Faith Farm

Best choices for homestead animals

Good Morning!  It is a beautiful and SUNNY morning here!  I was doing some research on the best breeds of animals to have on a homestead and I thought why not ask the people who know best!  What breeds have you found to be the best on your homestead and why?

Chickens:

Goats:

Rabbits:

Turkeys:

Cows:

Pigs:

Dogs:

other?:

What animal breeds have you found to be hardy, healthy, easy to handle, bred well, and have a good feed ratio?  Any breeds out there you are disappointed with?  As for rabbits....I prefer the New Zealands and New Zealand cross.  Chickens--I like the brown egg layers--but there is a special place in my heart for the bantum breeds.  They are very broody and make great mother hens to just about anything I want to set them on.  Goats?  Well that is still up for debate--I like the quality of milk produced by the Nubians but so far have not been satisfied with the hardiness of the breed.  Alpines are heavy milk producers but their milk does not have the fat content and taste we prefer.  Maybe a cross of the two would be good?  I'm pretty new at the rest of the animals listed.......any suggestions or favorites?  I really like border collies---they are great dogs and so much help on a farm.  Any suggestions on how to pick out a good barn cat---a real mice catcher?  Blessings>faithfarm

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{ 12:03, Wednesday, June 25, 2008 } { Posted by Jess }

Well I sure think your one the right track so far with all your choices, and the border collie thing is right too as we have two hear on the farm and I would not be able to do what I do without them. As for goats we have found saanen have a great milk producation. We also have a few pygmys here on the farm as well.Don't ask me why I guess its because they are cute and the children can handle them easy. As for farming they are absoulatly useless.
Take care and good luck with Mr.Tom

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{ 08:35, Thursday, July 10, 2008 } { Posted by heritagehill }

Chickens: we have right now sex-links because we sell eggs and need really good producers, I would prefer the old fashioned brown layers and have a few of them still
Goats: we raise Boers
Rabbits: ours are crosses of some kind
Turkeys: we have Royal Palm and really like them, while they are not really big enough to eat, the babies sell well because they are so pretty
Cow: don't have any, but some friends have Dexters and they are a great Homestead breed because of size and dual purpose qualities
Pig: not much experience with them
Dogs: we have Great Pyr, and Anatolian Shepherd for guard dogs and in my opinion the English Shepherd is the best farm dog you could have!
Other: every farm should have guineas!! They are entertaining and eat ticks. we like our Muscovy ducks, also entertaining and they eat flies. We also have llamas, they do some guarding and are easy keepers, such graceful animals to watch. Cats.......we have a variety.
Marilyn

Edited by heritagehill on Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 07:37