WHAT IS THE BEST ANIMAL TO RAISE FOR MEAT? | COWS, SHEEP, PIGS CHICKENS HOW MUCH MEAT beef lamb pork

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Have you ever wondered how much meat to expect from a beef cow? Or how much meat you'll get off a finished pig? What about lamb or eggs from a chicken?
Today's video discusses how much meat and eggs a good quality farm animal will produce. This is important information to consider in light of how much food each farm animal consumes. It is important to weigh food input vs. food output when you grow your own animals for meat.
I hope this info helps you launch your small farming journey!
-the Shepherdess
THE MOST (and least) EXPENSIVE ANIMAL TO FARM: 0:00
How much to feed chickens: 1:05
How much to feed pigs: 2:14
How much to feed cows: 3:15
How much to feed sheep: 5:20
In this video:
How much meat from a sheep
How Much meat from a Beef cows
How much meat from a Pig
How many eggs from a chicken
Farming for profit
Farm business plan
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#sheep #beef #farming #ranching
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About this Channel: This channel chronicles my journey as a sheep farmer from the very beginning. My primary occupation is in business management. In 2020, I discovered the principles of regenerative agriculture and embarked on a journey with the end goal of building a profitable small farm on 23 acres by 2027. Thank you for joining the journey!

[@theShepherdess]

➡➡CLICK HERE for my $100k Farm Business Plan: bit.ly/farmprofit

[@davidgun6826]

I raise rabbits, they are quiet so they don't bother the neighbors, it takes 30 days gestation, 10 to 12 weeks to grow out to a dressed out weight of about 3.5 lbs. 6 to 11 kits per litter, lower cholesterol and higher protein then any other meat, and there droppings are one of the best fertilizers.

[@Smashy2009]

3 does and 1 buck can equal the meat production of a cow, but the cow needs 18 months, while the rabbits achieve the same in 12 months. Rabbits are a must have imho.

[@chrismay2298]

Don't know how she missed the best producers of all...

[@tyrellthiel2201]

I really want rabbits. I can't stand em as pets, but I really like em as livestock

[@edlibey8177]

Totally agree. On my Dad’s small farm we raised Alfa. So we had a good, cheap feed source. Of course we also fed high nutrition pellets but, it was a pretty cheap source of meat.

[@thinkfirst6431]

The biggest problem for me with rabbits is that I don't like the taste of rabbit. If I was starving I could eat a lot of rabbit. Having said that I could raise a lot of rabbits before I ate one :)

[@rodneyspencer5469]

Her math is off on the amount of edible meat you would get of a 1200 Lb steer. The deboned net weight should be between 42 and 43% of the live weight or about 500 Lbs of edible protein in her example. The same would go for hogs as well. Hogs would yield a little better. Plus you can feed chickens and hogs table scraps to supplement their grain diets.

[@ifyouloveChristyouwillobeyhim]

You assume we allow table scraps. XD

[@RussJennings]

I use my sheep as a grazing service, so people are paying me to graze their land. In addition, my sheep get to eat a huge variety of plants so they have an excellent, healthy diet. Last year they grew very well. This year I have new lambs so I will be monitoring their weight to see how quickly "forage feed" brings them to weight. I'm raising Romney sheep, small scale. Thank you for your excellent videos!

[@h.s.6269]

How do you go about advertising for that? I've always wondered on how to reach customers properly for more unique ideas such as yours.

[@RussJennings]

@@h.s.6269 mostly by replying to social media posts on local FB groups. People are always asking for landscapers who do that, so I simply reply and tell them what I do. In addition I have signs that go up around the electric fence that advertise. Finally, I have a table at my local farmers market where I have information.

[@danielflowers1985]

How did you get started doing that?

[@michaelswenson6599]

I'm always concerned about subjecting my livestock to forage exposed to the toxic whims of somebody else.

[@w8stral]

@@michaelswenson6599 Ah yes, the mysterious, never defined "fears" of mysterious toxicity which supposedly exists... Toxic is overgrazing sitting in their own poo... now THAT is toxic. Everything else? Not toxic as long as you know your plant types and how much different types can eat at any given time.

[@marka6719]

Yes we are running a few cows and goats on our farm. We butcher at 900-1000 # steers and 100# weathers and because we started being grass farmers a few years ago feed/gain have been almost zero just mineral tubs and litter cost are about it we bale our own hay so fuel added in but noticed a better product when we started being grass farmers instead of livestock farmers. Keep up the good work we enjoy your information.

