Best LGD for what I am looking for

Thanks for that information. I mean by adding slowly....I get a few chicks here and there mostly from a hatchery. I added two pigs one week then a goose. I am looking into four goats right now and plan on adding a milk cow and three horses by mid summer. That being said I am trying to add slow but steady so I don't overwhelm myself. I do have a lot of helpers with my kids. I have many outbuildings and such that are just calling for animals lol. When I get the big fencing done I will have cows. I'm hoping in the next few years to have the whole 200acres fenced and cross fenced for grazing and gardens. My biggest worry is having protection for the chickens and goats. I am getting baby goats so they will be kept close to the hose for awhile but eventually I will want them farther out and safe. I have my chicks penned up right now and when they get bigger I want them out and free ranging I want to limit the amount of feed I have to buy. I also want the ducks to be able to go to the pond without having to worry about coyotes or stray dogs.

Thanks for the info
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Big A Ranch said:

I mean by adding slowly....I get a few chicks here and there mostly from a hatchery. I added two pigs one week then a goose. I am looking into four goats right now and plan on adding a milk cow and three horses by mid summer. That being said I am trying to add slow but steady so I don't overwhelm myself

Click to expand...

Don't be offended but that is not "slowly",

Have you ever had livestock before? Poultry?

Not offended at all! Lol.....I have had horses but not anything else. For me it seems pretty slow. I have been planning my selfsustible life for years. I have had gardens dogs and horses. I am a little Leary of goats. I want Nigeria dwarfs and am worried about having them and having kids and all that goes into that I have been reading like a crazy woman about them.
My goal is to feed my family from our land. I want good clean milk from my cow and goats. I want meat that I raise and love and watch grow in my fields. I want to cook eggs for my children and know they are the best they can eat. I also want to learn how to cook using just wood and a stove. But I want to keep all these animals and my garden and home safe while doing this. Fortunately I do not work outside my home and have the time to spend realizing my goals. I move my kids from LA to a farm town kicking and screaming. Kids that once only played electronics are now dirty gardeners and animal lovers. Even my husband is supportive of our life choice.

Eeehhh sorry about the life story Got carried away.
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@Big A Ranch Be sure to plant fruit and nut trees. Plant lots of trees. On another site I frequent a guy describes planting fruit, nut and oak (acorns) trees in double fenced fence rows. The double fencing keeps the animals from damaging the trees and the fruit, nuts and acorns drop to the ground for the animals to eat. Free feed! We have 8 acres and have lots of oaks, native persimmons and I found a Mayhaw!

Of course, plant lots of fruit and nut trees for your own consumption also, and you can let the chickens run under the trees to keep the falls cleaned up, plus they will scratch up and eat bugs and larve for next years bugs. Plant as soon as you can, it will take a few years to bear.

I will do that I have been looking for cold hardy fruits trees for my area. Fruit trees are just so darn expensive.
What is double fencing mean exactly? I'm new to everything farm wise so I just don't know anything. Also what is cross fencing? I read the term fenced and cross fence and I've been wondering.
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Cross fencing is where you take a large(r) pasture and "cross fence" it to break it into several pastures, which then allows you to rotate your animals from one to the other over a period of time. This serves several purposes... #1, it allows the pasture time to recover from grazing and keeps each from being over grazed. #2, it helps to "break" the reproductive cycle of parasites like worms, thereby helping your herd's health and lessening the need for medications/poisons/vet bills.

Chickens in the orchard is a great concept, BUT....mine scratch so deeply that they unearth the roots. One of my projects is to put down a large circle of chicken wire and bury it under each tree so the chickens can't get to the roots. Other some other barrier...still working on that.

Double fencing is running two fences parallel to each other a foot or two feet apart, then planting fruit/nut/oak trees down the middle. The fence on both sides of the trees will protect them from livestock.