Can you? SHOULD you?

I have been ruminating on this post a long time... I have seen many videos popping up on Homesteading/raising livestock at home.  Everything from how to raise a pig, goat, chickens, whatever animal you want, in a small space...

Now, I do see the value in this, because many people are scared to make that leap, and just need some directions, help in how to get started.  But, should you?  Should you raise animals for food?  Can you? Maybe not can you do it, but can you do it right?  This seems to get lost, I feel.  Many of these how to videos focus on how little land you need to house your animals.  One woman said you need only a sixteen by sixteen (ft) pen to raise a pig in. Really?  Some raise them in even smaller areas.  Now, there are two schools of thought to raising pigs- one is the intensive theory- just fill them up with food as fast as possible, get them to processing weight, and ship them off.  Then, there is the more natural (and I believe humane) method, where the pigs have shelter, but are outside, allowed to engage in species appropriate behavior (rooting, wallowing) and the option to move around/exercise.  Pigs are extremely intelligent.  If you don't believe that, try loading them onto a trailer...


Livestock should have access to room to run, play (they do this when they have the space), and generally enjoy life.  They need adequate shelter, clean water, food and the ability to move about as they would.   If you give sheep and cattle, and any other livestock specie, the room to move, they will.  If you lock them up in a small area, they "give up" basically, and just become 100% dependent on us for everything, and lack the initiative to go out and forage.  I see new homesteaders, well meaning ones, with small (as in tiny) pens for their sheep.  These sheep have almost no room to move, are very out of shape, fat, and do no exhibit natural behavior- moving to new grazing areas, kicking up their heels, generally enjoying life.  I don't know about you, but I think we owe it to these guys to allow their time here to be more than "adequate" but we should strive to surpass that. 


If we don't step up and allow these animals room to move, we are no better than factory farms.  We are just smaller.

Now, there are ways to make small areas a bit better for our livestock.  For instance, we can add environmental enrichment, such as big balls to play with, pools for the pigs to wade in, and we can also have more than one small pen, just so they have a chance to be "somewhere different".

Sheep simply want to be able to graze new areas.  If given the option they will cover several acres a day.  Horses?  That is a whole other ball game.  Horses need mental stimulation as well as exercise and training.  The less you do with them, the less they have interest in you. Horses need to know you as the leader.  If you just throw out hay to them once or twice a day, that's not going to get you respect.  Horses also need grooming, foot care, vaccinations (sheep too), and in a nutshell just cost a lot to keep and are high maintenance.  Keeping horses, to those of us who know horses, is a money losing proposition.  We in the know call them hay burners.  They burn a lot of hay, which costs a lot of money- as horses need top quality hay.  They should not be kept in wet muddy paddocks without high dry ground as they will get thrush (yeast infection of the foot) and fencing?  Cheap, shoddy fencing will get your horse caught/cut and cost you a ton in vet bills.  Before you get a horse, think about how much money you have to throw away...

Though this got longer than I thought it would, I really want everyone to come away with this:

If I chose to homestead and raise livestock, will these animals have it better than a factory farm?  Be honest.  The whole point of raising livestock ourselves is so that these animals have a better life than what they would in a factory...  If you can't assure yourself of that (and just because they have a teeny bit of grass for two weeks of the year and have fresh air does not cut it) then don't do it.  Don't do it until you can do it right.