[@__riprock]

You don't butcher weather. You butcher wethers.

[@wilde1909]

I’m not a farmer and I somehow bumbled onto your site. I found the figures in this video quite interesting. It gave me an insight into why meat costs what it does. One never thinks of how long a farmer has to tie their money up in each animal before they get a return on their investment when you pick up a package of meat at the grocery store.

[@shaunclarkson7131]

Had 3 "super chickens" the last two years. Winter was managed by putting a full spectrum light in their coop on a timer that simulated summer sun rise/fall hours. When below -15c I had them coop only, while above -15c I would let them outside is an attached chicken run. Also had to heat the coop enough to keep it above -5c all winter.

[@davidhickenbottom6574]

I raised a Jersey bottle calf and processed him at home, I'm a butcher best beef I've ever eaten. I am building a small regenerative farm and it's going great. My cost are astronomical but the results are amazing. Hopefully I can bring that down moving forward. My dairy farmer friend has Jursey cows bred to Angus that I will be getting next plus he will breed them to what ever I want. My goal is to produce the best beef people have ever had. I worked in supermarkets for 30 years I don't like store meat.

[@youssefrochdi1994]

Allow me to add in my experience on eating just beef and lamb and nothing else for the last 6 months because of an illness. I noticed that not all beef tastes the same. Here in my country, we rarely get cows at the butcher shop, we either gelt calves or bulls. Cows are only fed grass and their meat tastes like grass. I can even smell the cellulose from the plant on the meat. Now for the bulls, I noticed that there are about 4 tastes to all the meat I ate. And I can't really describe them precisely but I can say that 2 of those tastes is like a grain finished sheep. and one of them is like the, even if well done, give a juicy taste and it seems like it has added condiments. I think the exact type of grass and the exact type of grains influence how the meat AND the fat taste and what their texture is like.

[@robertmccabe8632]

Quality fat is king and grass fed sheep are the wsy to go. This is after eating beef for over 50 years. Beef is not fatty enough and tatses dry by comparison to sheep. Other advantage you can store the excess fat for other purposes.

[@jimsteele9975]

When I was a teen, we had a Jersey milk cow that would accept any calf put to teat.....we had a dairy farmer that would call us every time one of his cows dropped a bull.....we got the calf, Daisy raised it, we ate them as soon as they reached 750 lbs.....best beef in town!

[@evelynrogers7145]

Red star and black star hens start laying about 22 weeks. They lay 6 eggs a week. Will lay pretty good if you provide them with more protein in winter

[@alancraig3604]

I have been raising sheep since 2016 and my flock is all mixed breed Dorper, St Croix etc hair sheep. I have butchered from 9 months to 4 years old and have not ever come close to having anything that was not fantastic! The hair sheep are much slower developing than wool breeds therefore I now like to raise to 18 months on grass for my best results. We are doing this on 15 acres in North Texas.

[@theShepherdess]

Great info, Alan! Thank you!

[@ironbar9535]

How does flavor and yield compare between 1. Year and 18 months? Do you castrate?

[@alancraig3604]

@@ironbar9535 Yield is obviously better at 18 months but i dont have any data to give percentges, with no change in taste. We do not castrate and are grass fed.

[@bradjon7231]

I raise Ameraucana layers in Eastern Tn. They give me 1 egg a per day until we hit 97f temperatures. I free range my chicken which cut my feed cost 50%. However i did add electrolite to their water due to the high temps. It helped them to resume laying again. Mine started laying eggs in early March at 5.5 months of age. We try to monitor the low egg producers go ahead and butcher them.

[@pattykake7195]

Do you butcher the low producing humans too…😡

[@bradjon7231]

@@pattykake7195 kind of a ridiculous comment there Patty.

[@pattykake7195]

@@bradjon7231 Jon. It’s been done before …so no it’s not ridiculous.🤫

[@bradjon7231]

@@pattykake7195 You are comparing a farm animal to human beings. A bit ridiculous!

[@pattykake7195]

@@bradjon7231 A farm animal is a sentient being just like us…🐮

[@jlpaints]

Thanks for doing all of this research. Great information. You are the best 👌

[@BaldBozo]

Straight to the point . Excellent video .

