Homestead Helpers: Sheep, Cattle, Pigs and Poultry

1 / 6
Goats eat all kinds of weeds and brush. 
Goats eat all kinds of weeds and brush. 
2 / 6
Hogs will dig stumps to get to corn or acorns buried nearby. 
Hogs will dig stumps to get to corn or acorns buried nearby. 
3 / 6
Sheep “mow” an orchard. This relatively inexpensive livestock will eat both grass and tender weeds, and can be rotationally grazed using movable electric fencing.
Sheep “mow” an orchard. This relatively inexpensive livestock will eat both grass and tender weeds, and can be rotationally grazed using movable electric fencing.
4 / 6
What’s the easiest and safest method of mowing a green roof? Let the goats graze on it! 
What’s the easiest and safest method of mowing a green roof? Let the goats graze on it! 
5 / 6
Movable electric-net fencing keeps chickens in the area you want them to work. 
Movable electric-net fencing keeps chickens in the area you want them to work. 
6 / 6
Poultry are scratchers, foragers, insect eaters, and sources of meat, eggs and high-nitrogen fertilizer. 
Poultry are scratchers, foragers, insect eaters, and sources of meat, eggs and high-nitrogen fertilizer. 

Lawns first became fashionable in the Middle Ages. Back then, the only alternative to sending flocks of sheep to graze the lawn was hiring men with scythes. Since that time, lawns and gas-powered lawn mowers have become ubiquitous, while the use of sheep to keep grass neat has become rare. Why is this? Using sheep to keep lawns trim is quiet, requires no fossil fuel, adds fertilizer to your lawn, and has wonderful side benefits — meat and wool — that no mechanical mower can provide.

Sheep aren’t the only livestock that can serve multiple purposes. Each type of livestock has natural habits with potential uses around your homestead. Pigs are nature’s plows. Geese feast on grassy weeds. Ducks eat slugs and bugs.

Though using working animals on your homestead has many benefits, it involves some work, too. Unlike gas-powered equipment, animals can’t be put away in the garage until the next time you need them. They need food, water, shelter, fencing and occasional veterinary care. So, why keep them?

Multipurpose Livestock

Integrating working animals into your landscape makes your backyard more of a natural ecosystem in which flora and fauna interact. John Hayden, who runs an integrated farm called “The Farm Between” in Jeffersonville, Vt., raises plant crops and livestock. He manages his livestock to reduce the amount of labor and fertilizer he puts into his plant crops. He refers to the technique of using animals for more than one purpose as “stacking functions.”

  • Published on Mar 2, 2011
Comments (0) Join others in the discussion!
    Online Store Logo
    Need Help? Call 1-800-234-3368