8) What to Consider Before Homesteading in the Suburbs With Animals.

To keep or not to keep animals on a suburban homestead...I’m pondering a few questions about keeping animals in a small suburban homestead in the UK. There’s too much information on the subject to mention here so this is meant to be an overview to point you in the right direction and give you an opportunity to check that it’s right for your homestead.

This article is going deeper into the choice as to whether you want animals as a part of your homestead or not which is particularly important if you are a suburban or an urban homesteader.

 

 

Is homesteading without animals even homesteading?

I have already explained what HOMESTEAD actually means and where the word comes from in my blog no.2.  Homesteading isn’t determined by whether there are animals on or in it anyway. There are many homesteads that DON’T include stock animals because it’s not suitable for them and I have seen a few vegan homesteads that do keep animals just because they love them and it has nothing to do with the production of food. So yes, you can have a homestead without stock animals.

Consider this; whether you bring in animals or not, you will be surrounded by nature, even in a city. The type of animals that come in naturally will depend on your location. In the UK countryside you will have foxes, rabbits, woodpigeons, garden birds, hedgehogs and birds of prey. Sometimes badgers, stoats, pine martins and weasels. Some may be rats and mice too as well as bats, and if farms nearby, sheep and cows wandering free range beyond their boundaries.

If you’ve ever been in Wales, it wouldn’t be uncommon to see sheep grazing in a suburban front garden! I’ve seen it, so funny.

In a suburban garden you might very well still see foxes (I’ve had a couple foraging my front garden). Here at Blue Garden Cottage we more frequently get garden birds, neighbour’s cats, birds of prey (there are nearby woodlands on the estate) and sometimes we even see mice that come for the bird food. Other neighbours have dogs and a bird of prey in a large aviary. We once saw a rat scurry out of another neighbour’s garden as the 6’ high brambles were cut down.  

We've had hedgehogs and do still get bats in the evenings as there are many tall trees in neighbours’ gardens. Insects, which have this year been very quiet because of the poor weather conditions also make their way in.

In cities, you also get animals like rodents, common birds, birds of prey and even foxes. So even if you don’t bring in animals, the wilder variety will make their way in.

When it comes to suburban or urban homesteads, it’s the local regulations that count even if it turns out you do have space and it would be appropriate for you. See the next sections for more.   

 

 Are you even allowed to keep animals?

I can’t speak for situations in countries other than the UK but in any event, you need to do your own research where you are. That’s because every local authority have their own regulations and rules when it comes to planning and what they allow in their area.

Let’s just say that local authorities/councils generally don’t allow you to keep any livestock animals like pigs, sheep and cows or anything like them in suburban settings. Unless you have a massive ‘garden’ but then you would have to register as a smallholding and come under the appropriate regulations. It’s complicated. Personally, I wouldn’t have the larger animals unless I had acreage to do managed grazing which would be kinder to them and less damaging to the pastures.

I really struggled to find specific answers to that question. I even checked DEFRAs site but the best article I could find was from an article in https://northernlifemagazine.co.uk/interesting-and-useful-pets-to-keep-in-your-garden/

The article suggests worms, fish, honey bees, chickens, ducks, quail, rabbits and if you have a lot of space (it wasn’t specific) goats, sheep and alpacas. My response to that is, NO! Not in suburbia, no matter how big your garden. The article didn’t mention any legality.

Another article mentions checking title deeds for your property to check if there are restrictive covenants or if renting, check with your landlord. For us, that’s the local council.

 

Why would you NOT want to keep animals on your suburban Homestead?

Thinking of the possible negatives for having ‘useful’ animals in your garden, there are things you would want to avoid...

Other than tenancy agreements and deed covenants, I would think you need to keep the neighbours in mind. When it comes to chickens, ducks, quail, honey bees and rabbits, they all could have a negative effect on neighbours and land you in the realms of anti-social behaviour orders.

Think smells, noise, rodents after the feed, rabbits digging through or under fencing and prize plants being grazed. Who’s going to look after them when you go away?

When we kept chickens there were issues with keeping feed rodent proof and of course it was not permitted to have a cockerel in a built up area due to noise. This meant the girls regularly got into scraps and on one occasion, there were some nasty injuries. We learned that a cockerel really does keep the peace and we would be taking on the job. We also learned how to treat and dress wounds, deal with colds and learned hens are a pain when broody but the good things made up for it.

Ducks are great but need water and they make a muddy mess. Your flooring might be earth flooring.

Honey bees could be a problem if they swarm and at any time could be a problem for neighbours with allergies.

It’s difficult to find downsides of quail other than the same for chickens and ducks attracting rodents due to their food.

There are some other considerations I mention later.  

Why WOULD you want to keep animals in your suburban homestead?

I can think of way more pros for having animals in your suburban homestead. For one, you are connected to nature and they are so entertaining! Hubby and I used to keep 4 chickens in one property we lived in, in England.  Four were plenty for our fairly large garden. They each had individual personalities and the two different breeds had differing traits too. When we moved to Wales, we rehomed them at a wonderful sanctuary.

The ‘useful’ animals that produce manure help fertilise your garden. The chickens, quail and ducks will munch the pests and give you eggs. The chickens and quail will process garden waste into compost for you too.

Certain rabbits will give you fur for textiles if you like to spin yarn and craft.

Worms will be great in a wormery to turn kitchen waste into liquid gold reducing the amount of waste leaving your property, closing that loop even tighter.

Honey bees will give you honey, wax and better pollination of your crops if you grow food and other plants.

And all of these will make you super interesting when you tell people you are a homesteader with animals.

Things to think about before buying or accepting homestead animals.

Before you get carried away with the romance and prospect of having a slice of that countryside ‘Good Life’ in the suburbs, remember that any of the animals mentioned above are living creatures and have specific needs for them to be healthy and happy if you want to avoid complications, neighbours and stress as well as expensive costs.

1.    First, check if it’s allowed. Check which animals you are allowed to keep.

2.    Get informed. Do your research for the animals you want to keep even if only for pets.  Other than John Seymour’s Book of Self-Sufficiency, try The Country Smallholder and Permaculture magazines which are excellent sources of up to date information.

3.    Based on the information you find, Plan the housing of the animals and where you will place it. How much will it cost? You can make housing from up-cycled materials but think about protection from weather and predators. Think about making it easy to clean and what will you do with waste produced.

4.    Feed (for those that need feeding), where and how will you store it to prevent spoilage and rodent infestation?

5.    If keeping bees, register with The British Bee Keeping Society and do any training offered.

6.    Worms...Surely that’s the easiest useful creature to look after not counting the wild critters that come in. You don’t even have to buy them. “If you build it, they will come”.

7.    Neighbours. Try to be good neighbours and let them know what you are planning or have introduced in case of allergies or needing their understanding and putting them at ease about noise and smells.

8.    Holidays. Who will look after your animals when you are away?

Of course it IS possible to homestead without animals. I do; only because I don’t have the space and lifestyle that would be a good mix with animals that need care.  I’m blessed with wildlife instead. For more on that, see my YouTube channel.

That’s a load of ideas to mull over in planning your ‘Good Life’ journey with critters. I sincerely hope it has been helpful. As always, I love to hear from you and your ideas and questions are always welcome. In fact, I ask you for them.

Until next time...Happy suburban homesteading!