Things Needed For Raiseing Animals

If you are on a piece of land now, but do not have enough land to produce hay/straw, then go now and look for the closest farmer around and make a deal with him to provide you with hay/straw and find out what you might be able to provide him, maybe food preserved by canning, dehydrating, dehydrated meals in mason jars. Maybe you could bake him breads and or deserts. Maybe you could build a barn or shelter just to store a years supply of hay/straw. And I suggest using 55-gallon metal drums to store grains and such. Do not forget the medicine that may be needed to care for your animal if they get sick and no vet is available. Learn how to check their temperature, what it is suppose to read/be, what to give them. Information is needed to learn how to care for them without an animal vet.

 

One reason I chose milk goats as my survival animal is when SHTF , they will eat stuff most animals wouldn't . I don't need a lot of pasture or expensive equipment . Until SHTF I feed them very well , alfalfa hay and grain that I purchase but I like knowing if running farm equipment or purchasing food for them isn't an option I can feed them a lot of stuff that grows naturally . Their favorite food is leaves , I doubt it's very nutritious but they will even eat brown dried out leaves , and most weeds . The adjoining survival family / group choose a couple of jersey cows , the problem with cows , hay will have to be cut , hauled and stored all without motorized equipment after SHTF . Though not impossible even raising rabbits or chickens without purchasing feed during the winter months will be difficult . In a lot of locations "like mine " if you let your chickens out to forge for themselves , the predators will soon have you out of the chicken business .

 

I prefer sheep over goats. I raised goats before, and they would NOT eat what normal goats eat, like brush & leaves, or grass. No way, they only wanted their grains and the cows grains, too. I learned to hate goats. I want sheep. There is one breed that you can milk but does not have wool to shave, and another breed that has wool to shear, but does not produced milk. Sheep are so docile, and friendly, so much like pet dogs. You are right about the chickens. When I had them before, I had them completely screened in area as well as half of a barn, I gathered grass clipping, scrapes, etc for them daily, I even brought them some of the bedding from the cows to dig through, and they got the end of the year crops from the garden. They were happy, well producing chickens.

 

We have had all sorts of livestock over the years..currently I've just got a handful of wethers. They're all pretty easy to keep.
Fresh water, feed and a safe place to keep them.
The better you know your animals the easier it gets
Something that can be traded for hay with any farmer is labour. Fence mending, pest control, hedging, shearing and lambing are all time consuming jobs that you can help out with and guess what...they can be fun.

 

What is/are wethers???

 

Castrated male sheep that are fattened for slaughter..

 

There is a lot to be said for pigs. They help you recycle your left over foods and eat the less appetizing parts of anything that you slaughter. They are pretty well self-protecting and if not forced to live in a confined place they are actually sweet critters. I especially like the pot belly pigs. They are small and the little pigs are just right for one meal BBQs. Where I was raised pigs were pasture animals and you only penned them when they were near term and about to farrow or when you want to fatten them before slaughter.

 

Thank you, I have so much to learn.

 

Asking is the fastest way to learn. What breed of sheep were you thinking of getting? Does the fleece have a natural break in it so that it rues off naturally?

 

I saw some at our local county fair. I cannot remember what they are called, I really have a lot to research and learn. I just know that my grandson and I fell in love with sheep and feel that we must have some. The man at the fair had a pair (M & F) of ones that had no wool to shear but provided milk, great for drinking and cheese & such. The other bred was the wool sheep that you sheared for wool. I want 2 of each bread (M & F). I want to raise babies of each bred and sell babies. I think I remember that they came from Sweden or Switzerland.

 

There aren't many sheep breeds know for milk production
The most common in the US are East Friesians:

http://www.milkingsheep.com/dairy-sheep-breeds/

Goats are better for milking as a general rule.

 

It's something that you could do some research on. The sheeps natural life span is quite long (15years +) but for much of that time they would be non productive for milk or breeding (dry ewes). They also prefer to be in a flock of at least half a dozen. There will be maintenance issues like hoof trimming, worming and shearing (or not in the case of some ancient breeds)

It's also best to get it clear in your head strait away whether they're pets or food because sheep do have personalities and it's possible to get quite attached to them as pets. If you want them for something specific such as milk or spinning wool or to suit a certain kind of environment there is almost certainly a breed or strain that will suit your needs.

If you live in a place where there are wolves or bears you're almost certainly setting yourself up for heartache trying to keep sheep alive, it becomes a full time job.

You don't need a sheep dog if you're only having a small number of sheep, when they're still young they're easily trained to follow a bucket of food. You will need a winter hay store and probably some sheep nuts (make sure they don't contain copper) your sheep would be easy to train to follow you when carrying a bucket full of sheep nuts.

Lastly like most animals, they like routine and are less predictable around strangers or unfamiliar things, if you've been leading them with a bucket they will not understand being driven by a sheep dog and will be a total nightmare. While they're nosey and much more intelligent then most people suspect they're also capable of having the most bizarre accidents. Many farmers say that sheep are born looking for ways to die.

 

I have a couple of not quite castrated Isle du Ouessant rams who are more than a bit grumpy about it, they're only small but will knock the crap out of any dog under 40 kilos just to prove a point.