The 3 Best Animals for Backyard Farms

People often come to me about setting up a backyard farm and already have a conceived notion that it’ll be vegetables only - no animals allowed. That is simply not true, however. Whatever your situation, even if you only have a balcony - or maybe not a garden at all - you can still raise and look after livestock to aid your self-sufficient dream lifestyle.

I’m lucky enough to be farming on many acres. But that wasn’t always the case, and I had a much smaller space about 45msq (approx 480sqft) that I farmed in. I managed to cram in quite a lot into this space without negatively impacting animal welfare or annoying the neighbours.

Before diving straight in, I would emphasize the importance of giving proper thought to keeping livestock in a small space. Your hygiene and cleanliness must be considered because keeping animals healthy in a small space is a lot harder. For example, chickens in a field have room to run, grow and sort out their pecking order. In a small area, there are less places for them to avoid each other and more potential for illness to spread faster. You will also have fewer options to get rid of their waste; a manure heap in a garden isn’t very sanitary. Finally, overall costs of keeping backyard livestock is likely to be higher than on a farm. I graze my sheep year round on fresh grass. In a yard or garden this isn’t possible, so food costs will be higher.

None of this is to put your off. It’s just better to go in with your eyes wide open! Now … to the 3 best animals for backyard farms.

QUAIL

My number one option when you’re starting out are quail, more specifically, Coturnix quail. There are a huge array of advantages to these birds; they are fairly quiet, require little space, grow extremely fast and offer you the ability to produce not only your own eggs but also meat. Once you’ve got them through the chick phase, they are also extremely hardy.

Coturnix quail are not necessarily the easiest of birds to keep due to two main reasons; their flightiness and their sudden desire to turn on each other. In addressing the first matte, I advise hatching your own or getting hold of very young chicks. Many people have questioned how my quail are so calm and I attribute it to hatching the chicks out at home, being around them every day and giving them a lot of human interaction. They rarely fly off and if they do, are easy to catch. Meanwhile, though their desire to attack each other can end in horrifying results I’ve also had low incidence of this and I believe this is due to my birds’ calmness and also stocking quota’s - I do not house more than one male together and if a hen shows designs of attacking others, I’ll cull her.

Quail cannot be free-ranged and need to be kept in a coop or, even better in my option, a rabbit hutch. They are ideal even if you don’t have a garden as you could keep a small group of one male to 4 or 5 females in an indoor rabbit or guinea pig cage. And apart from a small trill given off by the male, they are lovely and quiet.

If you want to hatch your own, check out my best hatching & rearing gear recommendations.

RABBITS

My second option for backyard farms are rabbits. Like quail, they reproduce and grow extremely quickly, allowing you to produce your own meat. They are all-but silent, again need little space, their droppings can be used as an instant fertiliser for any vegetable beds you may have and if you’re into making use of everything from an animal you raise, their pelts can be put to good use too.

Rabbits should have access to as large a space as you can give them and meat rabbits in particular are large breeds. I use double story hutches for my main breeding does and bucks and then house the kitts separately once they’re weaned. Does can have upwards of 10 kitts at a time, meaning your freezer will be filled in no time. In addition, there is a market for selling offspring to others who want to set up rabbitries.

A care should be given to their welfare (in Britain, for example, they’re one of the most popular pets but the most neglected) and a varied diet should be fed. This doesn’t need to be expensive though, and you can simply allow part of your yard to grow weeds and long grass that can be harvested for them alongside pellets. In the UK we have several diseases that fatally afflict rabbits. For those reason, my breeding animals are vaccinated.

CHICKENS

My final animal and one you may have thought would come first, are chickens. Chickens are fantastic if you want to produce your own eggs and meat. However, there are a number of negatives - largely the fact that humans seem to have an inbuilt hatred for poultry noise - and not just of the cockerel crow but large hen clucking too. In many US districts, chickens are not even allowed and where they are, limits on numbers are often put in place. If you wanted to raise enough chicken to eat one a fortnight, you’d need 25 and this, in many areas, would break the rules.

Chickens also, despite what people think, honestly need quite a lot of space and do not easily mix into a garden setting as they will destroy plants. A static coop is often best as it is not easy to move them around without ruining your entire back yard. They can also be afflicted by a whole host of diseases.

This is NOT to put you off, however. I love chickens and what they offer. I just highly recommend researching them first and establishing whether they suit your needs and location. They come in a variety of sizes, so a smaller place could have bantams rather than large fowl. If you only want eggs, then hens are the way forwards. Even if you’re not allowed a cockerel, you can buy in hatching eggs and rear these if you want to consider having birds for the table.

So there is a brief outline of my 3 best animals for backyard farms. You really CAN have animals are part of your homesteading journey, even if you only have a small space.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask below.