5 Best Small Animals for Your Hobby Farm

Learn about the best small animals for new hobby farms.

Hobby farming can be rewarding, but it’s important to select the right farm animals for you. You have to consider what you’re hoping to produce on your farm (milk, cheese, eggs, etc.) and how much work you want to put into your livestock.

Blain’s Farm & Fleet is here to show you five great starter animals for your hobby farm.

1. Chickens

Chickens are widely considered to be the best animals to start with on a hobby farm. Although raising baby chicks can be a timely commitment, they become easy to take care of when they’re full grown.

They require a chicken coop for shelter and a place to lay their eggs, which you can easily build. Your family can enjoy the eggs chickens produce.

Egg production can turn into a small business for your hobby farm, if you’re willing to raise more chickens.

To learn more, visit our Chickens & Poultry Blog.

2. Honey Bees

Honey bees are a lot of work at first. But once you get the hang of beekeeping, the reward of honey and beeswax production will be worth it.

The honey harvested from the bees can produce another income for your hobby farm. You can also use beeswax for a variety of products, such as lip balm and candles.

Bees are also great because they can pollinate any flowers you have on the farm.

To learn more, visit our Beekeeping Blog.

3. Goats

Goats are grazers, which can be helpful for your small farm. They like to graze on small trees and shrubs, clearing land for other farm endeavors, such as gardening or growing crops.

Goats also produce milk. You can drink the goat milk, or use it to make cheese or soap.

However, we highly recommend using strong fencing for you goats, as they have a tendency to escape.

To learn more, visit our Sheep & Goats Blog.

4. Turkeys

Turkeys are typically raised for their meat, not eggs, but can still be a great animal to have on your hobby farm. However, raising chickens and turkeys together can cause problems.

Chickens are susceptible to carrying blackhead disease, which can affect turkeys, causing liver damage and probable death. So it’s best to research the levels of blackhead disease in your area before combining your turkeys and chickens.

You can also choose to keep the turkeys and chickens separated. But if you want to keep chickens and turkeys together, there is medication available for the turkeys to prevent blackhead.

To learn more, visit our Chickens & Poultry Blog.

5. Rabbits

Rabbits are considered a great starter pet, especially if you have children helping you on your farm.

You can compost rabbit droppings and use them as an organic fertilizer for your garden. The high amount of nitrogen and phosphorus found in rabbit manure can be especially beneficial for your garden.

Rabbits are easy to take care of and are a great addition to any hobby farm.

To learn more about rabbits, visit our Small Animals Blog.

For more hobby farming guides like this one, check out our other Farm & Livestock articles.