THE breeds YOU NEED

SOME LIVESTOCK DO BEST ON SMALL HOBBY FARMS.

- BY SUE WEAVER & JODI HELMER

Your farm might be small in scale, but that doesn't mean the pastures can't hold cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens and turkeys as well as dogs to guard or herd them. Livestock animals need room to roam — or root, forage, peck and scratch — but certain breeds, including miniature versions of standard breeds, can thrive on small farms. Keep reading to see which breeds might fit best on your farm.

LARGE BLACK PIG

As its name suggests, the breed is named for its size and coloring. Perhaps the most noticeable characteristics of the Large Black are its lopped ears that flop forward, giving them the appearance of blinders. Although it was one of the most popular breeds in the U.K. in the 1900s, The Livestock Conservancy now considers the Large Black a Threatened breed.

Large Blacks are excellent rooters and foragers; in fact, the shift to industrial/ indoor production was one of the reasons the breed fell out of favor. For pastured pork, the breed, which reaches adult weights ranging from 650 to 750 pounds, produce high-quality, lean meat.

NUBIAN GOAT

In the late 1800s, imports of Jumna Pari and Zaraibi animals from the Nubian region of Egypt and India were crossed with British goats to create a distinct breed used for meat and milk. Originally called the Anglo-Nubian, that designation was dropped in the early 1900s to simply “Nubian.”

The first imports into the U.S. began in 1906. Nubians are second only to Nigerian Dwarfs in popularity in the U.S., with more than 14,000 being registered with the American Dairy Goat Association in 2018.