The dream of coming back to basics, down to our roots, and
achieving self sufficiency is a worthy one. You put lots of time,
money and effort into your desire to homestead. Many people plan for
years to purchase and lay out what that they desire for their dreams of
homesteading. However, the potential homesteader often forgets to
put very much concentration into the types of livestock that they will be
raising. The breeds and types of livestock deserve as much
consideration and thought as the actual layout of the homestead. If
the benefits of the past are a part of your homestead plan, then consider
raising heritage breeds on your property.
Heritage breeds are traditional livestock breeds that were commonplace on
farms of the past. This was before the rise of industrial
agriculture drastically reduced the genetic variety and diversity of
breeds for those of commercial breeds designed for mass production.
The desire for higher yields and the production rates required for major
businesses eventually pushed many of these breeds to extinction or near
extinction. The fact that heritage animals were bred over time to develop
traits that made them principally adapted to the environments where they
were raised lost ground to the call of the almighty dollar.
Now, the modern homesteader who values the lessons
learned and the lifestyle of previous generations is emerging. He is
smart enough to know that heritage breeds are better adapted to local
environments and more resistant to disease. He knows that heritage
breeds do not require temperature-controlled housing or specialty diets,
or unnecessary antibiotics added to their food source. The modern
homesteader chooses wisely, planning his livestock purchases by his
environmental location, his desire for sustainability, and his knowledge
of what breeds he can obtain and maintain.
The first step in planning which heritage breeds are best for your
homestead is to decide what types of livestock you desire in the first
place. Make a list of what you want. Your list may have things
like: poultry, milk cows, meat goats, wool sheep, and many others along
these lines.
Then, you should study the area where your
homestead
is located. Learn its yearly weather conditions, its natural grazing
type, and its local predators; all of this is key information in deciding
what breeds of livestock will work best on your homestead.
Following this, make sure to research information on
what types of livestock the original homesteaders in your area raised and
see if any of those breeds are still around today. When you have
gathered all of this information, then you can begin looking for heritage
breeds of livestock that have characteristics that will best fit your
desires.
An excellent source for this information is at the
American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, an organization working to conserve
historic breeds and promote the much-needed genetic diversity in
livestock. Here you can compare different breeds from whichever types of
animals are on your list, and decide which ones fit your needs and desires
best. There is no limit to the types of heritage breeds. These
breeds exist in all types of livestock from poultry to pigs, cattle and
horses.
