Lots of Changes Lately...

... the biggest one being the move from Edmonton (#yeg) back to the country. That's right, this rural girl is back where she belongs!

And look what my sister found for me :)

Heritage Breeds. Which are Canadian? Does it matter?

I've been doing some serious research on what animals I want to acquire for my homestead/hobby farm, when the time comes.
Some will come sooner rather than later (spring 2013 I'm planning on getting my first couple sheep or goats, possibly some rabbits as well).
Some animals are more expensive than others (cattle and bison can cost $1000+. Goats, sheep, swine and donkeys are in the $150-$500+ range. Rabbits and poultry are generally $5 to $30+).

Some breeds need lots of attention, others can forage and birth on their own with great results.

What kind of animals do I want to raise?

How hands on do I want to be with my animals? How hands on CAN I be?

Do I want pasture/foraging breeds or barn/feedlot breeds? 

Do I want breeds developed for commercial industry or heritage breeds?

Will any heritage breed do or should I focus on finding Canadian heritage breeds?

Am I only keeping animals for my family (and friends) or will I be selling meat, milk, eggs, fibre, breeding stock, etc?

Lots of questions that need answers. Some are even pretty easy to answer. Others, not so much.

Talking about Sheep and Goats

Well, it's decided.
Zac, Londyn and I will be moving out of the city come September.  We're moving in with my mom.  That means we'll be living on the acreage I grew up on :)
The move is mostly to save money to buy an acreage/farm of our own (not paying rent makes a huge difference when it comes to saving for a downpayment) but also because I'm sick of the city.
Or the city makes me sick.

Whichever.

Either way, I'm ready to get out of here.


Anyways, back to living on the acreage!
Mom said I could get sheep or goats or whatever I like as long as I take care of them :)  She doesn't want to do any of the milking or cleaning up, etc but is more than willing to eat the cheese I make lol

There's 5 breeds of sheep I've been researching:

Shetlands
A terrific all-round breed that produces excellent meat, wool, and milk. A hardy breed. Fleeces come in a variety of colours.  The characteristic that really drew me in was the non "sheepy" taste to the milk they produce (as the website says). I would like to taste farm fresh milk before making up my mind on that.

Clun Forest
A hardy breed that can survive on grass and foraging. A great milk sheep and produces good fleeces until 10-12yrs of age.  Lamb easily and usually without assistance.

North Country Cheviot
A general-purpose breed. Produce a medium-wool fleece free from hair or kempy fibres. Are good milkers and easy lambers.

Icelandic
One of the purest breeds in the world. They are generally raised for milk, meat and wool - which is low in lanolin. Their wool is known internationally as Lopi yarn. Left unshorn for the winter, the breed is very cold hardy.

Royal White/Dorper/Katahdin
Royal White is a hair sheep, meaning it sheds rather than needing to be sheared. They breed throughout the year, produce lots of milk and have high lamb survivability. They also have parasite and disease resistance.  Usually breed for meat as the flavour is more mild than that of woolly-sheep.

Alberta Sheep Breeders Association

All five have characteristics that appeal to me, but what on earth would I do with 5 different breeds of sheep?!
For sure the Shetland and Icelandic are my favourites, Royal White and Clun Forest come in at a close third/forth.

I'm interested in them for home-use/hobby farming, not a commercial operation.
Maybe I could get a variety of breeds? But which ones? I want strong general purpose breeds for milk, meat and wool.

Thoughts? Maybe you've worked with a breed I don't have listed here that you would recommend. Let me know!


** Addition **
In my research for a suitable milk goat I came across a breed that, of course, isn't really available in Canada. The Guernsey Goat.
They're so pretty!
I found the breed (as it wasn't listed in my Dairy Goats book) through this Mother Earth News article Choosing a Dairy Breed. Besides the prettiness the characteristic that drew me most to them was "is able to convert grass into milk" Most goats, especially dairy, need higher protein (grains, etc) to produce larger amounts of milk.

