The document analyzes the livestock needs and yields of dairy goats, chickens, and angora rabbits for suitability on a homestead farm. Dairy goats are well-suited as they can utilize 30 acres of pastureland through rotational grazing and provide milk, cheese and other dairy products. Chickens provide eggs but require protection from predators. Angora rabbits are low maintenance and their fiber can be harvested and spun without sacrificing the animal.

1. Livestock Needs and Yields for On The Road Again
Farm
Nancy Buddington

2. • Animals can be an important component of a permaculture system.
As Peter Bane explains in his book, The Permaculture Handbook,
plants take energy from the sun and change it into food. Animals
move this food around, concentrate it and deposit the leftovers as
manure. The manure in turn stimulates plants to grow strong and
enriches the soil beneath.
• Animals can also provide services to the homestead including
clearing of brushy areas, consumption of surplus vegetables and
fruits, grazing in rough, hard to cultivate areas , and/or pulling a
cart full of compost to a new garden. They can also provide surplus
eggs, milk, fiber and meat.
• In order to design this animal component, I looked at three
different animals and began assessing their needs, yields, habitats
and behavior characteristics. This analysis would then be used to
determine a specific animal’s suitability for the homestead.

3. Livestock Needs and Yields Analysis for On The Road Again Farm
Dairy Goats Chickens Angora
Rabbits
Needs Clean water. Prefer
twigs, leaves and stems
of shrubs and trees.
Dry shelter from wind,
snow and rain. Herd
animal, communal
housing. Commercial
grain if needed, hay
for winter.
Consume 4.5 units dry
matter/ 100 u body
weight
Clean water, dry
shelter from wind, rain,
snow and predators.
Grit, seeds, insects,
fruit, worms. Roosting
perch, brooding nest
box. Commercial grain
if needed in winter.
Clean water. Dry
shelter from wind, rain,
snow. Succulent, dark
green vegetation.
Twigs to gnaw on.
Commercial grain if
needed, hay for
winter, lining cage in
cold weather.
Nest Box

4. Yields Milk, cheeses, yogurts
cajita, kefir, meat,
manure, driving and
pack, breeding stock,
soap and lotion. I goat
250 gal milk/year. 16
mo kid = 30 lbs meat.
Breeding stock sales
$75 - $200/ animal.
Soap – I quart /20 bars
Eggs, meat, predator
control ( insects ),
Manure. 1 hen 200
eggs /year. Meat birds -
$2/chicken
Fiber, manure. 2 – 4 oz
fiber/ 90 day period or
8 – 16 oz/year. This
equals 2 – 3 rolls of 6 0z
yarn/pluck. $12 -
$15/oz fiber
Habitat Prefer mixture of
shrubs, trees and
grasses. Will eat poison
ivy, sumac, multiflora
rose, thorn bushes such
as raspberry and
blackberry. Overgrown,
brushy ground.
Red and Grey Jungle
Fowl wild progenitor.
Browse for insects,
seeds and fruit on
forest floor. Roosts in
trees at night. Modern
chickens also roost on
perches at night.
Descendants of the
European wild rabbit.
Solitary animals. Live in
burrows in ground.
Prefer succulent , dark
green vegetation but
will gnaw on twigs. ?
origins Ankara, Turkey.
Long hair recessive trait
selectively bred for
fiber.
Angora Rabbit
Livestock Needs and Yields Analysis for On The Road Again Farm
Dairy
Goats
Chickens Angora Rabbits

5. Characteristics
and Behaviors
Goats are herd
animals. The queen
goat is usually the
oldest doe. If the bucks
run with the herd, the
king buck is usually the
strongest. Younger
does will regularly
challenge the queen
when they reach a
comparable size.
Modern chickens have
been selectively bred
for meat and eggs.
They have retained
many of the qualities of
their ancestors
including brooding and
roosting at night. They
are omnivores eating
seeds, fruits, green
vegetation and insects.
Angora rabbits are
solitary animals. They
live in burrows.
Fiber plucked every 90
days or animal will
pluck. Prone to hair
ball obstructions,
deadly.

6. Characteristics and
Behavior
Goats
European breeds
breeding season runs
from September until
January. African
breeds can breed all
year long. Gestation is
5 months. Does usually
give birth to twins or
triplets.
Will not be herded, will
follow.
Chickens
They usually lay 1 egg/
day for 9 – 10 months
out of the year
depending on length of
molt and light
manipulation.
Angora Rabbits
Ovulation occurs upon
stimulation by the
buck. Gestation is 30
days. The female can
become pregnant again
2 days after kindling.
The female will dig a
nesting burrow in the
ground and completely
cover it. She only visits
the nest once or twice a
day to feed the young
kits. They are weaned
in 30 days and leave the
nest.

7. • I chose dairy goats, chickens and angora
rabbits as elements to be included in my
homestead design.
• Dairy goats are suitable because there is
ample acreage available to incorporate their
herding behavior into a plan of pasture
rotation both utilizing them to naturally prune
and manage 30 acres of grass/shrub/woody
vegetation and provide us with nutritious
milk, milk products, meat and soap.

8. Rotational grazing manages pastures and provides food needed
for healthy dairy production

9. • There is ample housing for the goats. Four separate
buildings house bucks, milking does, yearlings and
kids.
• We do need to construct a 12ft. X 25 ft. milk parlor/
• Milk house/ processing room.

10. • This structure would need to comply with Massachusetts
(raw milk) and Federal (processed cheese, yogurts, Kefir, etc)
regulations as well as local ( Wilbraham ) bylaws. Plans are to
either renovate the present milking area located in the main
barn or renovate the shed at the back of the barn.

11. • Those wanting raw milk would need to come to the
farm to purchase it. The proximity to a very
ethnically diverse population in Springfield as well as
the interest in local, fresh food will no doubt make
the farm a popular stop.
• Farmers Markets and an active website and online
store will also attract customers.

13. • Chickens have been present at this property for many years.
The owner has experienced heavy predation in the past. As a
result, she keeps the chickens confined to a yard and brings
food and water to the chickens.
• Possible incorporation of tunnel runs to surrounding areas
adjacent to the coop might be a suggestion to provide the
chickens with fresh, living vegetation and insects.
• Egg production from 35 hens is good. Surplus eggs are sold
locally at farmers markets and private sales.
• The owner does not slaughter old hens.
• I did have 7 chickens at my home in Springfield and would like
to once again raise chickens. A mink killed 6 of 7. I would
need to improve the chicken coop and secure the area where
the chickens free ranged before keeping chickens in
Springfield.

15. • I included Angora Rabbits in my analysis because I
have raised rabbits for many years.
• Rabbits are easy to keep and harvesting ( plucking –
animal is not sacrificed) and use of the fiber is a
viable option. The fiber is popular with spinners in
my community. My daughter also spins.
• A cost would be purchase of new breeding stock. My
rabbits are too old to breed.
Rabbits also provide a rich manure.

16. Sources for goats: Peter Bane, The
Permaculture Handbook, pages 287 – 290;
Jerry Belanger, Storey’s Guide to Raising Dairy
Goats, pages 16 – 30, 75 – 105.
Sources for chickens: Peter Bane, The
Permaculture Handbook, pages 268 – 272; Gail
Damerow, Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens
pages 111 – 135, The
Smithsonianmag.com/How the chicken
conquered the world. Sources for angora
rabbits: Northern California Angora Guild
pages 3 – 11; 57; Peter Bane, The
Permaculture Handbook, pages 280 – 282.
Rabbittalk.com/weight of one plucking.