[@lukea.wharton4456]

Great video!! I happen to have close family who have 11 Rhode Island Red hens. I personally am not fond of these chickens just because of their disposition toward other hens. However, I know they are excellent layers. These 11 birds are basically super birds. They started laying in January and every single bird lays each day of the week basically. A few weeks ago all 11 birds did not cease laying for 10 days straight! It's ridiculous how good these birds are during their first year!

[@jesseroman3373]

We are the Roman family in Manistee Co Michigan and we absolutely appreciate and love your content. We currently raise sheep on 26 acers and use your info often.

[@QSL.]

That's awesome break down!

[@jnpg]

is love to see a chart of this info. great job on putting the info together. thank you

[@TwelveAcres]

Thank you for breaking this down for us! Excellent information! I like Buff Orpingtons for laying hens, as I feel they tend to lay more in the winter than some of the other breeds. Still not 365 days out of the year though. Lol

[@jnpg]

great info. thank you!

[@jayecurry1369]

I love this video. I appreciate the financial analysis. It is helping me to plan and make decisions.

[@footplate0]

Thanks for producing such a great video. I find it perplexing that the best tasting meat (the long and slow grown) is also the cheapest. As they take longer to grow like mutton, they have consumed the most feed but because a lot of people don't know how to cook it properly, it ends up as the cheapest meat as it is tough. The same goes for a chicken, one that was a layer for a few years tastes much better than a Cornish cross. So I suggest to consumers like me who have never had slow grown meat, give it a try and I bet you will not go back to your fast grown supplier again. The only exception to this rule is pork, the slow grown heritage breeds are still the best but people have cottoned on that the heritage pork knocks the spots off of your normal quick grow breeds. As always thanks for posting

[@cameronmurray4479]

Another great clip, Grace!

[@theShepherdess]

Thanks, Cameron!

[@jamesfrancis303]

Love the analytical videos

[@BishopSteve]

This is great content! Thank you!

[@zoomyzoomzoom1213]

Absolutely great info, ty

[@729EGAN]

WoW, new subscriber here. Super impressed!

[@tyrellthiel2201]

I had 5 Plymouth hens for five years, they took a 2-3 week break around winter solstice, otherwise I was getting 2- 2½ dozen eggs per week. I live between the 44th and 45th parallel

[@maxmintz511]

Excellent, as always.

[@easttexasengineering3489]

Here in east Texas, we have 26 hens with 3 of them actually laying eggs in the winter months. During that freeze that hit Texas 2 years ago these hens still laid eggs but they froze and cracked before we could get them. We do keep a heat lamp on 24/7 in winter, maybe that plays a part...

[@rickayers3150]

Love the breakdowns, everybody needs to do this where they live. Its different in Texas than where I'm at in ny.

[@kenman200]

You’re awesome! Thank you and Father bless you in every way.

[@semitrailer22]

Hello, I grew up raising beef, was in 4-H for a number of years. I just wanted to say Thank you as I am learning a lot from your content. Have a great day.

[@theShepherdess]

Thank you!

[@notpoliticallycorrect]

Excellent channel!

[@scottpecore8032]

Great information! God bless

[@ruansiebert]

Thanks. This helped alot.

[@Rizik1986]

Tons of info and she talks so fast! 👍 #Subbed

[@BrandonGallemore]

Awesome! Thank you for the great resource.

[@theShepherdess]

My pleasure! Thanks for watching.

[@mikeautry2271]

I raise Katalin...6mths lambs 100 lbs go to processing and sale barn......My ram is 400lbs he's unbelievable to see...Born lambs look 3 mths old...thank you for helping everyone on cost...of livestock....you got it girl with knowledge....

[@arasolisfolkcelta8929]

My hens lay more than 300 egg/year: Rhode Island hybrids at Balcarce, Argentina (37.5° S, 900mm rain/year, Atlantic climate, 60 frost days/year) Fed with ad libitum balanced layer's food plus whatever they get from grass, insects, snail, etc.

[@charlesmartel1998]

great video keep up the good work !

[@theShepherdess]

Thank you!

[@daviehaunfarm]

Good information 👍

[@mikeycook100]

We have poll Dorsets and merinos 5 months and 27-34 kgs So that’s 59lbs. Love all the info

[@dwighthires3163]

I can't keep writing superlative laden responses to your videos without sounding cheesy. So here is a well-deserved cheesy comment. You have become the queen of fact-based KZbin videos. Love what you produce!

