I’ll start this off by saying, this is a dumb post. But I think it might be a good thought experiment just to get us thinking about what our priorities and needs are in our own situations.
So, let’s just assume that you’re moving to your homestead again for the first time ( or like in my case, just moving to a new homestead). But in this imaginary world, you are only able to get three types of farm animal: you can have as many of those types as you want (and we’ll just assume for the sake of argument that you can have multiple breeds within the same species). Also, dogs, cats, etc don’t count as farm animals.
For me, I think I would go with Turkeys, goats and pigs.
Turkeys: I’d want turkeys for several reasons. They do everything chickens do, but when push comes to shove, there’s more meat in a turkey than a chicken. With a few acres to run around in, feed costs would be minimal, and they keep snakes and other similar critters down. Plus, I also like turkeys.
Goats: here’s where that multiple breed thing comes in handy. I’d want a mix of fiber goats and milk goats. The fiber goats are obviously for making fiber, though they are edible too. The milk goats give you dairy products, and food. Goats browse more than graze, so feeding them in Western Montana would be that much easier, and their small size makes them easier to keep where you want them than say, a cow.
Pigs: Bacon. But seriously, they produce a lot of meat, eat a lot of stuff that I wouldn’t have anything else to do with, and they can fill up a garden for you for free. They do require some stout fencing, but that’s no big deal.
So, how about everyone else? What do you all think of my thought experiment.
So, let’s just assume that you’re moving to your homestead again for the first time ( or like in my case, just moving to a new homestead). But in this imaginary world, you are only able to get three types of farm animal: you can have as many of those types as you want (and we’ll just assume for the sake of argument that you can have multiple breeds within the same species). Also, dogs, cats, etc don’t count as farm animals.
For me, I think I would go with Turkeys, goats and pigs.
Turkeys: I’d want turkeys for several reasons. They do everything chickens do, but when push comes to shove, there’s more meat in a turkey than a chicken. With a few acres to run around in, feed costs would be minimal, and they keep snakes and other similar critters down. Plus, I also like turkeys.
Goats: here’s where that multiple breed thing comes in handy. I’d want a mix of fiber goats and milk goats. The fiber goats are obviously for making fiber, though they are edible too. The milk goats give you dairy products, and food. Goats browse more than graze, so feeding them in Western Montana would be that much easier, and their small size makes them easier to keep where you want them than say, a cow.
Pigs: Bacon. But seriously, they produce a lot of meat, eat a lot of stuff that I wouldn’t have anything else to do with, and they can fill up a garden for you for free. They do require some stout fencing, but that’s no big deal.
So, how about everyone else? What do you all think of my thought experiment.