I havenʻt even mentioned raising sheep for milk, which if you choose to do that will be a regular daily chore that will take a significant chunk out of your day. All this can add up to a decent amount of time needed to care for these animals. On smaller properties, theyʻll need some sort of shelter that needs to be cleaned regularly, daily supplemental feeding, the occasional sheering and hoof trimming. In fact all you may need to do is sheer them 2xʻs per year. Sheep do pretty well in a food forest setting which you can read about in this post. They don’t need much day-to-day care if you have a lot of land for them to graze. Sheep are grazing animals that can live off of rugged terrain. Iʻve already done the work for you in this post where I break down the best chicken breeds for Hawaii. But which breed is a good breed? No need to worry. If you get a good heritage breed of chickens, they’ll go broody and raise their chicks independently, without much input needed from you. Youʻll have to do all the feeding of course, and usually there are more medical issues with chickens in this environment, but it really doesnʻt take up much time at all, especially if you get an automatic coop door opener like this one on Amazon. If you go with a stationary coop, you can employ a deep bedding system that allows you to only have to clean the coop once per year. In it, they can be protected from predators, forage fresh pasture every day (minimizing the need for supplemental feed), and have a safe home to live in.Īll you have to do is provide fresh water, move it a couple feet every now and then, throw in a few kitchen scraps, and collect some eggs. In other areas where predators are an issue, chickens can be housed in a moveable chicken coop that can house 1 chicken per 3 sq ft. All I have to do is hunt for eggs and catch one every now and then when we want to harvest the meat. The chickens I have even roost in a tree, no housing needed. In areas where predators are scarce, chickens can thrive pretty much on their own in a food forest landscape. Here’s our list of popular farm animals and how much work they are.
The Most Low Maintenance Farm Animals, Compared Bees are just, if not more low maintenance than chickens but don’t provide as much quality food as chickens do, for example. This was the case when we compared bees to chickens. We also partially considered the farm animal’s return on investment. Some animals have high cleanliness needs, which makes them time-consuming. Needy animals require lots of time every day. Sourcing and/or growing food takes time and is expensive. Many of us don’t have access to a large plot of land, either. Maintaining grazing property is time-consuming. Here are the considerations we used, when deciding which animal is easiest to keep. There are plenty of factors to consider when naming the most low-maintenance animals. Happy Henhouse Automatic Coop Door Opener I didnʻt have to rush home to close their door to keep them safe at night, making life so much easier. I had one of these on a farm in Malibu once, theyʻd open when the sun came up and close when the sun came down. Related: Looking to make the most low maintenance farm animal even more low maintenance? You need an automatic chicken coop door opener. But for the average backyard homesteader, the chicken is it! You might have 1000 acres where cows can roam and do their thing and you only come calling when its time to butcher.
Just remember, what works best for me may not be best for you. Now, hold on! Before you run off to buy some chicks, let me explain a few of my reasons why chickens are the most low maintenance compared to other farm animals. Chickens don’t need much land, food, or clean-up, and in turn, just a couple of chickens can provide you with a constant supply of meat and eggs. The chicken topped the list for the most low maintenance farm animal. That’s why we’ve sorted through our favorite low-maintenance farm animals to pick the best one for the time-starved homesteader. But not everyone wants to spend time taking care of farm animals. Living a sustainable lifestyle on your homestead means growing some or all of your own food.
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