eliminating bills - homesteading

[NH Homesteader]

Sorry my phone decided to post that about a million times. Yay technology.

 

[abigalerose]

Why exactly is it recommended to keep them separated?
I might be better off getting another milk cow until mine is old enough! All these goats sure are adding up fast and I haven't even got any yet lol.

I love the big pigs, but as a short, wimpy, single, 19 year old girl, I wouldn't be able to handle them on my own! I'm definitely thinking the guinea hogs are they way to go, from what I've read so far it looks like I could probably fence off a section of woods/partially wooded area, give them some scraps and milk, and I'd have a pretty darn small feed bill. A couple of those, a couple calves, and a couple deer every year would easily keep all my dogs fed! Although I don't know how much a guinea hog costs. And the fact that they're friendly will make them hard to butcher! Lol.

I'm trying to get to where I budget myself $20,000 a year to live off of, weather it comes from dogs, horse training, a job, or what have you, I'd like to stay under that. Hopefully I'm not even spending that much a year. Life would be a lot easier if I didn't like animals so much
But I had all these big expensive farm plans, I wanted to have 100 acres and fancy horses, and a herd of beef cattle and a beard of bucking bulls, and 8 top quality breeding dogs and so on. But all this is stressing me out, so I've decided to simplify my life. I've always wanted to homestead but I've been getting carried away lately. What really makes me happy, is riding my horse, having puppies, and enjoying nature, so I'm thinking I'd be happy with 10 acres, a tiny house, 2 horses, a good milk cow, and 2 or 3 dogs (plus whatever I need to provide feed for my dogs, and my garden and chickens). And I'm just trying to find ways to simplify things and homestead, without severely stressing myself (I get stressed easily), and it's hard to figure everything out by myself.
And your post only showed up once! Lol

 

[Britesea]

One reason you'll want to keep the buck separated from the does is that the smell of the buck will actually get into the milk-- yuck. Before you invest in a buck, look around to see if there's anyone else with a buck that you could use for breeding. In the long run it might be cheaper and easier for you.

I've been thinking of getting into mushrooms as a cash crop. You just need some fresh-cut hardwood logs (oak seems to be a top favorite) to grow things like ****akes, oyster, lion's mane (tastes a little like lobster) and others. There's also Stropharia or garden giant that you can plant in the soil of the garden and not only harvest the fruit but they shrooms will increase the yields of all your other veggies. In 30 years of visiting Farmers' Markets in 2 states, I've only seen one guy that was selling mushrooms, and he usually sold out early.

 

[abigalerose]

You know, I've seen a lot of people say mushrooms are a good selling "niche", so that's definitely crossed the mind, I just don't know much about mushrooms lol

 

[NH Homesteader]

Yes the buck will smell and that smell makes the milk nasty! Also the buck could be aggressive with babies and he could prematurely breed future kids of your does before they are even weaned. Goats do not graze on grass much so if you have grassy land you'll have better luck with sheep or cows. You can milk sheep, but I wouldn't want to do it! If you have brush and woods you would have happy goats.

 

[NH Homesteader]

My husband grew up on a horse farm. They averaged about 15 at a time. They did training and all rode and did some cart training. He calls them hay burners. Unless we are in a situation where they miraculously are cheaper to keep than a tractor, we will not be owning any horses. As he says, at least if you park a tractor you don't have to keep putting gas in it! Sorry, he loves horses but its just not in our budget.

I think it's nearly impossible for me, living in a place with four seasons, to not have to put grain and hay (and a fair amount of it) into my animals. It's expensive.

I like the suggestions Baymule gave above. Chickens are the gateway animal! Kudos to you for wanting to do this! At 19 I just wanted to go out and party with my friends. Wish I had your enthusiasm for homesteading back then!

 

[baymule]

Yes, convince Mom to put the farm in your name. Then it is yours. You sound like you have your feet firmly planted on the ground. Good for you, there are many people much older than you who still haven't figured out their place in life. You must have some very good parents who have raised such a fine young woman.

On the money end of it, I would still advise you to go get a job. Put your inheritance money up for hard times. Seek out a professional to help you manage that. You can put some in an IRA, for your retirement. Look for one that you pay your taxes on it now, so that it accrues interest and makes you money-when you take it out after age 59 1/2 it is tax free. Who knows what the tax rate will be by then.

What kind of horses do you have?

 

[NH Homesteader]

Sounds like you are a very fortunate person! One thing to watch out for is there are a lot of people selling "Guinea hogs" that are not Guinea hogs. Study the breed before you buy any. People sell pot bellies as Guinea hogs sometimes so be careful because you do not want a pot belly!

It sounds like sticking to cows is a better bet for you. Look into how much land you need to sustain another and if you can do it, I would get another one. Animals don't like being alone, cows with friends are happier cows!

Where are you located? Do you have grazing year round? If not there's another huge expense, but I'm sure you know that if you already have horses!

 

[abigalerose]

Yes I'm thinking another cow might work best too. I could keep two jerseys together or keep one at my house and one at my grandpas (although I do like for them to have buddies). I'm in Missouri and at my grandpas there's is grazing year round unless it snows. If it's a light snow and the grass is tall the horses will eat what's sticking out but we usually have hay in the winter so they have the option. My grandpa does have a hay field but unfortunately his tractor wasn't working this year and he didn't get around to finding anyone to cut it. I'm not sure what it'll be like at my house since I have 7 acres opposed to 60, but I'm sure if i stall and supply grain I can do limited turn out and have some hay and things should go smoothly. Another option that I may have, my uncle owns about 80 acres surrounding my farm on three sides. He doesn't use all of it as he has more land else where, if I can talk him into it I may be able to rent a pasture, but we'll see, he's pretty stubborn. And I'll keep an eye for that if I get hogs! If I get registered ones I'll know for sure what they are lol

 

[MoonShadows]

You know, I've seen a lot of people say mushrooms are a good selling "niche", so that's definitely crossed the mind, I just don't know much about mushrooms lol

I am thinking of earthworms.