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5 Tips to Raising Livestock for Food

Cattle, Chickens, Livestock, Pigs, Raising Your Own Food

Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means I will earn a commission at no additional cost to you, if you click through and make a purchase. Regardless, I only link to products we use on our homestead or believe in.
Concerned about our modern food system and the growing cost? Here's 5 tips to raising livestock and what it really takes to raise your own livestock and if it's for you. Read now if you've ever wanted to raise your own food.

Most homesteaders want to begin raising livestock at some point on their homesteading journey. It seems every time I go to the grocery store prices have increased yet again and when listening to the news, there's another outbreak of something in connection to our food. There's a peace of mind and sense of accomplishment when I raise it myself. I know exactly how the animal was cared for, what it ate, and more importantly, what it didn't eat.

It's no wonder more and more folks are turning towards backyard or back pasture livestock. However, there's a few things you need to know if you're considering raising your own livestock.

We raise our own pigs, beef cattle, meat chickens, and laying hens here on our homestead.

5 Tips to Raising Livestock for Food

1. Choosing your livestock. There are many options from laying hens, meat chickens, beef cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, rabbits, or even fish. Laying hens are great because if you purchase hens instead of chicks, you're getting food every day from the get go. The other livestock offers larger amounts of food, but some of them will be dependent on where you live and the amount of acreage you own.

2. Consider the end game. This will help you decide which livestock animals to start with. Do you want dairy animals? Then a goat or cow will be your choice. Do you want enough meat to feed your family for an entire year with one animal? Then beef cattle will your choice. Read Pros and Cons of Raising Grass Fed Beef

Don't want to spend an entire year or two caring for an animal? Then consider meat chickens who are ready to butcher and eat in as little as eight weeks. Here's our experience and step by step tutorial on How to Butcher a Chicken at Home, How to Raise Meat Chickens, and Raising Chickens for Profit.

3. Expense. Let's be real here for a moment. It costs money to raise your own livestock. There's the initial purchase price of your animals, feed, fencing, and shelter. Many people wonder if it's truly cheaper to raise it yourself.

Well, that depends. It's definitely cheaper for us to raise our own grass fed organic beef than purchase it. We have enough pasture to feed our animals spring through fall. We purchase local fermented grass (haylage) that has a higher protein count than regular grass hay to feed during the winter months, making it a better feed option and is cheaper than regular old grass bales.

Cattle don't require a barn or heat lamps (baby chicks and piglets do), so their shelter is the hill behind our home for wind protection and the large evergreens when needed during big snows. We do have to keep up on our fence lines, so barb wire and posts are a cost we incur every year. We're able to use my dad's bull to breed our cows back each season at no cost, so we don't have to keep purchasing cattle. So for us, grass fed organic beef is extremely frugal. However, that might not be the case for you.

But if you don't have pasture and have to purchase feed all year long, then it might not be cheaper. You'll need to weigh the difference between the going cost per pound to purchase the food in your area verses your costs to purchase, house, and feed the animal until butchering time. On our meat chickens, we barely came under the cost of purchasing whole organic chickens at Costco. We're planning on purchasing our food in bulk this year and going in halves on renting the butchering equipment with our neighbors to help cut costs more.

The beautiful thing about homesteading is tailoring it for your situation and needs. Be sure to read Pros and Cons of Raising Grass Fed Beef Cattle if you're considering how to make cattle work for you.

Pigs require fencing, but you get a pretty good amount of meat for six months worth of time and effort. They'll also eat vegetables from your garden, old bread, and fruit scraps. You will probably have to purchase some feed as well.

Now chickens are a dual animal for both eggs and meat. Some breeds will provide you both and some are just best used as a meat chicken or as a layer. When free ranging, our chicken feed bill is basically nada. Sweet!

Grab your free copy of the Ultimate Home Food Preservation Guide

4. Your Time Investment. I'm not gonna lie to you, raising your own livestock takes a level of commitment. Most animals will require daily watering and feeding. We don't feed our cattle during the summer, but checking of the water levels is always a must. You'll want to keep an eye out for illness or injury and the best way to do this is to daily inspect your livestock. It can simply be a quick visual sweep across the herd in the pasture or strolling among them for a few minutes in the evening.

If you plan on leaving home for a period of time, you'll need to find someone who will check in on your animals for you. When we go camping, we often enlist the help of neighbors or family to check on our animals. One way to help out with the watering is an automatic stock tank valve, basically, it keeps your water tank full without you having to do it. This is especially helpful during hot summer months when our cattle can drain our tub while we're at work.

No matter what the weather or how you're feeling, your livestock will need tending. However, we're able to raise almost all of our own meat with both by my husband and me working full time. So it is doable.

5. Emotional Investment. You can't make pets out of livestock. You will care for them, you will get used to seeing them in the field or backyard, but always remind yourself they are your food source. We do our very best to make sure our livestock have a safe and clean living environment that mimics how they would live if they were wild. This means pasture raised and grass fed for us.

