Reply #53: How about if the meat that I eat [View All]

[LWolf]

is wandering around out in my pasture right now, eating grass? Most of the meat that I eat comes from my own place, or my neighbor's small homesteads. My little place houses some sheep and chickens (and my horses, but I don't eat them.) The chickens free range in the orchard, and the sheep have plenty of pasture. Eight hens, 2 roosters, the chicks one broody hen hatched out, and 5 sheep, 3 that will lamb next spring. The lambs will eventually end up in the freezer or going to other small homesteaders. Providing meat is actually their secondary job; they do a great job keeping the acres clear and clean without tractor, mower, or winter burn-off.

I also, should I ever decide to go get a fishing licence, have trout and salmon in a river a 30 minute hike out my back gate. The deer population is more than healthy here, but I don't own a gun and have never been interested in hunting. Still, the deer are like rabbits in this region; small groups and large groups (I've seen as many as 30 together), there aren't enough non-human predators to keep them balanced, so that's always an option if I ever really needed it.

Is my footprint small enough?