Rabbits and cavies can be grown intensively on very little land by making stacked homes for them.
There is a good book out there called Barnyard in your Backyard, worth a read.
There are miniature breeds of cattle, some backyard size.
Here is something from World Affairs Brief today on the subject of choosing a good breed of chicken to raise:
PREPAREDNESS TIP: SELF-SUFFICIENT CHICKEN BREEDS by Andrew Skousen
Spring is the time to order baby chicks, but choosing the right breed for a self-sufficient flock can be challenging considering there are over 60 varieties just among the common breeds (for a good interactive this list). The best all-around breeds must lay well, be big enough for meat, forage well (less feed costs), and reproduce on their own. Chickens are an excellent way to start out in animal husbandry because they are easy to care for and turn grains, bugs, and plants into excellent eggs and meat. The key is to find a variety that will still hatch out their own chicks.
Rhode Island Reds and White Leghorns are common on farms today because they are great egg layers and still have 7 or 8 lbs of meat. They won’t dress out like what you see at the store because they almost exclusively sell the “Cornish Cross” (a cross of White Cornish and White Plymouth Rock). Those meaty birds grow to an incredible 12 lbs in just two or three months! But they don’t lay eggs or reproduce well and many die early because their heart and bones are weak from the fast growth.
If you are fortunate enough to live on a few acres of land, consider some of the better foraging birds. Small, lithe, “heirloom birds” similar to wild birds, like Buckeyes, that can survive almost on their own (given enough foraging space) but they don’t lay many eggs or grow much meat. Most birds learn to forage if allowed to free range including Rhode Island Reds and non-white leghorns. Free-foraging birds can be hard to keep out of your garden and prized flower beds, but their eggs are much more nutritious with bright orange yolks. They also keep bugs down and spread their high nitrogen fertilizer around your property (unlike typical chicken coops and runs that get smelly). If you make a moveable coop as discussed in my previous tip, you can let them out occasionally or move them around the yard still confined for the best of both options.
The hardest characteristic to find in modern breeds is the “broody” mothering instinct—where a hen will sit on a “clutch” of eggs until hatched and then raise them. Replacing the mother hen is a lot of work with incubators, egg-turning, heat lamps, special food, and careful integration into the flock so the old hens don’t pick at them. A mother hen does all this and more even with eggs that aren’t her own. Most popular breeds have this instinct bred out of them because they stop laying during broody times. Rhode Island Reds and Leghorns, for instance, are not instinctive breeders.
The Silkie Bantam, a small, fluffy-feathered bird, is one of a few breeds that still has a strong broody instinct and will hatch and care for chicks. Silkies alone won’t make a flock since they lay smaller (and fewer) eggs and are small on meat but they may be a critical step toward a self-sustaining flock. Breeds (like those below) still have the broody instinct, but may have forgotten it after so many generations raised by incubators. In this case get a Silkie to start a new generation of eggs and teach the others mothering again.
Some impressive all-around breeds: The Plymouth Rock is the quintessential American farmyard chicken—and for good reason. They lay well, grow decent meat, are keen foragers and go broody. The Barred Rock variety is ideal because the black and white feathers are good camouflage in shady areas and it is alert enough to avoid many predators. Old farmers were very impressed with them. Similar varieties are the Sussex and Wyandotte which are cold hardy, easygoing, and large heirloom type breeds.
Day old chicks are shipped to you in warm boxes but need immediate care as soon as they arrive. Your local post office may call you as soon as they arrive (at 5am) to come pick them up. Here are some good tips for raising chicks from robertsranch.com including use of wheatgrass for an immune boost. [END]