Breeding

Before buying livestock (like cows or goats), you need to consider how to breed them. Chickens need to be breed to add to the flock.

You could get a mating pair of each type of livestock, but that would require more space. Also, larger male animals can be dangerous if not properly trained/ raised. Male livestock also tend to smell worse than females, especially goats (bucks go into rut and can smell foul).

To breed your females, you can contact a neighbor or nearby farms to ask about stud services. These services usually cost less than $50. It's only expensive if the stud is of really good stock, which is rare and most people don't care about. If the stud has papers, (with goats) than the kids can sell for a higher amount ($50-$300, instead of $25-$100). However, it is more difficult to sell kids at this price. If the stud service is too costly at the time of breeding, then try to make a deal. You could offer the offspring, when it is old enough. This is a good solution if you have limited space and funds, the offspring will go onto (usually) a much larger farm and you can get the milk from your cow or goat.
To stud, either bring the stud to your farm for a week. Or, take your female to the stud's farm for a week (this is a better option). You could also do AI, but that costs more and is much more complicated. 

After the cow/goat is bred you need to follow the guidelines on how to take care of them during their pregnancy.  They need special hay and higher amounts of feed. You also need to keep track of when they were bred and the expected due date. Make sure you have contacted your local vet, for around the due date, in case something goes wrong.

Have a calving/kidding stall ready for the delivery. This is where the cow/doe and her calf/kid will live for a few days. The stall should be in the barn and draft-free. Some farmers take the calf/kid away from the mother and bottle feed them. I leave the kids with my goats, it helps them connect with the herd and their mother.

After the calf/kid is weaned, they can be sold, traded, or kept. Keep documentation of everything from the breeding date and stud to the weaning date of the offspring.


With chickens, it would be easiest to contact someone nearby with a rooster. If your contact already breeds their own chickens, then you can purchase fertilized eggs from them at a reasonable price. Roosters can be dangerous, and if you can avoid owning one, it may make your hobby farm life simpler. I do want to add, however, if you raise the rooster it can become a great pet and then you can breed your own chickens.

Easy Chicken Breeding

1. Have a separate coop and fence set up for the mating hens and rooster. 
2. Leave two hens and the rooster in the breeding area for a few weeks (choose your hens by breed OR choose a broody hen). Do not collect eggs, you need the nest to fill( 10-14 eggs).
3. You can remove the rooster once the nest is full and a hen is brooding (laying on the nest constantly). You have two hens to fill the nest faster and so they can take turns laying on the eggs.
4. After 21 days, the eggs should hatch. Leave the hens in with the chicks for a few weeks to keep them warm. Or, take the chicks and place in a draft free area with fresh bedding and a heat lamp. 

With Fertilized Eggs

1.  The easiest way is to take them under a broody hen, but if you don't have one...
2. You need an egg incubator, they cost between $15-50, for small farm ones. You need to check if the incubator turns the eggs or if you have to do it manually.  
3. Follow the instruction that came with the incubator and watch for the eggs to hatch. Leave the newly hatched chicks in the incubator for 1-3 days.
4. Place chicks in a draft-free area with fresh bedding. Have a heat lamp on the right setting and height (if it's too hot the chicks will be spread far apart and out of the light, too cold and they will be huddled under it).
5. Add these chicks when they are 12-16 weeks old (larger enough to defend themselves) at night to the coop. There may be some fighting, but they will calm down after a week. 

Chickens don't need to be bred to produce eggs. But you're flock will dwindle down from various factors over the years and you will need to build it back up.  Ducks are bred the same way, but don't need to be to produce eggs. All poultry reproduce the same way. So if you own quail or turkeys, this would also work. Turkeys would be bred often, because they are mostly used for meat, not eggs (you can eat turkey eggs, they just are a little different from chicken eggs).

Sheep, Horses, etc:

These animals don't need to be bred to function as a beast of burden. They can just be owned and enjoyed as parts of the farm.  Sheep are bred the same as goats and cows, you need to find a stud or own a ram. You would breed them to increase your flock or sell the lambs.
Horses are bred to continue a line. They cost a lot to stud and AI, but they can make a lot of money from the foal. Also, if the horse is a show horse or racing horse, their foal can be worth a lot of money.
Pigs are bred for meat. You have a sow and she will give you a litter of 10+ piglets twice a year. The piglets sell for $75-$100 each. You need to find a farmer who owns a boar to use as a stud. This costs $25-$50, but is necessary. Boars are dangerous , all pigs are dangerous, so you need to avoid owning one. You can sell all the piglets, or raise them and sell the adults, or sell most of the piglets and raise 2-3 to send to the butcher.