Growing Animals For Your Climate

Most times when I talk with someone about their animals I am amazed. Their sheep or goat is a native breed to somewhere in Africa and they are going to raise it in the north country. There are not to many places that are more opposite in climate however now with modern technology, grain shipped from halfway across the country and a heated barn people are doing this same type of thing all over. The question is why? Why do they think this animal is better than one that is better suited for their climate. The truth is after researching across all breeds almost anything you want can be found in any type of climate. People get what they think they need or heard was good. However we don't live in the olden days where you heard it from the guy over the fence. Today with mass social media, telephone and internationally and nationally based magazines the person who we hear these animals are so good from could live in Texas or Kentucky and have a whole different climate than I do or vice versa.

So what are you to do if you dont want to be the big box guy and depend on uneeded necessities due to choosing the wrong breed? Research,research, research.

Find out temperments, climate to thrive, how many are in the country, is the registry in the USA or another country. Call the registry and find out more. Registries are often the best place to find out about the animal, not only do they know about the animals but they are passionate about them too. In addition most people who work for the registry have the animal in their own back yard. Needless to say they have hands on experiance which is invaluble to a new comer. If a local farm has an animal breed of interest to you let them know and ask if you can go see/ spend some time there to see the behavior and ways the animal is. Ask how much they feed and how do they take care of it(additional hay, silage, etc). Then take these numbers home and do the math. Are you making a profit or just cutting even doing it this way?