What animals should I get straight away

As seems to be the regular situation I had a great response and discussion after my "Livestock Thoughts" blog post. I covered initial consideration of what animals I may keep at some point and this led organically on to multiple conversations about what might I consider getting straight away, within a month or so of arriving.

I have been concerned about taking animals on too early as I am aware I may have to come back to the UK to earn some more money (sadly) maybe over the first winter so this had initially thought I would leave off getting animals until I felt completely comfortable that I was settled and would not need to leave the country for any extended period of time for a few years at least.

However, and thanks to ClareyH for this impetus (amongst others) it has been pointed out to me that, should I have to leave for a few months I can just slaughter the animals for meat if I do have to leave.

So, with this alternative point of view in mind, which animals might I consider at an early stage and why.

First of all, pigs.

A pigsty, with lovely dug up ground

We had a long discussion about this as pigs are a fantastic method of breaking up really hard packed ground and introducing nutrients direct into the soil. The trouble with pigs is they are the Houdinis of the animal kingdom and are able to escape from pretty much any pen. Rampaging pigs through your veg garden is not a result to be looked forward to.

The proposed solution is to build an electrified fence (running from a small solar panel and battery so it can be moved anywhere on the land without trailing wires everywhere) as a compound and, as hinted at just then, moving it around the land to get the best benefit of the rotavation technique of the porkers.

Chickens and Ducks together

Secondly, and jointly, chickens and ducks. Having fresh eggs every morning (of both varieties) would really improve my living conditions and for that alone this makes keeping these creatures a good move very early in the piece. They are also relatively simple to look after and provide excellent manure as a by-product.

Ducks need to have some water to splash in but it doesn't need to be incredibly deep. They can co-habit quite happily with chickens too (according to my research - I am happy to be contradicted here if you know any better). There are a number of brilliant designs for duck and hen coops in the books I own which I could knock together from scraps around the property so the initial cost would be negligible.

And, as with pigs, chickens and ducks are very tasty so could be eaten should I need to shut the homestead down for an extended absence.

A pair of rabbits

Finally I may choose to get a breeding pair of rabbits, for the reasons enumerated above. In a very similar way to the chickens and ducks these are simple creatures to care for, and will provide me with meat variety and also some pleasure in the caring for them.

As with everything these thoughts and plans are tentative at the moment and I will revise and improve my plans with all the copious advice I am receiving from you, my lovely readers.

Thank you.