How Much Land Do You Have?

[mikiz]

I think I'm becoming quite ambitious with my land hunting.

I always thought I'd need about 5 acres, then it was 10, then 20, then I figured at least 30-40 to be safe, and now I find myself looking at anything over 40 acres up to 100!
A couple of my friends have 20 and 25 acres blocks, one runs mostly sheep, chickens and 3 cows, and the other has about 30 horses respectively.
I want a farm that is low maintenance and not too many critters, but the essentials are room for:
A good sized family home
A few horses, maybe up to 4 or 5
A flock of about max 20-30 sheep
A few goats, between 3-10
Chickens in a 7x9m shed
Ducks in 4x4m pens, up to 3 groups
An 8x11m rabbit shed
A 12x12m stable
A large orchard and veggie garden
Machinery/hay shed

I'm almost certain that's too many animals, but you can never have too many
Now how much room do you think I'd actually need? How much land do you have and how many of whatever animals you have are on it?
Obviously more land is always better, but 100 acres would be a lot, I feel like that might be overkill.
I'd like to keep my animals as naturally parasite free through pasture management, so rotating paddocks, which means I'd need a fair bit, but how much?

 

[norseofcourse]

I'm in NE Ohio and I have 2 mini horses, 2 ponies and 5 to 10 sheep (5 is the core group right now, 5 are lambs that will go in November to be processed). I have 6 acres with maybe 4 fenced, and I'm probably at my limit for animals with the pasture I have now. It's quite overgrown. As I clear and improve more of it, and make a few more paddocks for rotating, I may be able to add another sheep or two, but I don't want to overstock my land. I feed hay in the winter, and supplement hay in the summer when the pasture isn't as good.

Depending on your climate and land, I'd say you'd need quite a bit for your 'wish list' of animals. And keep in mind that the more property you have, the more you'll need to fence. Fencing is expensive - you can cut the costs by doing some or all the work yourself, but then it's a LOT of work. 3 strands of electric should keep in horses, but if you ever want your sheep or goats to have access to that field, you'll need better fencing.

There's also fence maintenance - keeping the fencelines mowed (or sprayed with herbicides), checking them for broken posts, wires, trees or brush down on the fence, etc...

Think long and hard where you want to put gates. Put in more than you think you'll want. And make sure the largest piece of equipment you'll ever want to get into that field can get in through the gate (one advantage for something like electric braided wire, you can put the fenceposts 25' or more apart, and drop wires down if needed).

 

[goat-heaven]

I have 36 acres in which I'm looking at 26 more acres that's next to my 36 acres I have 36 goats 2 are bucks in 1 new buckling in the rest are does in their doelings I have 4 miniature mares in their babies which are 3 fillies in 1 colt which two of them have new homes once they are weaned i have 2 miniature studs have 50 chickens, 20 ducks,17 turkeys,now I'm up to 30 rabbits which 10 are going to be butcher 4 LGD in 1 quarter horse gelding I agree you need a lot of space for that amount of animals I started at with 2
Acers with 5 goats in with 15 rabbits ,2 miniature mares, in one stud ,one LGD

 

[goat-heaven]

I have 36 acres in which I'm looking at 26 more acres that's next to my 36 acres I have 36 goats 2 are bucks in 1 new buckling in the rest are does in their doelings I have 4 miniature mares in their babies which are 3 fillies in 1 colt which two of them have new homes once they are weaned i have 2 miniature studs have 50 chickens, 20 ducks,17 turkeys,now I'm up to 30 rabbits which 10 are going to be butcher 4 LGD in 1 quarter horse gelding I agree you need a lot of space for that amount of animals I started at with 2
Acers with 5 goats in with 15 rabbits ,2 miniature mares, in one stud ,one LGD

 

[goat-heaven]

I have 36 acres in which I'm looking at 26 more acres that's next to my 36 acres I have 36 goats 2 are bucks in 1 new buckling in the rest are does in their doelings I have 4 miniature mares in their babies which are 3 fillies in 1 colt which two of them have new homes once they are weaned i have 2 miniature studs have 50 chickens, 20 ducks,17 turkeys,now I'm up to 30 rabbits which 10 are going to be butcher 4 LGD in 1 quarter horse gelding I agree you need a lot of space for that amount of animals I started at with 2
Acers with 5 goats in with 15 rabbits ,2 miniature mares, in one stud ,one LGD

 

[goat-heaven]

I have 36 acres in which I'm looking at 26 more acres that's next to my 36 acres I have 36 goats 2 are bucks in 1 new buckling in the rest are does in their doelings I have 4 miniature mares in their babies which are 3 fillies in 1 colt which two of them ahave new homes once they are weaned i have 2 miniature studs have 50 chickens, 20 ducks,17 turkeys,now I'm up to 30 rabbits which 10 are going to be butcher 4 LGD in 1 quarter horse gelding I agree you need a lot of space for that amount of animals I started at with 2
Acers with 5 goats in with 15 rabbits ,2 miniature mares, in one stud ,one LGD

 

[goat-heaven]

I have 36 acres in which I'm looking at 26 more acres that's next to my 36 acres I have 36 goats 2 are bucks in 1 new buckling in the rest are does in their doelings I have 4 miniature mares in their babies which are 3 fillies in 1 colt which two of them ahave new homes once they are weaned i have 2 miniature studs have 50 chickens, 20 ducks,17 turkeys,now I'm up to 30 rabbits which 10 are going to be butcher 4 LGD in 1 quarter horse gelding I agree you need a lot of space for that amount of animals I started at with 2
Acers with 5 goats in with 15 rabbits ,2 miniature mares, in one stud ,one LGD

 

[Latestarter]

I'm small fry in the group with a mere acre and a half. I have about 30 chickens in 2 - 10 x 12 coops. My sweetie is a 12 yr old Golden Retriever. Just got a LGD pup that is 5.5 months old. I have two bee hives on the back fence line, and hope to get 4-6 goats this coming spring to keep the LGD entertained/occupied. Ideally within the next several years I expect to move from where I'm at and pick up a parcel between 20-50 acres in an area where land is affordable.

 

[Baymule]

I have 8 acres. 4 horses, 18 chickens, 2 LGDs, 2 other dogs. Fencing all of it in 2"x4" non climb horse wire 4' tall, 200' rolls. Cost is $220 per roll, 7' T-post, cost $4.80 each, barbed wire $60 per roll, 2 strands on top of the horse wire to make a 5' tall fence. Gates, 12' wire filled is $115, 16' wire filled gate is $170.

Just went to Tractor Supply, bought 6 rolls horse wire, 100 T-posts, 2 gates, 4 rolls barbed wire, cost about $2200. This will do 1,000 feet. And still won't be finished!

We have about 2 1/2 acres fenced behind house and one side from back to the front. The front of property by the road is fenced. Doing a stretch from other front corner to horse pasture. Then there will be another stretch from front corner to back corner 1186 feet. Then about 170' across back to join back horse pasture fence. Plus cross fences and more gates. $$$$$

We are doing work ourselves along with help from a neighbor. We did hire help for horse pasture as we were moving and needed it done ASAP. Labor costs were about $800.

Is there cheaper wire? Yes. I chose horse wire because it is well made, the holes are small enough to keep chickens in and most things out.

 

[Baymule]

Forgot to add, will be buying Dorper sheep, probably around 15 when done fencing