A great homestead animal to raise for beginners, chickens provide many benefits other than just meat and eggs. Their manure contains high levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, making it an ideal fertilizer for your homestead garden.
A very cost-effective homestead meat option, rabbits require a relatively low amount of daily work to sustain a healthy colony. Plus, a single breeding doe will birth between four-to-five litters per year, giving you a steady supply of meat for your family.
If you’ve tried raising chickens before, turkeys have many similar needs. However, they have an incredibly high dressed weight of about 75% of body weight, which means more meat and less waste.
While pigs are an ideal and traditional animal to raise on homesteads, they shouldn’t be your first homestead animal. They can be a little more difficult to control than other smaller homestead livestock, and require much more feed.