[@frederickburns1739]

As a retired farmer ( beef cow/calf ) I prefer bison and goat on my table. So much more taste!!!

[@hitman1421]

Amazing work. Thank you for your insights. Been going deep into Black soldier flies and red worms. To process waste and turn it into high protein chicken feed. Great videos on KZbin about them.

[@theShepherdess]

Great insight on the soldier flies!

[@jacquesgrove7009]

Pelletize the BSF with something like Alfalfa or any other kind of green feed and you can feed it very successfully to sheep and cattle as well. Pure BSF is about 69-70% protein plus oils and minerals. You can't do better than pelletized BSF.

[@LevoLee]

Thanks for good info, well done

[@theShepherdess]

Thank you!

[@FugateFarms]

Great video. I do throughly enjoy the analytical break down. I’d love to see your breakdown of how much each animal brings by way of selling what they produce. Chickens cost the most but produce the most, so how much income would they produce if you sold every single egg etc. Great content!

[@theShepherdess]

Great recommendation! Income projections are a bit tough since local market has so much to do with it. My friends sell farm fresh eggs for $6/doz at a suburban Austin Texas farmers market, whereas I would struggle to get $3/doz in a more rural EAST TX farmers market. In respect to this, I would highly recommend that viewers take the info on cost and output, then research the prices for various products at their local farmers markets.

[@jaybig360]

I know some farmers finish their animals on grain to bring a higher weight at sale. But I hear finishing an animal with grain actually brings better flavor and fat is this true.? Great video thanks

[@camilojames1]

You're awesome thanks for breaking this down

[@theShepherdess]

Glad it was helpful!

[@LoneStarHomestead3]

I had Rhode Island Reds for 12 years. Now I have Plymouth Barred Rocks & they're much better...... real friendly to boot. I also have Jumbo Brown Quails. I hatch Barred rocks & Quail myself. Solar power helps to power whatever equipment is needed.

[@tylersmith4856]

I’m also in Texas and as an update quality round bales are 90+ , love the content

[@waywardcajunfarms2731]

Great video! I just bought some new layer hens for farm fresh eggs!!!

[@theShepherdess]

Thanks and CONGRATS. 🍳🍳

[@patriciabeyer7824]

This information is priceless. Thank you for sharing. Be blessed. Be well. 🙏🙏☝️☝️👍❤️💓

[@theShepherdess]

Thank you, Patricia!

[@patriciabeyer7824]

@@theShepherdess your welcome.

[@paulgroth3345]

I run Katahdin Sheep. For me flavor is above all other considerations. I have found the Katahdin be the best tasting sheep of all I have ever tasted. Thank you for a really important and interesting presentation. Bunny run Farm Washington State

[@benjaminbranam2498]

I was thinking about getting katahdin sheep. At what wait do you process, and how long does it take to get there?

[@jsdavisfamily]

Adding an automatic lighting system to your chickens will prevent them from slowing down egg production through winter. The downside is the eggs will freeze if they are not kept warm.

[@alyssaboles5417]

Love your videos! We run Ile De France crosses and last year finished a handful to 110lbs in 4.5-5 months. Mind you that is not strictly grass as they are also creep fed with a lamb pellet from birth to finish. We got an average 56lbs of packaged meat from them but that would also include the bone weight in chops/ribs, ect.

[@baral6747]

Thanks dear Love your videos !! Do you slaughtering your meat yourself ?

[@lukewang4396]

Hi, I like your videos very much. Thank you so much for your sharing. I would like to introduce some info of the SQUAB (Utility Pigeon or KING PIGEON) to you, if you are interested. 1: The breeder has to be 5-6-month-old. It will be 1 LB (20 OZ in life) for the 30-35 days old commercial production 2A: They will take room like 2sqft/pigeon. let's say the loft is 8-foot-Wide x 8-foot-Deep x 80" High, it will carry 32 pigeons (16 pairs); nest box will be 22"W x 16"D x 16"H, 4 boxes per row and 4 stories per loft, there will be 2 nest bowls in each box. South facing side of loft will be covered by chicken wire to make best sunshine and air ventilation. pigeon likes dry environment and more fresh air will keep them in healthy. 2B: For the individual wire cage, 36"W x 24"Dx18"H. 3: After mating, they will have 2 eggs in 5-8 days (there will be 46 hours ish skip between 2 eggs, like: first egg in 6PM Monday; The 2nd egg will be in 4PM Wednesday); the hatching will take 19-20 days since first egg been laid. The breeding hen will lay another round eggs when the baby 12 days old depend on the hen's procreate genetic and motherhood; loft has big room and peaceful environment (no pest inside and outside). Some of them will take 40 days (all late than 20 days need be sifted out). 4: The feed will take 3 OZ/day in average (2 OZ on hatching and 4 OZ on feeding baby). Give them Corn only is Okey. Grit and oyster shell are buffet style. Poultry Multiple vitamins and microelement and electrolyte provide in drinking water once/Month. 5: Provide 16-18 hours light per day. turn the light to the normal 2 month/year let them molting. 6: My breeders can produce 7-8 round squabs per year. 7: The sell's price will be $8 per life bird in the squab market in North California March 2022.

