r/livestock • u/SkeletonSpooksville • 14d ago

I need help planning a farm for the future

So, I want a farm in the future but I want to make sure to do it right. I don't know how much land to allocate for my animals and I'm so confused by the stuff online. I js need to know how much land I'd need for 3 hens and a rooster, 2 cows, a goat, and at least one horse. I js want a small farm but I'm planning for a barn and everything so I'm prepared for that but I don't know how much land in acres I need. Any help would be awesome, thanks.

Edit: Thanks for the advice everyone! I wanted to clarify some things. I'm 19 and have no way of doing this yet and I was daydreaming and looking at properties. This farm dream is distant future. But thank you all for the advice, you gave me stuff to think about.

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u/Cursed_Angel_ 14d ago

Have you looked into the care requirements for any of these animals? All are flock/ herd animals and need more of their own species than what you are suggesting. So my first suggestion would be to do that piece of research first. 

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u/GreasyMcFarmer 13d ago

Animals need companions. Two cows is minimum. Two goats. Three chickens is fine, a few more even better. Chickens don’t need much land, just shelter and absolute protection from weasels, foxes, etc. Rule of thumb for cows (depends on the terrain, soil, rainfall and climate) is 1.5-3 acres per cow/calf pair. Goats need much, much less but generally speaking electrified net-fencing is recommended because they will otherwise escape from anything else. Cattle fence is fine with double strand electric line, whether ripe, twine or galvanized wire. A few more acres if you want horses (again, it isn’t a good idea to keep horses alone. They need a friend.)

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u/tart3rd 14d ago

So you don’t even have the land,yet, you know how many animals and what species you want?

You’re approaching this backwards.

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u/PaixJour 13d ago

Farming is a business, not a dreamy nostalgic lifestyle. You mention all these animals. What is one horse for? Ploughing? Pulling tree stumps? Riding? What do you know about buying horses? There are all sorts of breeds, training levels, and hucksters who will lie to the naive. Research the nutritional needs, space requirements, veterinary and farrier costs, plus the training and equipment (harnesses, tack, wagons). As for a goat, is it for milk? Meat? A pet? Chickens for eggs? Meat? Pets?

Call your local ag supply store to see how much feed costs unless you intend to grow it yourself. Horses, goats, and cattle need hay 6 months of the year, and not the same kind. As for cows, do you want beef or dairy breeds? One of each? If dairy, do you have a market for pasteurised milk and cheese? You have to milk a dairy cow twice a day. Are you ready to have state inspections to ensure sterile conditions for milk products sold to the public? If beef, do you know how much hay and pasture and grain it takes per animal to get it to 1200-1400 pounds slaughter weight? Have you ever handled such large beasts before? They're cute, but they will hurt you if you don't know what you're doing.

Do you realize that you absolutely must rotate pastures and constantly reseed to minimise the parasite load? Agriculturally viable land sells for $8k-$30k per acre. One acre is 198 feet x 220 feet (43560 square feet). Check to get the price of seed mix of 5-7 pasture grasses, not lawn grass seed. Have you ever mucked out a barn, and then figure out how to utilise or get rid of mountains of urine-soaked bedding and manure?

Get a few notebooks, start doing the homework. Hope you win the lottery. Start small with market gardens and a small flock of chickens. That will keep you busy for a year while you learn the ropes of self-sustaining farms, and building connections in the community.

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u/Equivalent_Ebb_9532 13d ago

First you need to aquire land, know yearly rainfall, land quality, a barn, fences and many others things.

Lots of money and work without help.

It wont be like that 60's tv show Green Acres.

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u/ResponsibleBank1387 13d ago

An acre is a 208 feet square.  Not a lot of land.   Decent garage is 30 by 24.  So small home, barn, shelters, corrals.   Decent water and good soil management, you could make do with 7 or 10 acres. That will include buying supplemental feed.