Two factors to consider when buying more livestock for your farm
Posted on: 6 February 2019
If you want to buy more livestock for your farm, here are some factors you should take into consideration before purchasing these animals:
The amount of free space you currently have available in your barns
If, like most farmers, you keep your livestock in a barn during periods of cold or stormy weather, then it is important to take the amount of free space you currently have available in this barn into account before buying any new animals.
For example, when your current collection of livestock is in your barn, if there is very little extra floor space then it might not be a good idea to start looking for livestock for sale until you have constructed a new barn or extended the size of the existing one.
The reason for this is as follows: farm animals need a certain amount of space in which to move around when they are indoors.
If you put too many cows or sheep into a barn and the animals end up squashed together, with no space in which to roam or even lie down comfortably, they are likely to become very stressed. This stress could cause them to become aggressive towards one another -- which could then lead to some of them being injured -- and could also negatively affect their health and make them more susceptible to disease.
Furthermore, if there are so many animals in the barn that you cannot easily access and clean any excrement that they produce, the animals may contract infections as a result of living in these unsanitary conditions.
The amount of food you can afford to buy for your livestock
It's also important to take the amount of food you can afford to buy for your livestock into consideration.
Even if you intend to buy animals that can graze on grass, it is still crucial to ensure that you can afford to buy stock feed for them, as there may be times when you cannot rely on your pastureland to nourish your livestock -- such as during periods of hot weather when the grass dries up and dies, or if the grass develops a disease that causes it to wither.
During these periods, you will need to supplement your livestock's diet with things like grains. If you don't have enough money to cover the cost of buying this food, your livestock's health will suffer and your farm's profits will decline.
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