[@TS-rf3sy]

Sheep I raise, Suffolk/Hamp cross. Pulled off grass and feeding hay for a few weeks before slaughter. They eat a very small amount of grain daily. At about 80lbs. I get more than 60 percent back. These are the best lambs I have chosen for my family table. I do add the heart, lungs, and kidneys. The slaughterhouse I use does great work and always compliments our lambs.

[@LtColDaddy71]

“when you get those baby chicks in the mail…” Mind boggeling! Just a handful of hens who are accessible to some roosters will net you so many free birds per year. I don’t even intervene, they hatch and rear them on their own. Thousand and thousands of them. Great video though. Your level of detail is amazing.

[@FugateFarms]

I’ve had hens running with roosters for close to a decade now and for some reason not a single chick. No broody hens. Nothing. And I’ve tried to leave eggs when it looked like they wanted to get broody. I just ended up with rotten eggs!

[@danlopresto1123]

I have 23 eggs thar should hitch in 20 days . Oh yeah

[@theShepherdess]

Have to agree with Fugate Farms. 😅 We finally got one hen to go broody after 8 yrs of chickens. Otherwise they’d rather forage than nest.

[@LtColDaddy71]

I appreciate everyone’s ride on the struggle bus. My problem is the opposite. I have broody hens that I don’t want to go broody.

[@FugateFarms]

@@LtColDaddy71 I could definitely appreciate the desire to not have my hens broody all the time, good luck!

[@robertmiller2831]

I have bantam chickens(1r/7h). I got them last May as chicks. They started laying on the winter solstice and averaged 5 eggs a day all the way up until this may when I let them go broody. Now I have 19 chicks(they were an experiment) and I still get about 1 egg per day while they are raising their the chicks. I did lose 1 hen and 2 chicks this year. Next year I am getting some full sized layers and using the bantams to raise them.

[@chasmarischen4459]

Thanks.

[@deasunja1367]

I like that Novagen Brown Hen lays steadily thru the hot and cold and light and dark seasons.... However next time around I'm going with heritage birds as they attack the cow dung on pasture and spread it out, harvesting maggots... whereas these other birds who have been raised indoors for so long and who are more recently acclimating to the outdoors, mostly ignore the dung, maggots and whatever else is in there.

[@MyLooneyBin]

Just found the channel! Nice!

[@theShepherdess]

thank you!

[@OneOfMany111]

The Rhode Island hen is the best layers. Pretty much all year round ( place a yellow greenhouse light in the hen house also helps). They start laying eggs around 5 months old

[@JamesArthurKayak]

This videos timing was perfect. Thank you so much. Any chance there’s a photo of your numbers with the pretty pictures? Be fun to have in image displaying your information

[@theShepherdess]

Thank you, Jimi! Right now I just have the pdf with text. You can take a screenshot of the graphics in the video, though. 👍🏻

[@jacquesgrove7009]

Damn, you are good at what you do.

[@rickbrittain8562]

We raise beef dairy goats turkeys guineas and chickens ….black austrolorp chickens..not sure if I spelled that right but I have found this breed to lay more eggs than any I’ve ever seen ..we get a minimum of 300 eggs per hen ..they lay nearly all winter unless it stays bitter bitter cold highly recommend for homestead!

[@thepolingclan]

This Texas heat has my chickens and quail not laying right now. The good news is that winters are mild so we should be ok by then

[@kevinmarlow5510]

Getting ready to start raising sheep and a cow or three. (Dexter's) But got to clear the brush and get my fence up Newton TX Love your content!

[@theShepherdess]

Thank you, Kevin!

