When you raise such animals on your homestead you can get enough meat for your family then you can become easily more self-sufficient. The second advantage of raising animals for meat is that you do not know how the animal was raised.
The taste and nutrition of the meat depending upon the factor that, what the animal ate and what it did not eat. You know your livestock so well that you can eat its meat without a second thought.
We have discussed with you the advantages of raising animals for meat. Now we talk about the cost of raising animals. Buying meat from the market is costly to raise your own meat.
According to your budget, you have to keep an eye on the feed cost of your animal so you will never spend more.
The animals which are raised on farms have tasteless meat. Sometimes this restless brine solution-soaked stuff is available at a very cheap rate.
Before buying this you should know what a brine solution is; it is a chemical mixture that enhances the flavor. This is fake salty water.
When you raise animals on your homestead then this meat doesn’t need any flavor enhancement. If you are looking for the cheapest animals to raise for meat then this is the right article for you.
Main Costs Of Raising Your Own Meat
Cost of raising animals matters a lot. That’s why you should keep an eye on the feed, shelter, and other necessary things. In this section of the article, we give you a detailed account of how you have to spend money on raising animals on your homestead.
PURCHASING OF HIGH-QUALITY ANIMALS
The first step is purchasing animals for your homestead. make sure you are buying high-quality animals because you are raising them for healthy meat. If the animal is healthy then you will get healthy meat.
If you start with healthy and well-bred animals, then the result will be very good. Healthy animals are cheap because they grow fast. If you buy thrifty animals then they need more food and care. This will be a waste of time and money.
FEED AND HAY
After purchasing the animal you have to feed them. You can easily buy feed and hay from different places. It is better to buy in bulk, it will save you money.
You can also buy feed from a feed mill and save money. From a feed mill, you can save almost half of the money. For instance, the feed for your chicken is $15 for 50 pounds from a local farm store and you will get the same feed from the feed mill for 16 dollars for 100 pounds. You can understand this is a huge difference.
You can also grow corn in your growing area and buy other ingredients such as mineral supplements and soybean meals and mix all of them. After that, grind the feed for your animals.
This is the perfect way of saving money if you can do it. If you are a grinder then you can easily grind your feed this will cut down the cost. If you prepare the feed in this way then it will cost you only 6 dollars per 100 pounds. the same feed you can buy from a feed mill at $16 and from the farm store for $30.
Never buy feed for more than three weeks at a time. Always prefer fresh feed because it has more nutrients. The vitamins and fats begin to lose from the grains after some time.
This is a natural phenomenon about food. It is better to buy high-quality hay so your animals will become healthy and produce more meat for you.
SHELTER
Like humans, animals also need shelter so they will be protected from harsh weather. On summer days, you should save them from the strong heat of the sun.
In the same way, heavy rain is not good for them. Predators are also a threat to your animals. For goats, sheep, and cows, you should build proper fencing around the allocated area.
Your fencing must be 54 inches tall. Portable fencing is also available; you should prefer it if you want to move your livestock around. Another option is electric fencing. But before installing electric fencing you should inform people by posting signs.
For chickens, you have to build a coop with a proper feeding and watering system. You should build a hutch for rabbits so they are protected from predators and weather.
Ducks need a pond or pool where they can swim and clean themselves. You can also use old bathtubs for this purpose. After swimming, they can live in the coop that you built for them.
ESSENTIAL EQUIPMENT
You buy the best animal for your homestead, arrange high-quality feed for them, and build the shelter and fencing. Besides this, you also need some equipment that will help you a lot in raising livestock.
The equipment you choose must be according to the needs of your animals. You should install a proper water system and small feeders for your chickens. Baby chicks need heat lamps, you can also use these lamps for other animals.
Cheapest Animals To Raise For Meat
Following is a list containing animals easily raised in your home state for meat.
1- BROILERS
Broilers are included in our list because they need little care and grow very fast. Boilers are not a breed of chicken but they are hybrid. It means they are a cross between two breeds.
Their offspring are created by two or more parent breeds. Boilers eat feed that contains ground corn, minerals, vitamins, and soybean meal. This feed is formulated especially for poultry. If we talk about cost then per bird needs 13.5 pounds of feed.
If you buy a bag of feed it costs $15 per 50 pounds. It means 30 cents per pound. Now we can calculate the cost of raising a boiler.
