Selfsufficientish.com

Hi All,

Havent been on here for yonks as loads has changed over last few months! I am putting together a business plan and would love some advice from peeps in the know!! I need to know the avarage amount a goat/pig/lamb and cow eats per month.. I know that probs sounds Very wierd but any rough idea's are welcome... Also whats the smallest (without upsetting a cow!) space you could keep two young calfs in? Just wanna know if its even possible!!

Many for any replies

xxx

That's not easy to answer... It very much depends on what you want to feed them! I suppose you are not interested in knowing the energy they need... Which is what is generally used to determine how much of what feed you need. And then you need to know the breed/size/purpose/age of your livestock.

they say you should allow 1 cow to 2 acres of grazing. if thats any guide.

red wrote:they say you should allow 1 cow to 2 acres of grazing. if thats any guide.

Is that for dairy cows? Suckler cows? HF - they would need a lot more than a Jersey... It really doesn't work, I think, this very general allocation. That's not a criticism of you - I just think that if you have 2 acres, you need to think of a few other factors before you go and buy a cow: depends on what kind of land, too; intensive grass or hill grass, or even heather and bracken? We keep cows on all that... How much are you prepared to buy in, hay or concentrates? And my cashmere goats (never kidded) need a lot less feed than a dairy goat would need.

yeh I agree there are a lot of variables, and a lot to consider just thought it was a useful guide.
for example we have 2 acres - but that includes 'orchard' (ie we planted some trees), and veg patches... so the available land is less than 2 acres. then I think it is cruel to keep just one cow.

so.. no cows for us. in this context, as a guide, it does it's job.

hmmm thanks for that guys, dont think I'd have enough space for a cow then! Shame I really love em!

I know to pre-guess how much an animal is going to eat is near on impossible!! I'll have about an acre&half, but they want to see a business plan before they tell me if I can have it or not...

Doh hate writing stuff like that!

Well, if you decide what you want - for example, you want to keep two dairy goats, or half a dozen hill sheep, then it is easier to work out how much they'd be taking up. There'd still be a lot of "from - to", but at least you could get a clearer idea.

Have a look at these little cows...t a lady breeding them near me- gorgeous!
http://www.dextercattle.co.uk/

Yeah, I know - Dexters are nice... I know somebody up here who keeps them, maybe I can find out more for you. Still, you shouldn't keep just one cow; cows are gregarious animals, they need company. Human company would probably do - but do you want to move into the cowshed?

teehee...if this plan works I'll happliy move out there!! The lady I spoke to said for 2cows one acreshould be enough, as long as I keep them in hay over winter...so Its something to think about maybe

I wish I could know right now whats gonna happen thou...gonna be so gutted if all this planning comes to nothin! Oh well we'll see if not the allotment & back to dreaming it is!! xx Thanks 4ur help guys

Have you tried the "recommended code of handling for livestock"? They are written up for cattle, swine, etc. and have all kinds of info that you will be able to use and even more that you won't be able to use The ones I've read are written up for the Canadian livestock industry but animals are animals so there will be info on the basics of animal requirements that you can use.

There are also hundreds of world-wide websites dedicated to raising different livestock and their requirements, and yes, it's not all intensive farming there is also lots on the type of holdings you have or wish to have - you just have to sift through it all to find what you want. Livestock people are almost always eager to share their knowledge so if you find a site you like, you can usually contact them and ask directly what you want to know.

I would also recommend government agriculture offices as they should be there to tell you "how" and will be able to inform you of your local regulations too.

There are many sites with livestock (swine,cattle,sheep,goat,chickens,etc) production budgets all laid out for you - ie. "swine production budget" etc. and they give you ideas on how much feed is required for a herd and the costs/expenses for an operation(you can do the math to figure out how much for one or two animals).

"Fiasco Farms" has an amazing website on goat production - A to Z! If you scroll through Self-sufficientish you will find numerous posts with exactly what you are looking for too - info on "small holdings" costs of production and requirements for various livestock and poultry.

You could check out some of the sites on "developing a business plan" - I worked on one this spring. A warning though - it's no mean feat to make an effective one and took me weeks/months to do the neccesary research and I ended up learning that what I wanted to do wasn't financially feasible enough to bother applying for the loans available for start-up . Happily, I will keep working at it the "old-fashioned" way - that is, work at a job which will support my farming habit . But then my plan was for a much bigger small farm than what you are looking into, so it won't be overwhelming for you (I hope ) - just informative.

Oodles of googles to gather ( ).

Sorry for writing a novel. Best of success with your research and project!

T.

ermm . just on different note. you might want to think about the animals needs too. I know we are self sufficientish here and you did say no to one cow because of their emotional needs. however grazing animals need to forage in order to give them a healthy balanced diet. i take my animals out for a walk along lanes and less well tended areas where natural habitant (weeds) are a valuable source of such extras if you have the capacity /time you just might cut your feed bill down too.
p.s. they are on headcollars not just let loose.

Hi,

Thanks for all your advice. Well you wouldn't believed whats happened in the last couple of months...

There was a fire, a bad one...and as well as losing all my clothes, business plan (ie everything) I also lost my little dog, Mila. I was devastated- It was wierd losing everything but at the end of the day-its just stuff, but my dog was like my baby so its obviously effected me and my family in a hard way.

So I thought is it worth bothering to do the business plan now we are going to have to start from scrach? I put it off and off and off but finally got down to doing it (with a heavy heart) last week...yesterday they called to say yes!!!! And added extra's in...now although in baby stages and I'm trying to keep a realisitic head that there are still many hurdles that may mean it wont happen- I'm one step closer to my dream... and sooooo trying not to get excited!!!

Hi,

I read your post early this morning and i have been thinking about it since, i can't imagin loosing a much loved pet in that way, just thinking about it has really upset me.

I just wanted you to know that my thoughts are with you, and i hope all your plans work out for you.

Eve

Thank you Evelyn,

The only thing that make it bearable is the fact that she was very small and didn't suffer at all, it was like she was asleep...

Miss her cheeky kiss every day thou x

Thanks for your support x