[@formerfarmer1718]

When I was growing up, 50s- 60s, hogs were called the “mortgage lifters”. Prolific. Excellent converters grain to meat. I imagine they still are…..only now on a much larger scale.

[@chimneycreekacres1975]

We raise Katahdins. They typically take about 10 months to reach our desired weight. The fastest animal we raise, as far as birth to butcher weight, is rabbits. We have stopped raising chickens for meat and replaced them with rabbits. Due to the large litters and quick turn around.

[@busyewefarmfibers]

Raising Teeswaters - usually butcher 9-12 months - when they are 130-160 pounds, usually get around 50-70 pounds of meat back.

[@tigar0485]

You want a super chicken? Get 2x the number of 2nd laying year hens to the number of eggs/day you want & keep 'em on grain & above 32 degrees F all winter. (If you want 6 eggs/day have 12 - 2 yr old hens on free-feed layer mix in a warm coop). Some people also use lights to "extend the daylight". I don't but it does help.

[@jamesobryan3258]

Another great video. I have meat goats and cattle. I’m in Northern MN. Our average number of frost free days is about 150/yr. My goats are Spanish and Savanna cross. I kid in June and sell my wethers in mid December. I average about 165-175% weaning rate per doe. This year I only sold the wethers and they weighed 61 lbs. At that weight and age they are ready for slaughter. They are raised on grass and hay with almost no grain. While I believe it is much better to raise your own feed for your animals, there is value in bringing in outside nutrients (in the form of feed stuffs) to your animals. Jim Gerrish puts a fertilizer value on every pound of hay brought in from off the farm. That dollar amount is obviously subject to change with the cost of fertilizer and fuel among other things.

[@HoneyHollowHomestead]

How are you making out with your feed costs? I raise Kikos down here in southeast Kentucky. I am in a position where I can free range my goats. I have a lot of browse around me. From about March till about late Nov./early Dec. they are on almost totally browse, with some hay at either end of that time frame. For winter I have to bring in hay. I do feed alfalfa pellets with a little sweet feed more heavily in the winter and less during the browsing period.

[@jamesobryan3258]

It has been pretty brutal this past winter. Last summer we were very hot and dry so in our region we produced about 1/2 of the hay as usual. I buy all of my hay for cows and goats. I sold 1/2 of my cowherd and still spent more on hay than the prior year. Decent hay cost me about $230/ton delivered. So it was about $.115/day for my goats for about 140 days so about $65/hd. I don’t even want to talk about the price to winter a cow. 2021-2022 has made me totally rethink my business. At today’s prices I can replace the income from a single cow with 3-4 goats or sheep. I bought goats initially to clear brush. Right now they are the shiny spot in my operation. I have also been on the internet looking for some good hair sheep to replace my cattle with. I want to purchase them as close to home as possible. It will be a multi year process.

[@HoneyHollowHomestead]

@@jamesobryan3258 I hear you! I am worried about hay prices in my area and I am sure they are going to be worse for you this year. I am trying to figure out what I can plant for my goats to extend the browsing period so I can reduce my need for hay. Bamboo seems to have a longer growing period, but it takes like 5 years to get a good stand going. Still doing research. Sounds like hair sheep would be a good option.

[@michaellynch1159]

I have Golden Comet Chickens. They lay at least 1 egg per day and usually 2 each during the summer.

[@gregzeigler3850]

Some chickens lay amazingly well during winter time. Like Speckled Sussex, Buff Orpingtons, Brahmas and Jersey Giants on less than optimal feed. I've fed mine whole corn and they still produce good in winter time. However, one must wait longer for the first eggs and they won't produce like modern birds. But their nutitional needs are also not the same as modern birds.....

[@stillspillin7994]

Great video! I'm starting a homestead and am looking for a good meat source. When you calculated the weight of the meat does that include organs? I know most people in America don't eat organs, but after trying most goat organs I definitely will be keeping those.

[@hlynnkeith9334]

In the midst of all these production analyses, the best-tasting beef I had on the ranch was range veal. We let the cow suckle the calf in the pasture. When it weaned, we slaughtered and butchered it.

[@YSLRD]

I had a Rhode Island Red, a Buff Orpington and an Easter Egger. The RR laid an egg a day year around. The other two maybe skipped a few random days, but never weeks at a time. So I guess super chickens? I did heat their sleeping area to 50°.

