Exurban Living
Exurban Living
The lifestyle companion to www.urbansurvival.com and www.peoplenomics.com
Peep, Moo, or Bah?
Stocking Up
Contributed by Virginia Cincinnatus
Headed back to the farm? You will need to do some serious thinking about stock. Livestock, that is! The truth is, deciding what livestock to add to a small holding farm isn't as simple as you might think.
Until the Second World War, the United States had extensive family farms scattered across the land. The highly diversified family farm was often supported by an outside income, but its core was a carefully selected set of animals and plantings. In the years since WWII, industrial farming has made great strides in efficiency of production over the old family farm. But one of the ways agribusiness has done so is by specialized breeding of production animals. The sad truth is that many of these new breeds are frequently not very well adapted for a modern family farm. Ex-urbanites heading back to the family farm lifestyle must think seriously about what breeds of farm animals they want to raise.
From the settling of America to the early 1900s, many American farm breeds were developed which were true multi-purpose livestock. Some examples include chicken breeds which are both good egg producers as well as good meat poultry, both hardy (to forage outside) and fairly good mothers (to raise their own chicks). Older breeds of sheep exist which are both good wool producers as well as decent meat producers (and easy lambers). Cattle that produce tasty, high butterfat milk good for butter and cheese, make good beef on lower grade forage, and are also useful for oxen (a triple purpose breed) still exist as well.
Besides the production characteristics of a breed, some are better adapted to different climates, soils, feed, and care styles. The small holder will soon find that many of the "modern" agribusiness maximized breeds have been bred larger to generate greater per animal profits, and are characterized by difficulties in birthing. Sleepless nights in the dead of winter pulling oversized lambs and calves can make holding a day-time job difficult! Older and slightly smaller historic breeds, while sometimes slower growing, usually do not have as many birthing challenges. These older breeds are often more suited for a less sheltered, lower energy input lifestyle, as well, in that they are hardier and more suited to living on lower grade feeds.
Most of these older historic breeds were well adapted to small scale family farming. But because they didn't maximize single product production (eggs, milk, beef, mutton, wool, etc.), they were gradually left behind by large-scale specialized agribusiness concerns. Many became scarce, and then rare, and some are now threatened with extinction! So how is an ex-urbanite to find out about the type of breeds best suited for a small family farm?
One of the best sources of information on these older multi-purpose breeds is the non-profit American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (www.albc-usa.org). Their web-based breed lists include superb reference links that will allow the would-be ex-urbanite to explore possible breed choices, and then discover who near their location may have an existing flock or herd from which they can buy. Other useful breed information, usually with full coverage of the historic small farm breeds, is the found among the books and pamphlets published by Storey Publishing (www.storey.com). Storey's books are among the clearest and most informative sources of in-depth small holder farming information, and belong on every ex-urbanite's bookshelf.
Not all chickens are alike, and neither are all cows, sheep, pigs and goats! If you are going into small-scale livestock production, exercise due diligence. Research before you buy, perhaps starting with the sources of information given above. You'll be glad you did!
Contact Information:
Publisher: george@ure.net
Editor: elaine@ure.net
All contents © 2004 George A. Ure