Livestock Supplies
I have always wanted to move to the country and when my wife’s uncle died and he left his small farm to her we decided to make a change in our lives, move to the country and see if we could make it pay for itself. With mostly animals on the farm when we arrived we needed to work out what type of livestock supplies. Not only livestock supplies that we didn’t have but livestock supplies that needed replenishing.
As novices to this and the world of livestock supplies we thought we would write up of the livestock supplies that we found useful to help other people who are in our situation and just starting out.
Essential livestock supplies (according to a novice):
1. Electric fencing – when we arrived at the farm the state of the fences was really bad they were in disrepair because they were so old and hadn’t been replaced for a long time. There was also an issue with cattle breaking through the fencing and it was suggested that we may want to add electric fencing to our list of livestock supplies to help address this issue.
2. Castrators – I felt a wee bit sick when it was suggested that we add a pair of bloodless castrators to our livestock supplies it wasn’t one of the things that I thought I would need to do as a farmer. When the other farmers saw my face and the look of distaste at the thought they laughed and are probably still laughing.
3. Hen house – we definitely needed to add a hen house or chicken coop to our list of livestock supplies. Well first I tried to make it but we decided that my creation was a danger to the chickens health and we demolished it again and then added a chicken coop to our list of livestock supplies.
4. Ducks – my wife is obsessed with ducks, she had them as a kid and when we wandered around town and saw an ad for the cutest little ducklings (ok I love them too) we had to add half a dozen to our list of livestock supplies after all we had a big pond and we needed something to swim on it and ducks it was.
5. Ear tagger – there were a number of cattle on the farm and none of them had any identification that tied them back to us so rather than branding (I hear that isn’t done much any more) we added an ear tagger to our list of livestock supplies.
6. Incubator – we wanted to be self sufficient and chickens were a big part of that so we not just wanted to produce eggs but the chickens as well so we added an incubator to the livestock supplies list along with some chickens to start off our brood.
7. Milk Bucket – we also had a few dairy cows on the property and the milking buckets were old and rusted and we figured it was worth investing in a couple of new steel milk buckets so we added them to the livestock supplies list.
8. Water storage tanks – there was very little water on the property and one of the things they had struggled with. There were a couple of water storage tanks in place but we added another two to the livestock supplies list because summer was on its way and we wanted to be covered. You can buy them in different sizes and we decided on the largest that we could buy and had them installed near the yards for easy access.
9. Wheat straw – when we arrived there was no feed in the barn at all and the grass in the pastures was dry and brown. We wanted to be able to supplement the animals food so we added bales of wheat straw to our livestock supplies list that we could store in the barn for whenever we needed it.
10. Poultry watering cups – these were for the hen house as there was nothing of its kind already in place on the farm. We added 10 of these to our livestock supplies list so that we had enough for all of the chickens we anticipated owning.
11. Chicken feed – we wanted our chickens to grow up big and strong and produce heaps of eggs (my wife reminded me that we needed to add a rooster to the livestock supplies list) so we added chicken feed to the list of livestock supplies that we needed to buy.
12. Hoof cutter – this one was for the cattle. We were told that we needed to look after the feet of the cattle and to keep them in good condition. They also warned us that someone needed to show us how to use a hoof cutter properly so nobody including the cattle. I wasn’t sure what they meant by that but we added a hoof cutter to the livestock supplies list with a mental note to learn how to use it safely for all concerned.
As novices to this and the world of livestock supplies we thought we would write up of the livestock supplies that we found useful to help other people who are in our situation and just starting out.
Essential livestock supplies (according to a novice):
1. Electric fencing – when we arrived at the farm the state of the fences was really bad they were in disrepair because they were so old and hadn’t been replaced for a long time. There was also an issue with cattle breaking through the fencing and it was suggested that we may want to add electric fencing to our list of livestock supplies to help address this issue.
2. Castrators – I felt a wee bit sick when it was suggested that we add a pair of bloodless castrators to our livestock supplies it wasn’t one of the things that I thought I would need to do as a farmer. When the other farmers saw my face and the look of distaste at the thought they laughed and are probably still laughing.
3. Hen house – we definitely needed to add a hen house or chicken coop to our list of livestock supplies. Well first I tried to make it but we decided that my creation was a danger to the chickens health and we demolished it again and then added a chicken coop to our list of livestock supplies.
4. Ducks – my wife is obsessed with ducks, she had them as a kid and when we wandered around town and saw an ad for the cutest little ducklings (ok I love them too) we had to add half a dozen to our list of livestock supplies after all we had a big pond and we needed something to swim on it and ducks it was.
5. Ear tagger – there were a number of cattle on the farm and none of them had any identification that tied them back to us so rather than branding (I hear that isn’t done much any more) we added an ear tagger to our list of livestock supplies.
6. Incubator – we wanted to be self sufficient and chickens were a big part of that so we not just wanted to produce eggs but the chickens as well so we added an incubator to the livestock supplies list along with some chickens to start off our brood.
7. Milk Bucket – we also had a few dairy cows on the property and the milking buckets were old and rusted and we figured it was worth investing in a couple of new steel milk buckets so we added them to the livestock supplies list.
8. Water storage tanks – there was very little water on the property and one of the things they had struggled with. There were a couple of water storage tanks in place but we added another two to the livestock supplies list because summer was on its way and we wanted to be covered. You can buy them in different sizes and we decided on the largest that we could buy and had them installed near the yards for easy access.
9. Wheat straw – when we arrived there was no feed in the barn at all and the grass in the pastures was dry and brown. We wanted to be able to supplement the animals food so we added bales of wheat straw to our livestock supplies list that we could store in the barn for whenever we needed it.
10. Poultry watering cups – these were for the hen house as there was nothing of its kind already in place on the farm. We added 10 of these to our livestock supplies list so that we had enough for all of the chickens we anticipated owning.
11. Chicken feed – we wanted our chickens to grow up big and strong and produce heaps of eggs (my wife reminded me that we needed to add a rooster to the livestock supplies list) so we added chicken feed to the list of livestock supplies that we needed to buy.
12. Hoof cutter – this one was for the cattle. We were told that we needed to look after the feet of the cattle and to keep them in good condition. They also warned us that someone needed to show us how to use a hoof cutter properly so nobody including the cattle. I wasn’t sure what they meant by that but we added a hoof cutter to the livestock supplies list with a mental note to learn how to use it safely for all concerned.
Well we looked at the list of livestock supplies and it was pretty long though we both had the feeling the there would be other things that would need to be added to our list of livestock supplies at a later date. At least it was a lot to go on with and we couldn’t wait to get started...we were pretty excited by our move to the country, so off shopping we went with our list of livestock supplies.