[@stephenmoore6774]

Heat the water! Cold weather the hens shut down eggs to heat their small bodies. Cannot warm the freezing water. I used immersion heaters in water could harvest about same eggs as summer. .

[@buggyridge]

The best I've done in a ratio of feed to meat is: 1.5:1 for Cornish cross broiler chicks, 3:1 for Tamworth and Berkshire pork and 7:1 for Galloway beef. These are averages. You can easily add 25% to the feed with any type of weather stress like drought or cold.

[@EarthyAngel]

I have 8 dorpers 3 born end of January and are probably 80 to 90 lbs. I have no scale. I live off grid and the sheep are penned. My males 2 Rams from the prior pregnancy (1 of which was butchered approx 60 lbs of meat) these are big boys (approx. 200 plus) and are separated from the latest group.The mating crew is 2 ewes and one large Ram. I bring all of the food and water in because I live in the desert. For the past 3 months they have been getting 50 lbs daily for all of Chaffhaye or Alfalfa in a bag. If not this I would be feeding baled Alfalfa hay. Thanks for the info I have some chickens as well but nothing on the 1000 weight scale. It is all expensive but worthwhile.

[@JMINDIANA487]

I sold out my flock of 25 hens this spring. Mix of purebreds. 14 dominique the remainder being Rhode Islands and Golden Comet.They were great layers even getting 6 to 8 eggs per day in winter. One problem was the feed cost even though they were supplimented with table scraps.. I had bought them the year before in hopes of free ranging but found some shot dead at the end of my barn driveway. The neighbor is about 100 yards from my chicken house across a country road. He kills any animal that walks onto his driveway or yard. NYC transplants. I decide to just quit if I could not free range some.

[@thisorthat7626]

How about a chicken tractor so the hens are contained? Then they can eat grass and bugs and stay on your property?

[@nameshavebeenchangedtoprot2127]

Great content as always, but I got a really dumb question as I want to get into something like what you are doing. 1) How do you sell your meat, do you pay for slaguhtering or do you sell live animals? Second question, If you do sell "ready to consume product" how do you locate an approved meat processor, USDA approved or not? I have looked through some of the USDA approved sites, but none are anywhere near me. The whole jist of this revolves around getting the product to the consumer for me, I just don't understand that aspect as yet, any info in that direction would be much appreciated. Thanks again! This would address whether costs need to include processing and transportation costs.

[@dougsoltesz]

Great video. I would have liked to see a table at the end with the data comparing the animals and showing output weight per month. So for sheep it would be the 300lbs/6-8 months for ~42lbs. All the data is in the video though, I'm just being lazy. As for chickens I find that first year chicks sometimes lay over winter (reduced) if you feed them black oil sunflower seeds (at least here in Texas).

[@theShepherdess]

Good point! But for the meat it isn’t as much a monthly harvest, so it’s important to keep that mindset. The process feels like forever when you are growing out a beef steer. 😅

[@Wiseguy63]

I do recommend an extra replacement or addition to chicken, and it is the cheapest protein. It gives you eggs, meat and also replacement animals if you invest in a medium cost incubator. Quails.... Very little space, low cost and yummy meat (brown meat mostly).

[@startliving3859]

This is really informative. Thank you. Finally a KZbin video that doesn't decrease your brain cells.

[@ram_diesel_power6039]

Golden commits lay awesome. They are small and lay almost year round. Even in the frozen north of Maine. I use a solar light in the winter to keep my chickens putting out.

[@danlopresto1123]

I do the same I give them a extra 5 hrs of light

[@danjenkins9427]

my Golden commits have done well for me. I am in GA so i don't add any light and still only see a small slump in laying over the winter.

[@ahnstalk6261]

Are they good foragers? Would they do okay without an insulated coop in Zone 5?

[@justtom1820]

@@ahnstalk6261 All chickens do well in colder climates, we keep wyandotte and silkies in an open front chicken tractor year around in zone 6.

[@ahnstalk6261]

@@justtom1820 Thanks. I was wondering about the smaller breed Comet he described. I understand the bigger breeds w smaller combs handle the cold fine. Do your silkies go broody for you?

[@johnhunter273]

We raise Suffolk Hampshire/ St Croix sheep. (Don't ask, we got a really good deal on a st croix buck).... It takes about 6-7 months, on straight grass to reach 100-110 pounds. No feed, and occasional minerals. And the last 2 I had butchered, netted 90 pounds combined. The last 6 or 7 seem to be averaging 40-45%.

