i'm hoping to move to a property (ie 10 acres) to have just a few animals, such as ducks, sheep and a couple of ponies, for my kids to enjoy and learn about. however; i am aware that this will mean our current lifestyle will need to change dramatically.
we have a beach house we like to visit for the odd weekend or weeks holiday. so, whilst i'd love to have some farm animals; i'm aware this may mean we need to be attending them 24/7 and actually be prevented from having the odd family holiday to still enjoy our new beach house.
what animals would be able to be left to 'fend' for themselves for a short time (3 - 7 days)? ie, i imagine sheep are ok at this. what about horses? or does this depend on feed supplies etc. (clearly i have no idea about this, but would very much like to make some changes in our lives).
some advice would be greatly accepted.
Which farm animals require the least amount of care?
Most animals can't be left for that many days alone. You could promote wild animals living on your place like deer, birds, ducks and geese by providing them with the things they like. Check out BackYard habitat on Animal Planet Channel. Goats are pretty good about taking care of them selves but they like to escape so while you're gone they will probably get into the neighbors. Chickens are pretty easy but they are also easy prey and stray dogs will easily kill them all if no one is around. Sheep also are really good escape artists and then do require frequent checking. If you've not had the experience with horses or ponies don't get one until you have. Horses can get themselves in alot of trouble easily. Ponies have a tendancy to founder if their grass eating is not monitored and horses get hurt all the time. If you are going to be gone and something hurts itself, it will have to suffer until you get back to help it. Since you are only going to have a few acres. You will have close enough neighbors that might get pretty upset if your animals are eating their freshly planted tulips. Plus you are liable if they get in trouble while you are gone. You could even get in trouble with the Humane Society in your area if you get reported because no one is looking after you animals. If you are going to have farm animals they will need daily checking for feed, water, health and fence. I would just get to know your other neighbors with animals and see if you can trade chores. They will care your animals and in return you can care for thiers when they are gone. We have a large number of animals and that's how we do it. We have good friends and neighbors with aniamls that like to get a brake from home sometimes too.
Which farm animals require the least amount of care?
boneless chickens are really easy to take care of
Get a local professional who can be recommended by a local vet. It greatly depends by regions ... Almost all farm animals require daily care like humans - even free roaming animals
To avoid changing your lifestyle, i guess put in some horses and sheep... Then employ someone good at animal husbandry to take care of them while u r away.
Horses need to be fed, and are very expensive when the time comes for veterinary treatment (normal shots, not to mention actual problems).
Goats are pretty mindless, self-sustaining. Sheep, too, a bit. I'd keep away from the ponies to start - as tempting as they are, if you've never kept care of an animal like that, start with simpler ones like chickens or goats. Maybe a pig, for fun.
Good luck!
Ducks, goats, and sheep would be just fine left alone, as long as they would have enough water, or access to water for the period of time you where gone. As for cattle, or horses, they need plenty of pasture to graze, and they also need hay, and grain. For a horse you should figure about 2lbs of good hay for every 100lbs of the horses weight. Also about the same for cattle. They should be fed 3 times a day, not just once. Cattle, and especially horses can be very high maintence animals. All yeah, your going to need a nice shelter for your animals also.
Not to sound mean,but all animals need to be cared for daily. Fresh water feed waist removed if penned, and to be protected from predators speaking about ducks, geese, sheep, chickens... Please think before ya buy Lots of luck and enjoy any animals you get.....Ever think of fish !!
My personal choice is goats. They will eat just about anything. When I had some I fed them corn in the winter which here in Alabama is less than five dollars for a fifty pound bag. They were more affectionate than my dogs thats for sure. I suggest you buy them young so that they aren't stand-offish when they are adults. But watch out if you are anything like me you will end up feeding them year round because they beg for the corn and I didn't have the heart to tell them no. They still ate the grass and weeds so it wasn't a real problem. Other than that all I had to do was give them worm pellet every few weeks. Got along with the chickens and the hog. I wouldn't suggest ducks because for every cup of feed they eat they **** a gallon and they make the whole area stink. Lots of cleaning=lots of works
well if you want them to fend for themselves, I would highly suggest not getting horses! you would need to go with ducks and chickens. With these guys if you let them free graze when you are on your farm they are really fun to have! When you go away you can put them in they cage/coop equiped with large automatic feeders and water bins. this way you could dump seed/feed into the feeder and when they eat a certain amount more dumps out and the same with water. I hope that helps you. Oooo, goats. Goats are good to because they will eat anything! so if you have to leave for a few days and you leave them some hay and run most likely they will feed off of talk grass or sometime weeds and trees! they love trees and flowers so if you want a garden fence it off! also they are good to have if you plan on getting horses because if there is a cold going around the goat will get sick and not the horses :D
Most farm animals can't be left to fend for themselves unless your property has a high amount of good quality roughage growing.
Sheep and goats can probably do best without constant attention. Alpacas and Llamas are good also because they don't need human interaction, they just need hay put down for them 1-2 times daily. Horses are not a good choice because each individual horse will cost more to take care of than a smaller animal like sheep, goats, or alpacas.
You need to contact someone in your area for advice on how to get started. You need to make sure you get the right kind of hay and concentrates to keep your animals healthy. Without a good, reliable contact you should hold off on getting the farm animals.
Chickens can take care of themselves and ducks and geese and rats. jk.
ok if you have never been around farm animals before and dont know this information then i would suggest not getting anything like ponies goats sheep or cows until you do know about them. chickens and duck are easy to take care of but unless you want chicks dont get a rooster. you can get the eggs from both of them to eat too, and could make them friendly. all they need is some food and a place to take shelter in that has an outside and inside part with a roof so that they cant fly out, and nothing like a fox or whatever could get in. you could also rent your land out to a farmer who would put their animals their so that your kids could still see the animals, but they wouldnt be yours to worry about.
