Evaluating homestead goals by inputs needed

When one starts a homestead it's easy to get sucked into the idea of needing all the animals, chickens, ducks, cows, sheep, goats etc. It is hard to dial in what works best I  your specific situation.

Take me for example at first glance I live in cow country and have enough pasture for a couple cows so it should make sense that cows would be a good fit. The issue is the 6 months of the year where hay is fed to cows around here and unless you own enough land and equipment to put up your own hay it is very hard to get a source of reliable hay.

A lot of grain is grown in this area as well but the difference between hay and grain is that farmers grow hay for themselves and grain farmers grow grain to sell (there are no dedicated hay farmers here)
That makes it much easier to source grain  as a feed source for animals in my area than hay. So on my homestead I am leaning more on chickens and pigs as I am finding it easier to find local feed for them.

Every local area is different look to see what farmers are selling rather than producing and if you can use that feed stream vs a feed mill or importing feed from afar. Dial into the animal system that works best for you specific location that works for you.

Of course I'm still trying different ways of raising pigs and chickens to find the best system for me.

This is a big concern for me, as Hubby runs a small egg/chicken business and the cost of feed has skyrocketed over the last year. He's at too large a scale for me to realistically substitute much on farm food for the pellets he uses, particularly in the winter. Our wet winter would require better infrastructure to harvest tree hay for the winter, but I'm still looking at old-fashioned, currently out of fashion systems that might at least supplement their diet that can be done on-farm without a huge investment in equipment and storage. There's a reason most small farms back in the 1700's harvested most animals in the fall! Overwintering animals is hard work!

Assuming everyone gets into a homestead for different reasons.

It is good for all folks to evaluate their homestead goals every few years and to start slowly before acquiring a lot of animals they will need to learn how to care for.

We wanted a self-sufficient life which for us was a big unfulfilled dream that lasted about 18 years.  This got the kids out of the big city problems and through high school and into college.

Then there are the ones who succeed at developing a business that leads to a self=sufficient life.

To me starting and having a business is one of the wisest goals a homesteader can have.  To me, these are they ones that most likely will suceed.

I live in West Virginia, where the growing season is long and warm, the winters are sufficient to keep some pests in check, and we get rainfall throughout the year. The limitation on farming is the terrain--it's all steep wooded hillsides, which because of the steepness need to stay wooded. So the farms are in strips along the ridges and along the bottoms. The bottoms are subject to flooding, and get more frost, so I'm happy to now live on a ridge. But still, my homestead of maybe 10 acres includes a one-acre clearing--that's what I have to work with for farm schemes. Well, actually, that's a lot of why I have only chickens--they use the woods as well as the cleared space for their foraging. Pigs would work too but I'm not enthusiastic about pigs, which can be aggressive.  I have grown corn, sorghum and sunflower seeds for the chickens, but never  close to a year's supply. My garden space is mostly raised beds, not ideal for growing grain--and I need it all for our crops anyway. I have one space of flat garden about 50 by 25 feet to grow grain in--not enough. I trade some extra produce for goats' milk, with someone a few miles away. Her goats have a barn and small yard, she brings in feed. I had a cowshare for awhile, with cows on pasture but fed about 8#/day of grain...but that was too far away, tho I shared the run with others. I'd rather have goat milk anyway. Could have them here if my husband and I were up for the fencing challenge. I do bring the goats whose milk I drink some leafy branches, etc.
I do think this is an important question. My goal is to be mostly self-sufficient, and ideally trade my own surplus for what I  can't or don't grow.