[bennettvm]

I raise rabbits for meat. We picked up our 2 breeder does at a livestock auction. If my county didn't have the most idiotic laws, I would have bought chickens as well.

Anyway, the livestock at these auctions are super cheap. This is where you need to get your livestock. Any kind of livestock you can imagine. goats, sheep, cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, ducks, peacocks, rabbits, guinea pigs, and a lot more. Prices for a baby piglet - $8-$15 (price for piglets from a local breeder - $200), calves - $50, full grown goats - $25-$35, chickens of all kinds - $2-$6.

Check your local livestock auctions. This is definitely the place to start.

 

[burkecj]

I raise rabbits for meat. We picked up our 2 breeder does at a livestock auction. If my county didn't have the most idiotic laws, I would have bought chickens as well.

Anyway, the livestock at these auctions are super cheap. This is where you need to get your livestock. Any kind of livestock you can imagine. goats, sheep, cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, ducks, peacocks, rabbits, guinea pigs, and a lot more. Prices for a baby piglet - $8-$15 (price for piglets from a local breeder - $200), calves - $50, full grown goats - $25-$35, chickens of all kinds - $2-$6.

Check your local livestock auctions. This is definitely the place to start.

I think this is still good advice in general, especially for meat animals, but in my area the auctions are notorious as being the places for getting rid of old, sick stock that you probably wouldn't want to breed or plan on keeping very long.

 

[stonewolf]

a lil steep on the chicks i get em on.CL cheaper then that ... thats actually where my network came from buy meat animals on CL just carry if you have a permit it gettin dangerous lol

 

[Kidzthinkimahoarder]

Try Craiglist as well under "pets", I just found a free dairy goat not far from me, all I have to do is travel to pick her up if she still has it tomorrow....good looking animal to boot. But sometimes you can find people that have freebies to give away that started out wanting the animal and figured out in the end that's not what they needed.

 

[bennettvm]

I got one of my rabbits from craigslist. Not many farm animals in my area on CL though.

 

[walkswithgoats]

personally i know alot of farmers who say the auction is last resort. the animal isnt producing enough to be worth keeping. it breaks out of the fencing. it cant be worked with because of its attitude. and for alot of people around here because its sick and they dont care about sending a sickly (alot of them die within the week they are so sick) animal to auction.

just think of this.... if you're buying it for cheap, take out of that a percentage that the auctionhouse takes for its share, plus gas money to bring the animal(s) to the sale. as the seller you are kinda gettin screwed. so if its taken to auction then its last resort. i've had to take rabbits to sale because i HAD to get money to buy feed. i took 7 rabbits (worth $10 each) and one adult, proven, full ped, show quality breeder (worth $30)..... what did i get for them all? for what was worth a total of about $100.... i got a TOTAL of $15.45 for ALL of them at the auction.

so yes, you can get some good deals at auction. but you can also get really super screwed over. like i bought 8 rabbits all supposed to be does. turns out 3 of those were does. so it all depends.

what i would highly suggest is to hang around the area that people will be coming in with the animals and talk to folks and offer them *good* prices for the animals before they get them into the auctionhouse. because once they get into the auctionhouse they are being introduced to all kinds of sickness and disease you wont want to bring home with ya. and i can guarantee you'll get a decent deal and the farmer will probably be more likely to tell ya about the animals.

 

[dani]

Yeah I bought two calves from auction. Brought them home to find out that they both had ecoli. We had to bottle feed plus medicate these babes for months. But they both survived and thrived.

 

[BagLady]

I raise rabbits for meat. We picked up our 2 breeder does at a livestock auction. If my county didn't have the most idiotic laws, I would have bought chickens as well.

Anyway, the livestock at these auctions are super cheap. This is where you need to get your livestock. Any kind of livestock you can imagine. goats, sheep, cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, ducks, peacocks, rabbits, guinea pigs, and a lot more. Prices for a baby piglet - $8-$15 (price for piglets from a local breeder - $200), calves - $50, full grown goats - $25-$35, chickens of all kinds - $2-$6.

Check your local livestock auctions. This is definitely the place to start.

You didnt say what the idiotic laws of your county were, but at least your area has regulations. Which IMO are a good thing when it comes to animal auctions. Places like I live in Ms., don't have anything to regulate how the animals are treated, unless its a coggins test for a horse. I've seen some nasty stuff at auctions. Maybe you can find a "loophole" concerning the chickens. The prices in your area are awesome, wish I could buy at those prices.

