You should be able to pump out of the river for household use and livestock water source.
You need to find who the governing body is for your particular waterway.
Unless you were conveyed water rights on your deed you will probably not be able to irrigate for crops etc.
If you decide sheep or goats you will need to highly manage your range. Horses, sheep and goats clip off plants/ grass that can kill the plant. If not managed correctly they can overgraze quickly which leads to all kinds of issues.

We currently live in Salado. It's been quite awhile since I've been to BCS, but it's not very far. If it would help me figure out how to do this stuff, the drive is a non-issue.

Shoot me an email w/ your contact info and I'll see what I can setup. His place is actually near Hearne so should only be an hour-ish from you. My email is shawn@kelsoarms.com

He may not have all the answers you are looking for but I bet he can give you more info than you want on some pieces.

We have 7 acres and I do the hobby farm thing too. It is very difficult to keep up with everything working a full time job and 3 kids. I am a vet so at least save money that way. My husband does the gardening but it gets completely overgrown with weeds every year. We do get a lot of corn, tomatoes etc. this year he lost all the lettuce and other greens since he didn't water them. It's daily maintenance to keep up with that.

I do the animals and other maintenance. We have 6 goats, 2 horses, and 21 chickens. The hardest thing with chickens is making it where predators can't kill them. Half our property is woods and the coop is on the edge (where previous owner had it and it's a large building so can't move it). I only have 4 chickens left from my original flock 2 years ago due to this. Goats need good fencing but mine haven't tried to escape yet. Nigerian Dwarfs and mini Nubians are good and can milk them. I have just gotten into milking them and making cheese. I spend at least 1 hour daily doing chores (am and pm) and one half day a week hauling manure and spreading it, along with all the other miscellaneous things.

The feed is expensive also, much more than what it used to be. So take into account that. I spend about $150/week in hay/alfalfa/grain, more in the winter. It's almost doubled in the last 2 years.

If you're breeding animals (goats etc) will need lots of separate pens.

I spy a HEB 1500 feet from your farm.

What River are you on?

We are on 22, but 10-11 of it is used for hay.

We haven't needed to purchase protein from the grocery store since 2018, and it's fantastic. All beef, poultry, and pork has been raised on the farm.

We try our best to raise as much of the food as we can. My advice would be to start consuming knowledge. The easiest is via youtube and perhaps the occasional visit to small farms in your area. You don't have to go all in as the homesteader but many of them provide good knowledge for when you are thinking of adding a new system or food source.

Outside of that, I would say learn about food preservation. We have four freezers and two fridges. I need to convince my wife to let me have the walk in freezer/fridge put in.

Jerry Clarkson's Diddly Squat farm would be something to watch and laugh at on netflix.

Not an exact comparison, but should give you some thoughts and questions.

Spoony Love said:

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We are on 22, but 10-11 of it is used for hay.

We haven't needed to purchase protein from the grocery store since 2018, and it's fantastic. All beef, poultry, and pork has been raised on the farm.

We try our best to raise as much of the food as we can. My advice would be to start consuming knowledge. The easiest is via youtube and perhaps the occasional visit to small farms in your area. You don't have to go all in as the homesteader but many of them provide good knowledge for when you are thinking of adding a new system or food source.

Outside of that, I would say learn about food preservation. We have four freezers and two fridges. I need to convince my wife to let me have the walk in freezer/fridge put in.

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I guess my question is are you coming out ahead financially to buy, feed, and slaughter the protein compared to buying commercially or even just buying from a local producer?

GQaggie said:

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We are in a pretty unique situation. Our land is on what used to be a golf course 15-20 years ago, so it is in the middle of town. It is a tract of a larger piece of land totaling around 50 acres. That larger tract is bordered by the river on one side, a disc golf course on another, a development hidden by a huge tree line on another, and undeveloped land on the final side. Standing in the middle of the property you would think you are in the middle of the country, but in reality, you are 3 miles from downtown.

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Belton?

GQaggie said:

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Given what I've already posted, this will make it pretty easy to pinpoint where the land is, but that's ok. It is on the Leon River, which is kept at a pretty constant level by the Army Corp of Engineers utilizing the dam from Lake Belton. It flooded back in the 1980s. It spilled the bank upstream from our land and flowed across the middle of it. We are building 40-50 yards away from that area, and the builder built the pad site up several more feet.

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There was a flood in 1992 where Lake Belton got over the spillway. You can find video on youtube of the massive water fall at Miller Springs park. The old golf hole down at river level flooded and maybe some other lower spots on the property got some water.

It only came close to going over the spillway one other time that I can recall.

Very good question.

For beef and pork I am smoking the grocery store even after processing.

Chicken is a different story. I basically feed like a show bird for 8 weeks and take to a processor. Now I'm doing like 100-150 at a time so it makes it convenient for me but it can get close to $15 per bird when it's all said and done. That will never beat store bought at the cheapest level. But it smokes the kind of chicken it is. These are pasture raised, non-gmo fed birds. They live 3/4s of their life on grass. And the result is fantastic.

Not just an HEB…it's an HEB Plus! There are certainly much easier ways of obtaining food than raising it and growing it around here. I was on the path for an early retirement, and this is jacking that all up. Instead I'll keep working full time and having more work to do on the weekends.

All that being said, I think it will be great for our family.

We are thinking about getting either a couple of miniature donkeys or Great Pyrenees dogs to guard the livestock. I have heard that some sort of guard animal is pretty much a necessity.

Leon

Yep

If you have kids assign them each a daily chore and make sure they do it. They will be the better for it later in life