The timer door may not be a good idea ... just because I know some chickens are clueless and will forget the right time, may get shut out at night.

 

I don't think I would want chickens somewhere that I had to drive to. I would think a horse or cow or maybe a few sheep would be better for some place that you are only going to visit once a day.

 

What kind of cow or sheep? Im hoping I can make some sort of profit or break even with them

 

What kind of predators do you have in the area?

 

What are you interested in? Maybe fiber goats/sheep?

 

If you go with cow, get 2. If they hear or smell a cow they will be gone. If your wanting to make money get something small that can grow to be big. When I first started with goats I would get very thin goats from the sale, get them fat and resell. I made more money that way, but you want to look them over very very well if you go that way. The only time I lost money doing the resell was when I did not go out and check the animal out 100% before buying.

 

buy a thin beef cow or steer. an acre will support one cow. maybe dwarf cow i know herefords and jerseys both have dwarf versions.

 

One cow? Wouldn't it be vulnerable that way? Not to mention, lonely and bored? I would think you'd need at least 2.

 

My only problem with meat animals is that I get attached and wouldnt be able to kill it. Is there any way around this? I was thinking maybe get two cows of some sort (and yes by cow i mean female) and just sell the offspring. Or i was thinking a few boar does an do the same thing.

Also, what are your opinions on rabbits? I could keep them in the barn. Is this profitable? Once again...just breeding not killing my own livestock.

If I got sheep, should I do wool since I am not really into butchering my animals? What kind of fencing do sheep require?

Ive thought about pigs before. Do they stay inside electric wire fencing? Could I get a few sows and sell the offspring? What about mini pigs or pit belly pigs? I could sell their offspring?

Im okay with thinking exotic animals too. Ive thought about wallabies but I dont think that would be good right now because of the period of time I am keeping these animals is just going to be for about 3 years.

Ive thought about llamas and alpacas but the prices for them are kind of stupid.
What are your opinions? Im willing to look into anything!

 

It is extremely hard to make a profit on animals if you aren't selling them for butcher. I made a profit on alpacas but I bred my alpacas and sold the offspring and also offered birthing and critical care services to other breeders. I spent 24/7 on alpacas to make that profit. You have to put a lot of work into animals to make a profit. I wouldn't bother doing it if you are wanting to make a profit. Small time farming (which is considered hobby farming) is not profitable.

 

I said or break even.

 

Good luck with that too. Fiber just doesn't sell for enough money. I just wouldn't trust driving somewhere to take care of rabbits or chickens because they seem to get sick so easy or extremely easy as prey.

It also takes 2-3 years to figure out where the market is for animals and how to sell them. There truly is a lot more to it than you think. I'm not trying to be snide or mean. I have been there and done that and made a profit. But it was a lot more work than I would have ever imagined. The first 4 years in the alpaca business were not profitable. It was the last 10 that were. The first 4 years were building the business and doing one heck of a lot of marketing to build up that profitable business. Then I still had to do a lot of marketing to keep that profit going and continue to get new customers.

You would probably be better off doing something like pigs that you would offer for butcher and you take them to the butcher and the people just pick up the cuts of meat. I know people have made a profit on that and also put meat in their freezer and they only do 3 or 4 pigs at a time. Plus they would be gone in the winter so you wouldn't have to worry about winter care.

 

i think you have to take some time and do a lot of research on what is profitable in your area, especially if you're thinking of only selling live animals, and figure out which distribution channel would make the most sense to you.

e.g. you don't want to decide to go into farrowing business and then find out after there aren't any farms that are willing to pay $xx for the piglets, which point you'll have to sell them for a loss or end up keeping all the piglets, and may have to send them to the butcher....

As the saying goes "there are many ways to skin a cat".....

good luck with your decision!

 

I agree doing home work first is a good idea...one acre is not alot if you dont want to feed them..if you can feed them then consider Barbado sheep...they are easy keepers, dont challenge fence lines..worm resistant..Hay loose mineral and water is their needs...Mine dont even need hoof trimming as often as my Dorper sheep or Goats..when doing a worm check..my Barbado rarely need worming where my Dorpers always need wormer lol..they are smaller and Rams can be a bit more to handle with large horns..but the offspring sell well...but again..they are meat sheep : )

 

One acre is not enought to keep two cows on without feeding a lot of hay/feed. They will turn that acre into a dry lot in no time. Not a good way to make money if you want to breed them and sell offspring. Also, start up cost for cattle is much higher than other livestock. You can get a good meat heifer for 1000 but if she's already bred, more like 1500. If you buy one not bred, you'll need to borrow someone's bull or have them AI'd. You will also need a stock trailer to transport them. If your set on raising cattle, I would get cheap dairy bull calves (in my area they go for 50 to 200 depending on how old they are), bottle raise them, and sale once they reach a weight you can make a profit on. You'll need to figure out what the best sale weight is for you and your area. But doing this means getting attached and then selling for meat, so you may not want to go that way. Few things are cuter than newborn dairy calves. You'd also need to visit more than once a day, something you don't want to do.

It's very hard to turn a profit on pigs unless you have a cheap source of feed avaliable. A family friend use to have a dairy and would feed the waste milk to the pigs. This saved them big on the feed bill. They turn a preaty good profit on them that way.

I don't know enough about raising goats for profit, so I'd leave that for someone else.

Best of luck!