Other breeds I'm considering...
Nubian
Saanen/Sable

All have a milder tasting milk and are good producers. Butterfat varies between 2%-6%.
The only downfall (to me, maybe not everybody) is that Nubian's are known to be quite noisy. It's the nose :)
I'm leaning towards Sables (more colourful than their all-white relatives, Saanen) since I can't have Guernsey Goats.

Alberta Goat Breeders Association

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Here's some links for my own information. I'm planning on teaching myself spinning and weaving (and I may try knitting again). I used to crotchet, a long time ago...
Birkeland Wool Bros. Store
How To Make a Drop Spindle

DIY, is it worth it?

I recently came across this article written by an urban homesteader in San Francisco Bay area.

DIY or Buy?

It brings up some valid points... buying organic produce to make your own jams and pickles or organic pasture meats to make your own bacon can be WAY more expensive than buying organic products in a supermarket, or even a farmer's market.

Doing those types of home preservation isn't about saving money (though sometimes it is), it is about supporting local producers and knowing about your food. Does that mean you always have to make your own products? Of course not! Buy from your local bakery that uses local grown and milled grain products. Buy meats and eggs and dairy from the farmer's market, direct from the farmer, and use those in your home.

That'll support your local economy and farmers more than you realize.

However, when it comes to homesteading, it's about growing $2000 worth of produce from $30 worth of seed and learning how to store it over the winter so you don't have to go buy from the supermarket.

It's about, if you have the space, to have a hobby farm with chickens or a goat or two, maybe even a dairy cow or a couple pigs, and tending to them for eggs and meat and milk.

But it takes commitment.

Getting your money's worth out of your animals doesn't happen in a year. Not even in 2 years. Try 8 or ten.

That's when all your investment in supplies and materials and animals begins to pay off.

It's a lifestyle.

An urban homesteader has to realize that it's a lot of hard work to raise chickens for eggs and meat (pens, shelter, feed, TIME), and that chickens generally DON'T lay eggs in winter. Supermarkets have eggs all year 'round because they have UV lights making the chickens lay eggs all year 'round and that's why those chickens get burned out and end up being "tossed" when they can't keep up with production.

To have a couple goats just for milk?! In the city? Yeah, you're a little crazy. You have to tend to them (clip hooves, milk them, clean up after them), give them shelter from the elements ($ and space) and then feed them ($ and time finding and storing enough feed, especially over the winter).

Why go through all that when you have a full time job to go to, a social life and friends to keep up with, television shows to watch, twitter conversations to follow?!?!?

It's crazy, right?

If you think of it as a hobby or "something fun to try". It's a lifestyle choice. It takes time. It takes an investment of time and money.

It seems really expense to go through all that just for something you can buy in the store.

Then don't do it. Find some trusted farmer's at a market and buy their products. It's why they're there.

What homesteading and preserving is about is self-sufficiency. Knowing where your food is from. Feeding your family with healthy, non-gmo, products that you know what all the ingredients are and can pronounce them all!

In North America we are spoiled with the amount of food we have available to us. We waste it. We destroy it. We mutate it. We change it into things that our great grandmothers wouldn't even consider food and then consume it as our main source of energy.

And we're dieing of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and stroke. We pump our food-animals full of antibiotics and drugs to keep them healthy when they're not. We then consume them and then we become unhealthy ourselves.

We moved from natural fats like lard, suet, butter and olive oil to commercial fats like margarine, canola oil (though you can now get cold pressed), and "butter". I say "butter" because the store bought butter has trans-fats in it without any indication of a additive in the ingredients label. Trans-fat is a MAN MADE fat. Butter is a natural product. Trans-fats are not found in nature. You see where I'm going...

Anyways, read the article. Decide for yourself whether or not learning those skills are something you want to commit to. Or, if you want to support your local farmer's and buy their products instead of giving your money to industrial farms.

Also, go visiting Kevin Kossowan. He posted something that plays into this debate quite nicely... It's about eating seasonally and how things taste better when you don't eat them everyday...