Sustainable Living & Survivalist Planning: Taking Care of Livestock in Your Backyard 

Depending on where you live you may be allowed to have some livestock right in your backyard. Many cities and towns are now allowing people to have chickens, for instance.

Personally, I would never keep animals for their meat, but if you make the effort to take good loving care of your livestock, there is opportunity to benefit from their production without them having to lose their lives.

With chickens you can have fresh eggs daily, and if you are a meat eater, organic, free-range low fat meat to eat all year long for a lot less money than purchasing from a store.

There are several types of livestock that you can keep in your backyard if the zoning is right.

• Keep Sheep or Goats –

If you have at least an acre of open land, plus a few acres of woods, you can raise sheep for wool, milk, cheese and even in some cases, meat.

Flocks of eight to ten sheep will be more than enough for a family with plenty to spare. Goat milk and cheese is healthier for humans than cow milk according to most research.

You need the right climate that isn’t too hot in the summertime to raise them correctly.

You can sell what you don’t use at farmer’s markets, and keep your family warm and fed all year long.

They don’t require much care as they can live off the food they can forage if you have a good water source for them.

Goats are very helpful to keep your land weed free and control growth generally.

• Raise Laying Hens –

If you can build protective pens, and have plenty of room for them to lay eggs in their hen houses, you can raise hens for eggs.

A family of four to six can keep about 14 hens to keep them in eggs most of the year with plenty to spare.

Not only will you have eggs, but you’ll also have fewer bugs and plenty of compost for your garden.

Each hen will lay about one egg a day when healthy. Personally I found that 6 hens rescued from a battery hen farm produced more than enough eggs for two people, even if they were seniors and their laying career was considered over by the egg producer.

• Become a Bee Keeper –

You may not have thought of bees as livestock, but it’s still something even people with the smallest yards should consider.

You can easily set up a backyard hive and what’s great is that they do not require a lot of upkeep to get over 100 pounds of honey each year (at about 15 dollars for 8 to 10 oz, this is substantial).

If you know how much honey costs, this is a tremendous savings over the cost of about 500 dollars to get started with your backyard hive.

A good side effect of keeping bees is that you’re helping the environment which is short of honey bees.

The more bee keepers we have the better, as plants need honey bees to live.

• Raise Some Rabbits –

Even people with small yards and lots of restrictions can often get away with raising rabbits.

You don’t need a lot of space, and all you have to do is keep them clean and fed. They reproduce fast so once you get started you can get about 80 lbs. of meat each year.

You can also sell their pelts that are used on coats and for other purposes.

Getting started is inexpensive, but it can be time consuming with cleaning the cages, protecting them from predators and controlling the expansion of your litters.

Rabbits and Hamsters are also great pets for the family to have when you are in survivalist mode, as they eat greens you can grow yourself and don't need meat to keep them alive.

For meeting low maintenance, sustainable living conditions, they don't need a massive amount of grooming care, just learn how to trim their teeth and get basic care tips from the vet.

And most can be clipped or brushed to produce fine wool you can spin and weave into clothing items.

• Grow Some Pigs –

If you must produce meat for your family, pigs are traditionally chosen to be raised in countries with little land as they can be pretty much barn raised, with little maintenance other than trimming hooves and a mud pit for fun to keep these highly intelligent creatures entertained.

Using scraps from your garden and kitchen you can turn your investment in one or two hogs into a great meat yield each year.

Buy them as weanlings each year and raise until full sized (about 200 lbs.) before slaughtering to save the most time, money and effort.

This leaves it to just feeding and watering a couple of times each day to the care that needs to be done for your pigs for the most bountiful and affordable yield.

Check with your state, city and county regulations before embarking on any of these suggestions. Each area has its own rules and regulations.

It's best to know for sure about permission before you waste any time or money on the project.

Being self-sufficient can happen right in your own back yard if you know what to do.


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If you have a comment, question or suggestion, please leave a comment below!

Cheers, Helene Malmsio


Related Reading: Survivalist & Self Sufficient Living Guide

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