I am not much of a framer wasn't raised on one or anything, hubby was. so here goes as to what i have done. one year I bought a calf. wrote down in how much calf cost. walked it home one and a half miles didn't have a trailer to haul it. oh, calf was six months old. got it home and stake it out. we have 5A . hubby comes home from work asks what am i going to do with that. told him eat it. he then ask how am i going to keep it in the pasture. told him stake it out. he just grin and went into the house. Got lucky one of the framers around told me i could have all his old fence post all i had to do was go get it out of the feild. Oh, Yea went and got that then bought some barb wire. Add that cost to the calf. as fall apporches hubby ask how are you going to feed it and what about shealter. So far he's been a lot of help Not! so looked around found a farmere with a barn fallen so went and cleared that out for him. and with hubby's help put up a shealther like. Now how to ffeed this critter through the winter? oh, hubby did dehorn him for me. found a place that would sell me hay at a 1.00 a bale and deliver it to me and stacked it up nice for me too. (there was a lot of people feeling sorry for me i guess) Had to use traps to cover the hay no cost there as we already had them. then comes the grain. kept track of that in the book too. now by the time the following fall comes around we are ready to butcher. So call the butcher he comes out shot the calf, and takes it off to cut up fro me. add the cost of that in book grand total came to be under a 1.00 a pound. and we had about 600#'s of meat.
right now we don't have any critter except our dogs and the sheep. and they have been paying their own way too. put soon if things go right I will have another cow.
oh the sheep doesn't cost me a thing to keep. she was given to me as a gift. I winter her at a freinds house and she feeds her with her and come spring she brings her's here to pasture. she doesn't have the pasture room and I don't have the hay. so that works out great for us both. although so far the sheep hasn't broughtin any monies. but do shear both of them and get their wool. one day i will get that wool carded and spun. one day.