 

[Leon]

good advice. I asked my hunting buddy Aaron (he's a farmer) about raising domestic American lamb because the only people who have it for sale here are really few and far between. And I love some lamb. He said if I want to do that I should just instead of get like ten head and wait for them to breed etc, to go to an auction and buy a big lot of them and take them directly to butcher.

 

[Montana Rancher]

I raise rabbits for meat. We picked up our 2 breeder does at a livestock auction. If my county didn't have the most idiotic laws, I would have bought chickens as well.

Anyway, the livestock at these auctions are super cheap. This is where you need to get your livestock. Any kind of livestock you can imagine. goats, sheep, cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, ducks, peacocks, rabbits, guinea pigs, and a lot more. Prices for a baby piglet - $8-$15 (price for piglets from a local breeder - $200), calves - $50, full grown goats - $25-$35, chickens of all kinds - $2-$6.

Check your local livestock auctions. This is definitely the place to start.

Craigslist is always the best, just be patient and look in area's around yours.

 

[Slippy]

You didnt say what the idiotic laws of your county were, but at least your area has regulations. Which IMO are a good thing when it comes to animal auctions. Places like I live in Ms., don't have anything to regulate how the animals are treated, unless its a coggins test for a horse. I've seen some nasty stuff at auctions. Maybe you can find a "loophole" concerning the chickens. The prices in your area are awesome, wish I could buy at those prices.

Ms. Baglady,

I hope I misunderstood you and apologize if I did. Having said that...I DO NOT WANT THE GOVERNMENT REGULATING ANY THING. I firmly believe that the market can and will handle their own "regulation". We have entirely too many stupid, unenforceable laws on the books as it is. Farmer, ranchers, breeders will do a damn fine job of self regulation with the "market" buyers doing their part. Get the government OUT of our lives in every regulatory capacity.

 

[Just Sayin']

I raise rabbits for meat. We picked up our 2 breeder does at a livestock auction. If my county didn't have the most idiotic laws, I would have bought chickens as well.

Anyway, the livestock at these auctions are super cheap. This is where you need to get your livestock. Any kind of livestock you can imagine. goats, sheep, cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, ducks, peacocks, rabbits, guinea pigs, and a lot more. Prices for a baby piglet - $8-$15 (price for piglets from a local breeder - $200), calves - $50, full grown goats - $25-$35, chickens of all kinds - $2-$6.

Check your local livestock auctions. This is definitely the place to start.

I would hesitate to buy livestock through auctions unless you have a lot of experience with the animals that you are raising. If you are new to raising a particular animal, it would be much better to buy through private treaty sales (on the farm). There are several reasons that I suggest this. You are less likely to bring a diseased animal(s) into your herd. You can inquire about pedigrees and traits from the owner. You can see how the animal acts in it's normal environment. The owner cares that you get good stock, his or her reputation depends on future sales, the sale barn just moves animals. The owner will generally provide you with a multitude of information and help to keep your livestock healthy.

I'm not saying that you cannot get good livestock at a sale barn, because you can, if you know livestock. If you don't, then my best suggestion is the private sale. Yes, you will pay a little more, sometimes a fair amount more, but livestock that doesn't produce the desired results, or is dead, is not a deal.

Last comment, vaccinate, deworm, and hit with an antibiotic ANY new livestock introduced into your herd, flock, etc. There's nothing like bringing an animal from the sale barn and then spending a small fortune to treat your entire herd for pinkeye or something worse. Keep the new animals segregated for at least two weeks if possible. I know this the hard way!

 

[jimrose]

It is fun to go to the auctions. And you can get some pretty good deals. I haul livestock for a living so I have been going to the auctions for years.
We have only owned our small farm for 2 years. So we don't have room for lots of animals. (30 acres) So we only raise the one's my wife can care for. As I am gone from home a lot. We have goats pig's and chickens. Wife is afraid of cows. Any other suggestions? And no rabbits my wife won't eat them. She thinks they are to cute.

 

[Mule13]

i came home 2 years ago and started my small homestead. first thing i bought was 3 rabbits buck and 2 does. still have the buck, ate both does long ago after that i bought a different type of buck then a few more does. later i bought some chickens. then few months after that a few more chickens.after being home about a year we also bought a goat. i bought all my animals off CL and never had any problems with any of them.as others have said, unfortunately, around here the auctions are where people get rid of their undesirable animals.