Here at Lazy Cow Farms, we keep a number of animals. The purpose of the animals are two-fold. Of course we get paid when we sell the animals, but we also benefit from the animals living on our land as they help us regenerate the soil.
Cattle
We keep cattle because they are ruminants, and they encourage grass growth. We spend a lot of time rotating them through out pasture using temporary electric fencing. See “Rotations” for details on how we are doing that (as well as videos on each of the rotations.)
Read more about our cows on our Cattle page.
Sheep
We keep sheep because sheep are easy to keep and very profitable. Grazing more than one species also helps keep the parasite count down.
Read more about our sheep on our Sheep page.
Dogs
We keep dogs to protect our sheep and our land. There are wild animals like coyotes and more that threaten our animals. In addition, there are wild dogs or even neighbor dogs that might cause problems.
Poultry
Geese
We have African Geese to protect our ducks and chickens.
Rouen Ducks
My daughter brought home some ducks that were hatched at her high school. These turned out to be Rouen Ducks. I am keeping some of the hens to breed with the Muscovy Ducks as I heard the crosses make fantastic meat birds.
Muscovy Ducks
Muscovy ducks are great foragers and are known to hunt flies that pester cows. We will keep muscovy ducks for this purpose. I plan on selling eggs and duck meat in the future, as muscovy ducks are known to have a lot of tender meat.
Laying Hens
We like eggs, and so we have laying hens. Eventually we want to rotate our laying hens in the pasture to keep the insects in check.
Meat Chickens
We have raised meat chickens in the past and plan to do so again in the future. They grow to weight quickly and their meat is especially delicious.