Every Instagram homestead shows the cute goats and the fresh eggs. None of them show the fox that cleaned out half a flock in one night. Out here in the Harrison County pines, predator pressure is constant. Foxes especially. If you are going to keep anything small and edible, you plan for what wants to eat it before you buy the animal.
A fence keeps honest animals in. It does not stop a fox that walks in like it owns the place. We run Great Pyrenees as livestock guardians. They live with the herd, they patrol at night, and the losses dropped to almost nothing once they were grown and working. A good guardian dog is worth more than any lock.
Our Black Soldier Fly (BSFL) stations turn kitchen and livestock waste into protein for the chickens and fish. That keeps the feed bill down and the waste loop closed. But the stations have to be predator-resistant or the coons and foxes treat them like a buffet. Secure the bins. I cannot say that enough. A loose lid is an invitation.
Before you bring home one goat or one chick: build the pen the predator cannot get into, not the one that looks good in photos. Bury the wire. Lock it at dusk. Get the dog first if you can. The cute part is easy. The keeping-them-alive part is the job.