Living in an urban area doesn’t necessarily have to mean you can’t raise animals. If you are an animal lover who would like to take care of animals, have in mind that there are some animals suited to the city life. Of course that there are some limitations that urban farmers need to cope with but some animals can even make you profit, so, why wouldn’t you try it?
1. CHICKENS
Chickens are obviously the best choice for breeding in the backyard. They don’t make a great noise and they are not difficult to maintain. Chickens are legal in a growing number of cities and they bring profit to your home as well. If you are ambitious enough, besides keeping chickens for your own needs, you can start selling meat and eggs. When it comes to meat breeds, you can choose from the Cornish Cross, the Red Ranger and the Freedom Ranger, and as for the laying breeds, the best option for you are Black Australorp, Easter Egger, Barred Rock, Rhode Island Red, Buff Orpington and so on…
Besides eggs and meat, you can raise chickens for chicks that you can sell. The prices for 6-month-old hens which are not laying still, go from $10 to $20.
2. RABBITS
People usually don’t have a tendency to breed rabbits and make a profit from them. Even though they are perfect for city life and their meat is highly profitable, people most often opt for keeping rabbits as pets.
Raising breeding doesn’t require a lot of space and it’s usually not very demanding. They are usually much easier to maintain from larger animals. When it comes to meat breeds, the best ones are Champagne d’Argent, New Zealand, California, Creme d’Argent. As for pet breeding, the Lops, Dutch and Miniatures are the breeds most sought after. And if you wouldn’t like to raise rabbits for meat, angora rabbits and their fiber can be highly profitable.
3. DUCKS
It is often argued whether ducks can lay as many eggs as chickens, but some people claim that Indian Runner ducks, in fact, out-do chickens. The prices for duck eggs vary from market to market, but they are usually around $1 a piece at the moment.
Ducks can also be kept in your backyard, and their meat and fat can be used to gain profit.
4. QUAIL
When it comes to breeding quails, they are not as popular as the aforementioned animals. They don’t tend to brood their chicks if kept in captivity, but if you opt for breeding these animals it’s always a good idea to purchase an incubator, especially if you want to have profits. As for laying eggs, some breeds, such as Coturnix, can lay up to six eggs per week, and egg prices fgo from 50 cents per piece.
5. PYGMY GOATS
Besides being quite adorable, these animals are suitable for breeding especially in urban areas, as they are the source of dairy and meat. Even though it’s a bit difficult to keep pygmy goats for larger dairy, they are good milk producers. They can produce milk from 1 pint to 2 quarts per day if fed and nurtured properly. They are also meat animals, even though they are quite small. For meat production, you should breed a castrated male or any dwarf variety.
6. DEXTER CATTLE
If you think that you can not breed dexter cattle as you don’t own a backyard big enough for breeding cattle, you are wrong! These animals are in fact quite small and they are excellent milk and meat producers. They can produce 1½ to 3 gallons of 4-percent butterfat milk daily, as well as give up to 500 pounds of meat.