[@that1goatbleats]

My australorps were definitely super chickens. I'd have to be on top of their nests in the winter otherwise I'd only be collecting frozen eggs. I only had two and they each laid about 1-2 eggs per day and only stopped briefly for molt.

[@that1goatbleats]

Looking to homestead in the next upcoming years. Just have my chickens for now.

[@theShepherdess]

Way to go! Those are some great layers.

[@juliannamcgill7626]

Hogs..york/Hamp show lines 5/6 months 245-300 live weight, grain and forage fed Lambs..Suffolk Hamp 5/6 months 115-150 live weight creep and pasture fed Northern California on the coast pasture 80/90% of year as well

[@juliannamcgill7626]

I have some of our farm uploads on my page ... always appreciate your in sight!

[@johnhead2633]

Buckeye chickens are supposed to lay just as well in winter.

[@OneOfMany111]

I raise Jacob Sheep. Easy keepers. Never had any issues with disease, worms or birth. I grow pumpkins for them to control worms, but never had any problem with it. Grass fed and they eat orchard grass hay at the cost of $6.50 a #100 bale. Hardly have to grain feed, only when lambs are born. My lambs finish off around 45 pounds processed meat at 8 months. Best of all, they have the best flavor when it comes to taste over any beef.

[@theShepherdess]

Great carcass yield!!

[@cabbyhubby]

I run 6 mama cows and a bull on 24 acres in East Texas, i try to buy as little hay as possible, im in the middle of Hay country, I keep a steer every 2-3 years and sell the rest of my calves on craigslist, try not to transport to sale barn 30 miles from me, takes time,i let the buyer come to me, I have a nice corral and head gate to work them by myself, about 95% grass fed, i buy very little bagged feed, also keep a herd of 30 or so chickens, buff orpingtons, 200 or so eggs per year, per bird, and got my own incubator , they free range but supplement with hen scratch in winter, I like eggs. Havent ever made any real money doing this but enjoy it, got my first calf in the 1970's.

[@adamsmithson486]

Pozdrawiam serdecznie i życzę miłego dnia

[@prittmike]

It takes my katahdins 7 months to get to that finish weight. This is, of course, the ram lambs. Ewe lambs are slightly smaller.

[@LtColDaddy71]

The only thing I’d add is that with stacked enterprises, give each one full credit for what it contributed towards production when determining the profit / loss per animal. Make the animals pay rent and buy their feed even if it came from a paid off farm. Then you’ll know if the livestock portion is holding its own.

[@jamesobryan3258]

I think stacking enterprises is the most efficient. A lot of food can be produced with small acreages if you’re stacking.

[@garrettmesser3977]

crickets give you the best input:output ratio

[@barsoom43]

A great and informative video.. Have you considered rabbits? I live on 3.5 acres- half woods, half open.. I'm all set up for raising rabbits. My understanding is they are the best bang for the buck either in cost of production or food quality.

[@chrismay2298]

Yeah, she dropped the ball and missed the best producers there are. Rabbits all the way!

[@hillockfarm8404]

@@chrismay2298 For home meat production absolutely, for commercial sales cute and fluffy is trickier. + infrastructure if you want to make an income that covers expenses & decent wage, given the numbers that takes. So here too for my own freezer mostly rabbit (or keep it on the "hoof" so no worries on failing electric or enough freezer space + cost of that). For sale some lamb surplus that i don't want to keep (breeding ramlamb goes to my own freezer after). But i don't breed for meat, growth and so on. Just for health, ease of lambing, twins, hopefully some milk in the future and rooing coat (shetland and for the rooing back into the breed mix with soay). Smaller, more primitive breed (fence wise they are woolly goats!), but fits my situation and i like lighter/smaller animals for easier care. Also fits some more on the same space (or more space per animal) and that means more peace in the flock (safety in numbers) and/or less squables in the barn.

[@lucindaniehaus9405]

Our chickens constantly lay eggs, I'm not sure if it's could be because of where I live or something but they just get regular laying feed and snacks once a week

[@michaoz1002]

9-12 months to get a pig to 300 lbs is a good number? What breed do you have in mind? From what I know 120 kg in 6 months is pretty standard, which would mean 300 lbs(135 kg) in like 6-7 months, so do you mean very extensive feeding regime?