05/31/2026
Someone in a homestead group I'm in asked what animal makes the most profit. Really, the old saying, 'don't keep all your eggs in one basket' is the best possible advice I could give. Having multiple types of creatures, and a good garden, is the best, wisest course of action when trying to keep yourself afloat. That, and don't overload your land with too many animals!
Everything makes a small profit when I actually get off my duff and sell stuff. The beef, if you could call it a profit, by far saves us the most money, big time! We don't sell, but raise one or two for the freezer every year. We butcher our own. HUGE detail! I also supplement milk replacer with extra goat milk, which makes the calves grow faster, healthier, and cheaper.
The rabbits consistently pull their weight with a small $5/rabbit profit when I sell. The goats...I just switched to registered, so I'm not sure. Sales of milk and meat have in the past easily paid for hay, grain, meds, and a (very) low wage for my time.
The chickens...well when I'm only doing layers, they run about even. Meat birds eat me out of house and home, but this year only because I was stupid and ordered more than our scraps could supplement. I also leave boards laying around the chicken pen, and turn them over regularly to provide extra worms and other bugs. Works in all but the driest of times.
Now, take into account, I limit my animal numbers strictly so that they have lots of room and grazing, aside from the rabbits and chickens, who live on hay and pellets to avoid worm loads and diseases. My layer hens get all our veggy scraps and garden weeds, and the dogs get the meat scraps and a couple eggs every day to supplement the cheapest dogfood I can get. Manure goes on the compost pile and feeds the garden, which helps feed the animals and us.
In summary, the beef brings in the most in quantity, but the goats really are the most efficient and by far the easiest to handle. Meat goats are selling for nearly as much as beef on the hoof right now, and until the beef craze, they brought in 3 times more. They don't damage the land like cattle, will take care of all your weeds, and test your fences to the utmost to make sure nothing can get in or out, by showing you every hole, themselves. LOL
It's difficult to bring in a lot of money farming, unless you use industrial methods. It's a labor of love, that hopefully pays for a little extra.
