Suggestions for first animals?

[mamangenevieve]

Hello there,

my family will be going rural in the summer of 2010. : )

We are thinking about starting out small and getting animals that are easy to take care of. (I am 2 generations removed from a farm and my husband has no anscetral memory of living on farms!)

I was thinking bees and possibly chickens(for eggs and meat). My husband thinks we should get a goat (for milk) but I think that is a bit more work than I want to get into (my perception).

I am looking for suggestions in case there are animal I have not thought of. I also want to start reading up on the animals we would settle on before we actually get then.

Thanks for your help,

Gen

[plantsnobin]

Chickens are a great start, I think you are right to hold off on a goat. The fencing has to be really good to keep them where you want them, although I love goats. They are good for a laugh. I am partial to rabbits myself, my husband is heavily into showing mini-lops, and we have a few californians for meat. Don't know how you feel about butchering your own. The poo is excellent fertilizer, without the need for composting.

[mamangenevieve]

I actually suggested we get rabbits for meat but lets just say that my husband was less than enthousiastic about the idea. : ) Excuse my cluelessness but ca you do anything with the fur of the rabbits you butcher or is it strickly meat?

[grungy]

Rabbit fur, can be used for trim on many articles of clothing. It is one of the few furs that actually has thin enough skin that preserving (tanning) isn't necessary. You can just tack it out skin side up, scrap off all the little piece of meat or fiber off, let it dry, and then "break the fibers of the skin", to make it soft and pliable. If you have a lot of skins and don't want to use them for trims it make wonderful "blankets" for animal bedding.

[spud]

Chickens are great first choice and get both bantam's and regular, bantam's are much easier on the garden, aren't as destructive as the big girls and are still good on cleaning up bugs.

Goats like the others said, will test your fence building still, but if you really want them, why not. There are cute and you'll love them dearly, add a new dimension to your place.

[bluelacedredhead]

Just remember though that bantams are easier targets for predators than large fowl. A crow or a blackbird can easily pick up and fly away with a 22oz bantam, but would have great difficulty doing so with a 6 lb large fowl.

[potagere]

You must have some BIG blackbirds in NY!! I've yet to see one as big (or as mean) as a Bantam!

[potagere]

Yeah, it's the English Bantams I remember! What about those blackbirds, though? Are they really big enough there to take on even a gentle Bantam?

[flowerpower]

I'm sure a crow could carry a banty away, but the blackbirds here seem a little small for that. They must be bigger across the Lake. I have never had a problem with any type of raven. In fact, the crows will chase away hawks and eagles when they see them.

[houseodessey]

I vote for chickens, too and bees would be great. I want some for my yard, as well. Goats are a handful and you'd have to milk them daily so unless you're ready for that, stick with foul. I'm hoping to get some kinders or mini dairy goats of some type for my yard. The big goats are just too much for my small property and for my 2 person milk needs.

I had no idea that crows would predate chickens, even little ones. That's good to know.

[cff]

I would vote for both bees and chickens - chickens are fun to raise and you'll enjoy just about any kind. Bees serve a great purpose on the farm - a few hives takes very little time to manage - depending on your drive to learn a new hobby - a few months or years down the road it would be easy to build up enough bees on the farm to sale bees honey or both.

I sell out every year; I have had orders for all the spring Nucs I have available for months now and a waiting list of customers wanting more than I can supply. I'll start grafting queens next week and I'll sell them about as fast as I can raise them.

[macmex]

With almost any critter, I'd recommend you find a mentor to walk you through the initial learning stages. Chickens are about the only thing I'd feel comfortable with a newbie starting (without that kind of input). You could get enough here. Though there are things someone could show you personally, which would save much trouble later on: things like, 1) proper watering recepticles to avoid drowning of young birds, 2) inspection of coop and pens for flaws which might cause difficulties with predators or illness due to getting wet. 3) diagnosis of common health problems.

When we got into goats we joined a dairy goat club. It was WONDERFUL. Now, I consider the goats to be the highest returning animal on the place and we dearly love them. But, there is a lot to learn. One tip: two goats are easier to care for than one. They are social animals and will get into more trouble if alone than in a group.

When I was a kid I tried to get into bees, using nothing but books. It didn't work at all. But again, my folks got me into a club, and I learned very well. Mentors are key.

Rabbits, as mentioned above, are also great. You might swing them, just like chickens, without a live, present mentor. But 1/2 hour with a mentor, in person and on site, is worth many many hours of research on your own. In some ways there is no substitute. This is especially true when it comes to using any animal for meat, if you don't already have a back ground in butchering.

I grew up in a home with no background in hunting or killing to eat, of anything except fish. It was a journey for me to learn these things. Fortunately, the Lord brought a number of mentors into my life and I learned. I'm sure you can get good input here. But by all means investigate to see if someone local is willing to walk alongside during your first year.

George

[mnjrutherford]

We already have bees, Mike's been a keeper for about 8 years now. He started in California and even expected us to bring 3 hives in the van when we drove to North Carolina in the dead of winter?!?!? What kind of queens you got CFF? Ever hear of "Starline" queens?

Now I think we are ready for some chickens. No more than 18 birds. I'd like them to be dual purpose. I've been looking at the pastured poultry models based on Joel Salatin's model on Polyface Farm in Virginia. I think we could swing 1 or 2 pens on the "clear" area of our property, though I THINK I would want to allow them around the veggie patches for bug catching?

And what about ground oyster shells for calcium? I've been pondering the feasibility and wisdom of placing a ground oyster shell border around our garden patches for a number of reasons.
1. Slow leaching of calcium into soil over long period of time.
2. Weed free area around beds.
3. Slug and snail deterrent.
4. Yummies for chickens.

[grungy]

MJ, I really wouldn't put chickens in the garden as they love to scratch and unfortunately your veggies won't appreciate it. If you want a garden patrol I would suggest a couple of ducks.

[mnjrutherford]

hmmm... duckies huh? That's definitely worth thinking about! I like that idea in fact. Would you put ducks in pens like you would the chickens as well?

Back to the chickens... so I would do better to keep the chickens on what could currently be termed as "lawn"? I'm thinking maybe I should throw down several pounds of clover seed over the area I want to "run" them and give it a month or so to sprout before actually introducing a chicken to it?