Our children know our livestock is for meat. They help with their care but we don't hide the harder part of farm life from them. I was raised on a cattle farm and am grateful for that upbringing. I know what goes into our food. I know the work and the end result. And knowing all that I absolutely chose it for myself and my family.

We don't name our livestock that is being raised for food. Except for our cattle, which we've named Hamburger and T-bone one year, so there wasn't any confusion on which steers were being butchered.

I believe raising livestock is worth it, despite the investment and the costs.

30 Ways of Homesteading

The Prepared Bloggers Network is at it again! We're glad you've found us, because the month of April is all about homesteading.

Homesteading is a lifestyle of self-sufficiency. It is characterized by growing your own food, home preservation of foodstuffs, and it may even involve the small scale production of textiles, clothing, and craftwork for household use or sale. Most importantly homesteading is not defined by where someone lives, such as the city or the country, but by the lifestyle choices they make.

The Prepared Bloggers are passionate about what they do and they each have their own way of achieving self-sufficiency. Grab your favorite drink and enjoy reading about the 30 Ways of Homesteading!

Crops on the Homestead

Straw Bale Gardening from PreparednessMama

Crop Rotation for the Backyard Homesteader  from Imperfectly Happy

Benefits of Growing Fruit from SchneiderPeeps

Succession Planting: More Food in the Same Space from 104 Homestead

Crops to Grow for Food Storage from Grow A Good Life

Winter Gardening Series from Our Stoney Acres

How To Build a Raised Garden Bed For Under $12 from Frugal Mama and The Sprout

How to Save Carrot Seeds from Food Storage and Survival

Animals on the Homestead

Getting Your Bees Started from Game and Garden

Homesteading How-To: Bees from Tennessee Homestead

How to Get Ready for Chicks from The Homesteading Hippy

Selecting a Goat Breed for Your Homestead from Chickens Are a Gateway Animal

Adding New Poultry and Livestock from Timber Creek Farm

Beekeeping 101: 5 Things To Do Before Your Bees Arrive from Home Ready Home

How to Prepare for Baby Goats from Homestead Lady

How to Prevent and Naturally Treat Mastitis in the Family Milk Cow from North Country Farmer

Tips to Raising Livestock from Melissa K. Norris

Raising Baby Chicks – Top 5 Chicken Supplies from Easy Homestead

Making the Homestead Work for You – Infrastructure

Ways to Homestead in a Deed Restricted Community from Blue Jean Mama

Building a Homestead from the Ground Up from Beyond Off Grid

DIY Rainwater Catchment System from Survival Prepper Joe

Finding Our Homestead Land from Simply Living Simply

I Wish I Was A Real Homesteader by Little Blog on the Homestead

Endless Fencing Projects from Pasture Deficit Disorder

Essential Homesteading Tools: From Kitchen To Field from Trayer Wilderness

Homesteading Legal Issues from The 7 P's Blog

Why We Love Small Space Homesteading In Suburbia from Lil' Suburban Homestead

Preserving and Using the Bounty from the Homestead

How to Dehydrate Corn & Frozen Vegetables from Mom With a Prep

How to Make Soap from Blue Yonder Urban Farms

How to Render Pig Fat from Mama Kautz

How to Make Your Own Stew Starter from Homestead Dreamer

Why You Should Grow and Preserve Rhubarb! from Living Life in Rural Iowa

It’s a Matter of Having A Root Cellar…When You Don’t Have One from A Matter of Preparedness

Other Articles You May Enjoy

  • Growing a Garden & Raising Livestock Without Acreage
  • Planning Your Livestock for a Year's Worth of Meat Per Person
  • Our Food Production Plan & How to Plan for Livestock
  • How to Keep Animals Cool in Hot Weather
  • Maximizing Your Homestead for Profit & Production (With Joel Salatin)
  • Commonly Believed Homesteading Myths

Melissa Norris

Melissa K. Norris inspires people's faith and pioneer roots with her books, podcast, and blog. Melissa lives with her husband and two children in their own little house in the big woods in the foothills of the North Cascade Mountains. When she's not wrangling chickens and cattle, you can find her stuffing Mason jars with homegrown food and playing with flour and sugar in the kitchen.

