Tools & calculators
Beyond the housing calculators: plan a whole setup, work out feed, bedding, land and running cost, compare animals, and check every figure against its source. UK and US are both supported — switch region in the header.
Plan your setup
Start here if you know what you want to keep. It brings housing, land, bedding, feed and running cost together.
Calculators
One question each, for any of the nine species.
Feed Cost Calculator
Estimate daily, weekly and monthly feed cost from a headcount and your local feed price.
Open →Water Calculator
How much water your animals drink a day and a week, from the published figure for each species.
Open →How Much Hay Do I Need?
Daily hay and a winter total for goats, sheep and horses, with a waste allowance and bale count.
Open →Bedding Calculator
How much bedding to start with, based on your floor area and species.
Open →Cost of Keeping Calculator
Feed, vet allowance and other ongoing costs, by species — a weekly, monthly and yearly running-cost estimate.
Open →How Much Land Do I Need?
Indoor housing plus outdoor paddock or run space combined — the total footprint, not just the pen size.
Open →Pig Fencing Calculator
Fence length from your paddock's dimensions or your pig count — pig only for now, other species follow.
Open →Breeding & Hatching Due-Date Calculator
Enter a mating or egg-set date and get an expected due/hatch date, by species.
Open →Choose an animal
Not sure what to keep yet? Compare them, or answer a few questions.
Which Animal Fits Your Backyard?
A short quiz on your space, time and goals — get a starting-point recommendation, not a guarantee.
Open →Compare Animals
Which backyard animal needs the most space, land or vet budget — a side-by-side comparison of all nine species.
Open →Getting Started: A First-Time Keeper's Roadmap
The right order to work through this site if you're starting from zero — quiz, legality, space, then the details.
Open →Reference
Where the figures come from, and what the terms mean.
Sources & Methodology
Every figure behind every species' housing calculator, traced to its source, what it applies to and when it was last checked.
Open →Backyard Livestock Glossary
Plain-English definitions for the terms that come up across pigs, chickens, goats, sheep, rabbits, ducks, horses, alpacas and donkeys.
Open →