Before you get anything check your city and or county ordinances.
@SageHill is absolutely right! Zoning is paramount BEFORE you even consider getting any animals. Check with the zoning department and they will tell you what type and how many of whatever species you are allowed to have on the property. Depending on the zoning, you may need to check with animal control as well.
Are you buying or renting? If you are renting is there any restriction on your lease about animal keeping? If you are buying are there any CC & Rs on the property. If it is a new development with a property owners association, they may have restrictions on the type of facilities or buildings you can put up as well as what livestock you can keep.
Going to be a mudpit in no time.
Hay fed most of the year or year round.
And kind of livestock is going to trample that 1 acre and eat it down to nothing. You will have a dirt lot and will be feeding hay and feed to whatever you have.
@secuono and
@Baymule are both right. One acre sounds like a lot of space if you have been living in an apartment or tract house, but it is not much in animal keeping terms.
First, what are your aims? Do you want to raise your own food? Become self-sufficient? Keep pets?
Remember that all these animals will need vaccinations and vet care. Check on vet and feed prices before deciding to get anything since costs will mount up. Make sure y u can cover any emergency costs. Is your property fenced well enough to deter predators? Neighborhood dogs allowed to run loose can slaughter your chickens or rabbits in a matter of minutes. You will need good fencing high enough to keep them out and your animals in.
1. A vegetable garden and fruit trees are the easiest and quickest ways to produce your own food. My grandmother told me that you should plant fruit trees as soon as you move to a new place since they take several years to produce. Start them off immediately and they can grow up while you get your other projects going. Over ripe fruit and veggies can go to the chickens or into the compost pile to improve the soil. After the garden is done you can let the chickens in to take care of bugs and eat the dying vegetation.
2. If you want fresh eggs buy chickens. Do NOT keep a rooster. Hens only make a small amount of noise after they have laid an egg, but on an acre a noisy rooster might make enemies of your neighbors that want to sleep in on Saturdays. Hens don't need a rooster to produce eggs. Sometimes the rooster pesters the hens so much that they will stop laying. Roosters are not necessary. Ducks are nice but it is the females who are noisy. They need to submerge their heads in water to be able to eat their food. A small wading pool quickly becomes nasty with ducks.
3. If you want to produce a lot of meat with minimal work and expense, rabbits are the best bet in a small space. Hang the cages under a shelter with worm beds beneath them. The manure drops through the wire cage floor into the worm bed. The rabbits can be fed in crocks, r un j feeders mounted on the cage and filled from outside the cage. Watering can be as simple as crocks or water bottles or an automatic system. The manure does not have to be aged before applying it to the garden and the worm beds will provide worms for the garden. A trio - 2 does and 1 buck will supply about 16 kits every 3 months averaging 5 lbs. each live weight. That is about 40 lbs. of dressed meat four times a year. They are easy to kill and dress out. Make pet of the older does and buck - by the time you have to butcher the bunnies they are big and no longer tiny, adorable babies. Rabbit is also a very healthy meat and good for people with cholesterol problems.
4. If you are into self-sufficiency and want a milk goat, you will need two since they are not happy alone. You will not have enough forage for them on an acre so you will have to supply hay. If you are milking them, they will also need grain. If you are milking goats you will need some specialized equipment for the process. And in order to give milk they will need to be bred and produce kids. There are very few people providing goat stud service anymore and bucks in rut are very smelly. Once you experience the fun of goat kids it just snowballs!
5. If you want horses, mini horses are really just pets unless you want to do carriage driving. It is a sport that requires a lot of expensive equipment and specialized training to learn. If you can ride, you can keep a horse on an acre easily. You will have to feed hay, clean the corral every day, but with an acre you can have a designated pasture or turnout. They also need their hooves trimmed by a professional, need vaccinations, and a shelter.
Start small and enjoy yourself. Don't rush into too much too fast. Let yourself grow slowly and not burn out. Have fun!