Read more about Melissa

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Comments:

  1. How to render pig fat

    April 1, 2015 at 1:01 pm

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    Reply
  2. 30 Ways of Homesteading - Growing Fruit | SchneiderPeeps

    April 1, 2015 at 1:41 pm

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    Reply
  3. Building a Homestead from the Ground Up | Beyond Off Grid

    April 1, 2015 at 2:40 pm

    […] Tips to Raising Livestock from Melissa K. Norris […]

    Reply
  4. Essential Homesteading Tools From Kitchen To Field - Trayer Wilderness

    April 1, 2015 at 4:33 pm

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    Reply
  5. Finding our Homestead Land - Simply Living Simply

    April 1, 2015 at 5:23 pm

    […] Tips to Raising Livestock from Melissa K. Norris […]

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  6. 9 Crops to Grow for Food Storage

    7 years ago

    […] Lady How to Prevent and Naturally Treat Mastitis in the Family Milk Cow from North Country Farmer Tips to Raising Livestock from Melissa K. Norris Raising Baby Chicks – Top 5 Chicken Supplies from Easy […]

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  7. Beekeeping 101: 5 Things to Do Before Your Bees Arrive - Home Ready Home

    7 years ago

    […] Tips to Raising Livestock from Melissa K. Norris […]

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  8. How To Make Soap - Blue Yonder Urban Farms

    April 2, 2015 at 3:18 am

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  9. Crop Rotation & the Backyard Homestead - Imperfectly Happy

    April 2, 2015 at 12:10 pm

    […] Tips to Raising Livestock from Melissa K. Norris […]

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  10. Why Your Garden Needs a Straw Bale | PreparednessMama

    April 2, 2015 at 2:11 pm

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  11. How to Make Your Own "Stew Starters" - Homestead Dreamer

    7 years ago

    […] Tips to Raising Livestock from Melissa K. Norris […]

    Reply
  12. Podcast #52 7 Foods to Grow at Home

    April 4, 2015 at 4:02 pm

    […] 1. Eggs. Our laying hens provide enough eggs to keep us in stock all year round. A few months in the late fall and early winter we run a little lean, but the girls pick back up after molting. For our family 4 laying hens is enough to keep us in eggs. Want to raise your own backyard chickens? Then you absolutely need to get yourself signed up for the Home Grown Food Summit and you’ll get a FREE e-book all about raising backyard chickens to your inbox. You’ll also want to check out our 5 Tips to Raising Livestock for Food […]

    Reply
  13. Selecting a Goat Breed for Your Homestead

    April 6, 2015 at 5:09 am

    […] Tips to Raising Livestock from Melissa K. Norris […]

    Reply
  14. How to Prepare for Baby Goats - Homestead Lady

    April 10, 2015 at 3:01 am

    […] Tips to Raising Livestock from Melissa K. Norris […]

    Reply
  15. Ways to Homestead in a Deed Restricted Community - Blue Jean Mama

    April 10, 2015 at 12:42 pm

    […] Tips to Raising Livestock from Melissa K. Norris […]

    Reply
  16. How to Dehydrate Frozen Vegetables - Mom with a PREP

    April 29, 2015 at 11:11 am

    […] Tips to Raising Livestock from Melissa K. Norris […]

    Reply
  17. Adele Virtue

    April 19, 2016 at 4:56 pm

    Goats are also a dual animal, you get milk and if you are planning on getting meat from them, bred them with a meat goat (we had a 1/2 boer 1/2 nubian buck) and you can actually get close to 25 pounds of meat off a 7 months old kid. We bred to have them this time of the year so they are ready to butcher in the late fall. We use the meat, keep and tan the skins (haven’t done anything more than that though yet but plan to) and do not have to winter them over. The does can be kept milking sometimes up to a year or 2 before rebreeding. Multiple births are very common, just had triplets on Sunday. I try to sell the does for $50 each but if they do not sell I do not worry since I know they can always go into the freezer of canning jars. Make excellent sausage. Just finally figured out that the roasts are best on slow and low when cooked. You can raise 7 goats or sheep for the same amount of feed you need for one cow. Also goat milk is very healthy. Makes good cheese (does not melt as well as cow cheese though). Those that are lactose intolerant can usually handle goats milk. There are exceptions though of course.

    Reply
  18. How Much to Plant for a Years Worth of Food | Melissa K. Norris

    May 12, 2017 at 1:05 am

    […] When you’re truly living off of what you can grow, especially if it’s not livestock (this allows you to render down a fat source) it can be hard to get a substantial amount of calories from just vegetables and fruit. A dried bean gives you both. (Here’s 5 Tips to Raising Livestock) […]

    Reply
  19. Henry Killingsworth

    2 years ago

    I thought it was interesting when you explained that it is important to make sure your livestock don’t get sick when running a farm. My brother is interested in purchasing a large plot of land, and then raising some cattle. I’ll be sure to share this information with him so that he’ll have an idea of the things he needs to look for when taking care of cattle.

    Reply
  20. Thomas Clarence

    2 years ago

    I thought it was interesting when you explained that barb wire is an important expense when it comes to caring for cattle. I would imagine that this type of fence is important for keeping predators away from the livestock and for keeping them from escaping. It seems like it would be a tough time trying to round up cattle if they were to escape from their grazing areas.

    Reply
  21. bazargosfand

    June 26, 2020 at 6:49 am

    It really was one of the best articles I’ve read about livestock. Thanks for sharing

    Reply

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Melissa K. Norris

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