Cost of feed per bird =13.5 × $0.30 = $4.05
Cost of chick = $2.00
Cost to butcher = $3.50
If we add them then the total cost will be $9.55. In case, if you use expensive feed then the cost will increase. Generally, each boiler can produce 4. 55 pounds of meat.
The cost of one pound of meat is about 2.10. You can also decrease your cost if you buy feed from the feed mill and butcher the boiler yourself.
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2- LAYING HENS
The cost of the laying hens depends upon how you raise them. If you buy young chicks then the cost will be reduced and you will gain profit.
Approximately within 16 weeks your chicks will be grown and start producing eggs. The cost per chick will be $3. Each chick needs 11.36 pounds of feed.
If you buy the feed from a feed mill then it will cost you $1.85. It means the total cost of your laying hen will be 4.85. The cost of a ready-to-lay hen will be $12 to 20. The feed of laying hens is about 1.25 pounds per week.
3- DUCKS
Ducks are also included in those animals which are small and you can easily take care of them. You can raise them for meat and eggs as they can adjust to different climates.
The interesting thing is that they can eat kitchen scraps for garden culls. They also like to eat small critters like toads and snails. This beneficial animal produces a large size of eggs. The fertilizer of this animal can be used to make the soil of your garden richer.
The popular breeds of ducks are Muscovy, Rouen, and Pekin. The white Pekin is a very beautiful bird and produces white and healthy meat. The cost of a duckling is about $5.50.
The cost of the feed from a farm store will be $15.50 per 50-pound bag. Each duckling needs 21 pounds of feed; it means the total cost of feed for each duckling is about $6.51.
The butchering cost will be $9.50. If we sum up all the costs then it will be $21.51. You can reduce your cost by purchasing feed from the mill. It will cost you less. The other way of decreasing the cost is watching yourself.
4- RABBITS
This is a healthy way of getting meat if you raise it by yourself. This is a clean food source and similar to chicken meat. The taste of domesticated rabbits is gamier than wild rabbits; their meat contains vitamin B12.
There are about 14 incredible breeds of rabbits that can easily be raised for meat; each breed has different qualities.
At the start, you just need one buck and 2 does. The other things you need are water bottles, hay holders, and nesting boxes. Like chickens and ducks; rabbits also need housing. You can use stable cages or hanging cages to raise them.
A 12-pound feed is needed by each rabbit and the average weight of the rabbit is about 4 pounds. For feeding them it is suggested that you should use feed from the mill and high-quality hay.
5- TURKEY
When you raise turkeys on your homestead then you will get healthy meat. This is a very profitable animal. It is better to buy a poult of turkey and raise it to save your cost.
After 6 to 7 months the baby turkey will reach its majority and start producing eggs. Best perfect for keeping them when your balls get bigger it is also possible then you can keep chicken center keys together.
The space needed by one turkey is about 6.25 feet. Predators are a threat to turkeys so you should build strong fencing to keep them safe. Your fencing must be 4 feet high otherwise turkeys can escape.
If the baby turkey is 8 weeks old then it needs 20 to 22% feed. After 14 weeks 18 to 20% feed. When your animals get high-quality freshwater on time then they produce healthy meat and eggs for you.
After 16 to 22 weeks the weight of a turkey is approximately 12 to 14 pounds. The maturity time of Turkeys is 25 to 30 weeks. This is the right time when you can butcher them. You can butcher them like chickens but they are heavier than chickens so it is hard to control them easily.
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6- GOATS AND SHEEP
Goats and sheep are not as cheap as the animals mentioned above but they are not as expensive as cows and camels. Both are cheap and got like to eat hay, forage, or grain.
Goats can climb easily so they can escape so your fencing should be high. Make sure the fencing you are using must be strong.
Goats can be raised for meat, milk, and skins. Goat meat is eaten three-quarters of the world. It contains low amounts of saturated fatty acids and cholesterol. The word mutton is used to describe both sheep and meat.
At the start, you can buy one buck and 3 does. You can increase the number of goats and sheep on your homestead but it depends upon the space and how much you have.
Make sure not to overcrowd your goats because they will become stressed and unhealthy. For meat, you can select breeds such as Kiko, Texmaster, Savannah, Boer, Moneymaker, Spanish, and Genemaster.
It is suggested that you should choose healthy-looking goats. Sick and unhealthy goats can’t meet your needs.