Bianca Morton

Thanks Hester, he thought behind sheep was the bobcat sheeps foot or whatever its called that is used to seal ponds from what i hear. Seems like way too much work lol.

Im leaning towards pigs right now.

I have to admit I did not read the whole thread. I will eventually but before that I'd like to ask about sizing for the paddock chicken coop. I have 2 chickens and 8 more growing that should be ready to join the "flock" in a couple of weeks. That gives me a total of 10 chickens. How big should I make the coop for the paddock system? ive been reading 4sqft per chicken but wouldnt that make a bit too big to move around the areas? I do get a bit of frost at night and some days in the winter do stay below freezing for the whole day. Ive been told we should get a couple feet of snow but havent experienced it this winter. Also how big each area?

TLDR:
How big should a coop be for 10 chickens using the paddock system?
How big each area should be for 10 chickens using the paddock system?

Thanks

Thanks for your reply!
I wish I could find piglets for about 20$... looking at craigslist i only see them for about 200-250$... might have something to do with H4 though

Not sure if I'm asking this in the right section but since it spans 3 different critters i figured I'd ask here. Please move if needed.

While I dont have a farm I did find myself stopping by this forum quite often recently. I just got a 3 acres property a couple months ago and I was planning on stocking it with some farm animals and a couple aquaponics greenhouses. I have a manmade pond in the property about 100ft wide 25ft deep (on the deepest spot) that i've been told goes dry in the summer. I was told that I need to get sheep, pigs or goats to do some gleying and also clear the overgrown blackberry bushes aroudn the property. I even saw a forum post here of someone who documented sealing their pond with 4 pigs. From what ive heard all 3 will both seal the pond and eat the blackberries so my questions are as follows:

Pigs, sheep or goats, which one do you prefer and why?
Which ones are easier to take care of?
Which ones are most profitable (i will not kill them myself. id prolly sell byproducts and later sell to a butcher, maybe)?
What are some average care costs for each, food, medicine, supplements ... (im in northern CA)?
How many should I get? Was thinking maybe 4?
Average purchase price for babies to teenagers (this is a hard one because of location)?

If anyone is close to chico/magalia recommendations on where to get them would be greatly appreciated

Thanks,
Bianca