Your first year of homesteading livestock is the steepest part of the learning curve. Most failures come from skipping something boring — not exciting disasters. This checklist covers the practical essentials across poultry, rabbits, sheep/goats, pigs, and beekeeping, with month-by-month guidance so you don't forget the critical tasks.
Before any livestock arrives
- Infrastructure first. Build the fence, install the waterer, stock the feed, and set up shelter before buying animals. Never the reverse.
- Find a vet willing to do farm calls. Call before emergencies — many urban vets won't do large-animal calls. Get a name and number pinned to the fridge.
- Understand your local bylaws. Some municipalities restrict poultry, roosters, bees, or ruminants. Check before you buy.
- Buy insurance. Hobby farm liability can be added to home insurance for $50-150/yr. Livestock that escape onto roads = expensive.
Poultry (starter flock: 6-8 hens)
- Month 1: build/buy coop + run. 4 sq ft coop + 10 sq ft run per bird minimum.
- Month 2: buy chicks or started pullets. Get 8 if you want 6 — you'll lose some.
- Month 3-5: brood, transition to run. Track feed conversion, watch for mites.
- Month 6+: first eggs. Introduce a calcium source (oyster shell), monitor laying rate.
Rabbits (starter herd: 3 does + 1 buck)
- Buy unrelated breeding stock from a reputable breeder.
- Hutch sizes: 30"×36"×18" per adult doe. Space for litters before they arrive.
- Plan first breeding for month 2. First kindling month 3. Weaning month 4.
- Track each doe's performance — litter size, mothering, weaning weights.
Sheep or goats (starter flock: 3-4 ewes/does + 1 ram/buck)
- Build a handling corral before animals arrive. You will regret not having one.
- Stock minerals — sheep and goats have different mineral requirements. Don't share.
- Vaccinate CD-T at month 1. Drench for parasites per your vet's fecal-egg-count protocol.
- Breed for fall lambing/kidding so birth weather is mild.
Pigs (starter: 2-4 weaners for finishing)
- Strong perimeter fencing — pigs push anything weak. Ideally, 2-3 strand electric inside a physical fence.
- Weaners 8-10 weeks old reach finishing weight (250 lb) in 4-5 months on proper feed.
- Line up your butcher BEFORE you buy pigs. Good local abattoirs book 3-6 months out.
- Watch for rooting behaviour and manage pasture damage.
Bees (starter: 2 colonies)
- Always start with 2 — singles fail, pairs let you swap frames and queens.
- April-May: install nucs from a Canadian supplier.
- June-July: monitor growth, manage swarms, treat for varroa as needed.
- August: make increase (splits) or consolidate.
- September: winter prep — feeding, final mite treatment, wrapping.
Calendar skeleton (first year)
- January-February: planning, infrastructure, buying chicks/bees for spring.
- March: install bees, set up brooder for chicks.
- April-May: chicks outside, bee buildup, first rabbit litters.
- June-July: fence rotation, peak egg/milk production, hay for winter.
- August: weaning, butchering early meat animals, honey harvest.
- September-October: breeding cycle, winter feed prep, final hive mite treatment.
- November: winter wrap for hives, coop winterization, culling decisions.
- December: rest — and plan what to change for year two.
