How many do I need?
Planning a homestead is mostly arithmetic done badly at the kitchen table in February. These guides do it properly — per person, split between fresh eating and a year's supply, with every figure traced to a land-grant extension service or the USDA.
Why these read differently
The extension services disagree with each other — sometimes by tenfold. Onions run from 3 feet per person to 50. Coop space runs from 1.5 square feet to 4. Most sites pick one number and state it flatly. We show you the spread, name the institution behind each figure, and explain what the disagreement is actually about — because it's usually a distinction you need to make anyway. And where nobody publishes a number, we say so instead of inventing one.
Livestock
How many animals for your household — and what they eat, yield, and need for space.
- How many laying hens do I need?2–3 per person
- How much coop space does a chicken need?1.5–4 sq ft each
- How many meat chickens should I raise?12–25 per person
- How much hay do goats need for winter?4–5 lb a day per standard goat · 500–600 lb a winter · about 13 small squares
- How much hay do sheep need for winter?3–4.5 lb a day per ewe · 400–550 lb a winter · 10–13 small squares
- How much hay does a cow need for winter?About 30 lb a day · 3,600 lb per 120 days before waste, about 4,100 with it · 4 round bales a cow
- How many bales of hay do I need for winter?Pounds you need ÷ what one bale weighs — and the second number is the one people guess wrong by 2×
- What does it cost to feed livestock through winter, per head?About 40–60¢ a day for a goat or ewe, $2–4 for a cow, $2–3 for a finishing pig, a dime for a hen
- How much water do livestock drink in winter?About 1 gallon per 100 lb of animal a day — a goat 1–3 gallons, a cow 6–12, a hen about a cup
- What does a stock tank heater cost to run?A 1,500-watt heater running all day is about $6.55 a day at the 2026 average rate — roughly $200 a month. Most run half the day or less.
- How much feed does a pig need in winter?About 5–7 lb a day for a finishing pig — more once it is colder than its comfort zone: 50–60°F at 200 lb, 60–65°F at 100 lb
- When should I breed goats for spring kids?150 days back from the first kid you want — breed October 1 for kids from the end of February
- When should I put the ram in for spring lambs?147 days back from the first lamb you want — ram in October 1 for lambs from about February 25
- When should I turn the bull in for spring calves?About nine months — 283 days — before the first calf: bull in April 1 for calves from about January 9
- How many acres do you need per cow?About 2–2.6 acres per cow on good eastern pasture year-round — 30 or more on dry range. Your grass decides, not a rule of thumb
- How many goats per acre?About 6–7 goats eat what one cow does — roughly 3–6 per acre of good pasture for a grazing season, fewer on dry ground
- How many sheep per acre?Five ewes eat what one cow does — roughly 3–6 per acre of good pasture for a grazing season, a fraction of one on dry range
- What does it cost to raise a pig for meat?About $245–365 a pig before the butcher — roughly $1.75–2.65 a pound of pork in the freezer, plus whatever your processor charges
- How much meat do you get from the hanging weight?About 60–65% of a beef hanging weight, 70–78% of a hog and 63–73% of a lamb comes home as bone-in cuts — boneless runs about ten points lower
Garden
How much to plant per person, split between fresh eating and putting up a year's supply.
Whole homestead
The big planning questions, including the ones nobody official actually answers.
Every number here is someone else's average
Your birds, your soil, your climate. One season of records and you'll be planning from your own numbers instead of a range that spans fourfold — which is the whole point of Homestead Paradise, and what Harold reads when he tells you something's off.
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