Small Animals - raise meat and eggs

Small animals can be a source of fun and good fresh food. Butchering your own meat or harvesting your own eggs may put you off a bit if you haven't done it before, but there really isn't much to it. All you need is a little room and a desire for fresh food.

There are any number of animals that can be raised with ease on a relatively small piece of land. We'll discuss animal farming on a small scale here to show you what can be done - even in the city.

Raising animals in your backyard in the city is a possibility. Even in New York City, chickens are allowed inside city limits as long as there are no roosters in the flock. Here in Cheyenne, chickens are also allowed in town - again, no male birds in the flock.

Why raise your own meat and eggs? Well, with all the concern about treatment of animals, you can be sure that your animals for meat and eggs are well cared for. You can be sure that they are indeed organic and free range. It's always nice to know what's on and in the food you are eating.

Another reason to raise small animals is because they can also be coordinated with growing your own food. We often feed excess vegetables from the garden to our chickens and turkeys. It is a good way to supplement free range and commercial feed.

So what is the range of possibilities on a small place? It is quite an impressive variety. Consider that the following small animals can be raised for meat and eggs in a relatively small area without much trouble:

Chickens - my favorite of small animals for meat, and you'll love the fresh source of chicken eggs. They are easy to care for and allowed just about anywhere. There are many breeds of chickens to pick from, so you could have quite a fancy flock of egg layers. A small pen or a large yard is just fine for chickens. Just keep them out of the garden because they scratch up big holes and eat plants.

Learn more about raising chickens and you'll be better prepared to enjoy fresh eggs and meat from your own backyard.

Rabbits - a friendly and productive animal that can provide meat and fur, and they don't require much room at all. Keep them in pens or let them roam about. They are very quiet and easy to maintain.

Here is the place to learn more about raising rabbits for meat and fur (coming soon).

Ducks - expect a little more noise from these animals, and different behavior than chickens. They are messy with their water. They are a good source of both meat and eggs, and a good bunch of bug catchers.

Click here to learn more about ducks as a source of meat and eggs (coming soon).

Geese - one of the larger of the animals you might raise. Noisey and a bit aggressive, but still a meat and egg animal that you can handle and be satisfied with. They make a mess with their water just like ducks, and are known as weeders in a mature garden.

Learn more about the best two-winged long-necked watchdog you'll ever have, right here (coming soon).

Turkeys - one of the more tame and curious of small animals that you might raise for meat and eggs. They are also closely related to the chicken in terms of limited intelligence. Turkeys peck around to find food, but they don't scratch and tear up the ground like chickens.

Click here (coming soon) to learn more about raising the centerpiece for Thanksgiving dinner.

Fish - one of many underwater small animals that aren't raised too often around the home for food, but one that can be kept in a relatively small pond or large tanks. Some fish can be quite self-sufficient given adequate surface area and variation of water depth. Different varieties are adapted to survive well in warm, cold, deep, shallow, still or moving water. Also, some are bug and fish eaters, others feed on plants, and some are bottom feeders.

Learn more about fish farming and aquaculture here (coming soon).

So there you have it. Six different types of small animals that are easy to raise and provide delicious fresh meat for your table. Four of the six provide eggs that you can raise into young birds or fry up for breakfast.

If you have a good size pond, ducks and geese will enjoy the surface water, and fish will enjoy the depths. You could set up an aquaculture that is relatively self-supporting if you know what you're doing.

If you have a field or pasture, chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese will all appreciate the open space to forage for grass, weeds and bugs. These all naturally return to "home" when it gets dark. Rabbits should be confined with tighter fencing near their homes since they will need to be rounded up at the end of the day.

Some protection is required from predators, and some fencing will be necessary to keep the roamers from visiting with the neighbors. The area you live in will determine what type of protection your small animals will need against predators.

The best way to raise small animals is to know their needs for food, water and shelter, and understand their tolerances to weather conditions. You'll also need to know a thing or two about predators that will find the meat and eggs you're raising to be just as tempting as you will.

Done with Small Animals - take me Home