my full size goats and bought two nanny pygmy goats. Had them for two years now, got 6 nannie's and one billy, darn billy is probaby only 20" tall at the tip of his horns, if that! He's been busy and I've got six nannie's ready to pop which means the herd will likely double. The goats are usually good for at least two kids, occasionally one but most of the time two and had one of my brush goats that had 2 one year, 3 the next and 4 the year after that!! She was a good goat. Great mamma, took care of all 4 kids. I have had a few goats though that were not so great. I think one was a nubian, dumb as a box of rocks. She abandoned one of the kids and did'nt really care much for the other. As soon as the baby was old enough they both went to auction. At least as a farmer you can actually thin the herd and get rid of the dumb ones.

The goats are pretty hardy animals. I think I read they can withstand temps down to 0 or minus 10 or something like that. This is without wind. If you throw wind in there not so good, they need shelter. I've got a little 10x20 barn with an opening so they can get out of the rain(which they don't like) and the wind. The pygmy's I got are friendly, helps my kids go out and play around with them. Around here they are my lawnmowers. Where they graze it would take one of those super expensive mowers to cut it and would likely get destroyed in a year. The goats are less expensive and do a great job. Look out the window now and it looks like it has been freshly mowed.

 

10 acres isnt much land when you start talking about livestock..
What terrain? how much is grazable grass/forage?
What type of forage is growing?
what water sources do you have and how accesible are they?

A grown horse, grazing year round needs a minimum of 2.5 acres of praire grass to maintain a healthy pasture, (but experience is that you should double that and still plan on it being overgrazed in two seasons.) thats NE/KS/CO area figures..
Cattle depend on breed and purpose, but figure 3.5 to 4 acres of good grass per head, adn thats only if they arent supporting calves, go higher than that if they are..

Your best bet if you simply want to keep animals is to start with goats and chickens..
goats require much less upkeep, graze less, and are less damaging to the pasture.. and there is a ready market for Boer Goat meat and milk both..
Chickens require little space, very little expense to set up for, cheaper feed , and there is a market for both the meat and eggs..
I currently get $2.75 a dozen for eggs, and the chickens are around simply for pets anyways, so that is just a bonus out of them..


There are several websites that will teach you about how to determine grazing requirements for your area, check the state dept of agriculture, as well as CO Uni's website.. talk to the County Extension Agent as well, he's gonna be your first and best local source for info....

GOOD LUCK!

 

Even with just 2 horses, 10 acres is gonna get grazed down pretty hard unless you have them penned up most of the time. I'd say build a corral and fatten up a couple a steers. If you don't mind chickens, they're a nice thing to have for fresh eggs and meat.

 

Same ideas, but Chrisreyn must type a lot faster than I do...lol

 

I dunno much about em either, so I read this : http://www.ostrichs.net/AboutOst1.html

 

Well, goats would help the weed control, just have good fences. Then you could make goat cheese. MMMMMM. Get a few chickens and you will have all the eggs you want, make sure you get layers, not broilers.

 

I like any animal you can hit across the forehead with 2x4 and have just look at you!!! Cows are tough, 10 acres is not much ground, but with proper cross fencing, fertilization and irrigation you could probably do three. I would start with two cows and a steer for finishing in 4 months. Get the cows pregnant, fifty fifty that you will have a steer, if not finish a heifer and sell the other calf next fall. do that every year for about three years then sell one cow and replace her with a bred heifer. The next year sell the other cow and replace her with a bred heifer. Rinse and repeat. You will probably end up buying hay for your horses, and possibly for your cows come march or april, just keep them away from the calves as they will kick them off the cows when they are born. Give your cows names, teach them to come to you with a grain bucket, feed them by hand. If you have to get them out of pasture and all you have to do is shake a grain bucket to get them to come to you it is a breeze. There are many many vaccines and such for cows and calves. We don't do any of it except BANGS which is required by law. PM me if you have any questions or need any other suggestions.

Just one more thing - Electric fence is your friend. We bought a FiShoke 150 mile fence charger. Our cows NEVER get out and we can lead them down the road between two ropes and a flake of hay in our hand.

Have Fun, Animals are great!!!!

 

I've done that with my goats wyododge, the pail trick. I've kept my feed in some new trash cans near the barn door. Pull the top off and the goats hear it and then you hear them starting to talk to ya. When you look at them they're running up the hill towards the barn. Give a few more taps on the lid and they get real crazy! As you said, when it comes time to deworm the goats it's a lot easier to have them running to the barn where you can lock them in instead of running around the field trying to rope the things.

 

SHEEP!!!


A man cant go wrong or get board with sheep..

 

,

they makie pretty tough boots

on top of that keep something you can eat in case things get really tough!