 

I think depending on your location pigs would be a great way to go. They are extremely smart and can be trained to stay in a one wire electric fence. A gilt piglet can reproduce herself 10 times over in the first year (assuming a litter or 10) and have two litters a year after that. Pigs are easy to AI and you need no special equipment to do so. Sell your piglets as isoweans at 4 to 5 weeks and start over. Checking and feeding pigs once a day is all that would be needed if you can have a heated waterer in the winter. Sows are very protective of their piglets so after your get the initial gilts to a good size you don't need to worry about predators

 

I agree about the cows...lots of up front money...long waiting period to calf..
Standard Pigs eat ALOT!!!!
any animal will need quality feeds..some smaller animals will need protection..
You could do a pick it yourself garden : ) plant seasonal set up a cute shed to collect fees why folks collect produce...best of all..no feed bill : ) the only preditors you need to worry about are bunnies
lots to decide here but wow...lots of good info too...Im sure you will find the best solution to get the most out of you 1 acre lot : )

 

I don't think I'd want to be breeding any animal if I could only get out once a day to check on them.

 

Back to my first question. What kind of predators do you have? If you have large predators, you have to be able to protect them by locking them up at night or have large dogs or other guardians to protect them. If you only go once a day, you need to think about how you are going to protect them...whatever they will be.

 

you might could do chickens if you put them and left them in chicken tractors and moved them everyday. I don't know how profitable they would be though. You could sell the eggs if you got a good egg laying breed. Of if you raised some kind of specialty chicken that people would pay good money for, like I had golden seabrights. I paid a lot more for them than I would just regular chickens from an older man that only raised silver and golden seabrights and Old English Duckwings. Just a thought. Most predators couldn't get inside the chicken tractor.
you would probably need more than one chicken tractor and building them in the beginning will take some money.

 

I was thinking chickens too, NubianFan. That seems to be the only thing that can be financially viable - you can sell the eggs and then at the end of the 3 yrs, you can decide whether to sell the hens or have them processed for stewing hens.

the chicken tractor is a great idea! that way you dont' have to worry about really sturdy fencing!

 

Hmm there's lots of ways you can go... Where im from we get some weaned cattle mostly steers at auction then raise them and when they are a year or so old sell them. Here you can get a weaned calf for about 50-400 or less and sell them at 500-1000 depending on what kind you get.

Chickens would be a good way to go too. They are usually less than 10 a piece lower if you get chicks and once they get old enough you can sell the eggs and if they start to set you can even sell those chicks. And as bad as it sounds, i dont get as attached to my chickens as i do goats, horses, hogs, or cattle so they are fairly easy to replace if something happens to one. And chicks might get sick but if you keep everything clean they wont and grown chickens dont get sick very often but they will probably get caught. If you get a rooster and 20 hens or so, it would be pretty easy to break even on them if they are free range and you could give them some feed during winter. Or get an incubator, i tried that this year it was really fun.

Good luck!

 

But could you really raise out a weaned steer on one acre and make any profit? To me it seems like you would be putting an awful lot into feed. Even with my red star hens who are huge producers, (usually every hen lays every day) I spent so much on feed that I really don't think selling the eggs did much more than help me break even. Mine weren't free ranged they were kept in a pen. When I got tired of it and turned them out free range something ate almost all of them. I didn't build chicken tractors but in hindsight I wish I would have. I only have one chicken tractor and my remaining red star and her 7 chicks are currently living in it.

 

The thing with fiber animals is that you need to have a big operation just to break even. I can sell washed mohair for 25 bucks a pound easy and if I get it processed, way more. BUT, your animal produces maybe 16 pounds a year and if you sell it all that is only $400.00. When all year round you are paying for feed, medication, processing fees, washing supplies, shearing fees, vet bills, stud fees, show entry fees...the list is endless.
Plus, in order to sell that 16 pounds you have to do some traveling to fiber festivals unless you can find lots of people in the area that will buy. That's gas, food, renting a space to sell on...

Not to mention, all the time that go's into shearing, washing fleeces, skirting fleeces, clipping hooves...

It's certainly not for everybody and it is HARD to break even, believe me...
But don't get me wrong...raising animals for fiber is fun and rewarding, I'm just saying they are not ideal for making money with on a small scale farm. If you got two high quality does and sold offspring every year, that could help with things but you still got all those dang expenses.

I think Hog raising seems like a good use for one acre. You said you are not into selling for meat, and I feel the same way, that's why I have angoras and not boers. But, personally I have never felt attached enough to a hog where butchering would not be an option. They just aren't like goats in that they have unique personalities and you get really attached to them. That's just my opinion, I'm sure some people feel differently. I suppose you could purchase a couple Sows and sell feeder pigs?

Good luck.

 

I saw your post to clarify that you want a profit OR break even. Are you doing this mainly for the fun/hobby or for a paycheck.
I think your answers would be different depending on what your main goal is.

I got ND goats just this year. At first I just wanted them for pets and was going to get wethers. We got our barn done last fall but there were very few baby goats to be had at that time so we found a breeder and got on a waiting list for Spring.
During the long wait, research and my obsession with this forum, I decided I wanted to have more than just pets. I wanted milk, cheese, soap etc. We went from pets to 2 doelings that I can't wait to breed.
I don't have dreams of making much money off of them. I just want to experience the farm life on my own small scale and enjoy the process. I have put a lot of money into them but hope in the future they will help with their upkeep but I know I will always put more money into them than I will get back. That is okay with me because we are home bodies and I enjoy the "hobby."

I agree that if you get goats, you would want to "check" on them at least twice a day. Maybe let them out of their shelter in the morning and give fresh water and minerals and then go back to lock them in at night and again give fresh water and make sure they are doing well. That would be the minimum in my opinion.

Rabbits I would think as long as you check on them once a day to give water and food they would be okay.
I can't remember who it is, but someone on this forum has made quite a profit on their rabbits. I believe they are registered show quality though. I would do the research on that before I picked a breed. It should be in the rabbit section of this forum.

I have no experience with chickens or cows.