Raising chickens is awesome. You get fresh eggs, chicken meat (if you want), and the satisfaction of caring for your little flock. However, it's not for everyone, and that is the topic of this video by Big Family Homestead. Brad came up with four reasons why you might not want to get chickens. Here's his list, counted down... 4. Attachment - … [Read more...]
10 Best Goat Breeds for Off Grid Living
The best goats for off-grid living are not only great weed eaters, but also hardy enough to survive on low-quality brush and rugged terrain while still producing quality meat and ample milk. Before you whip out your wallet and start buying goats to cultivate a herd, you must decide which of the benefits of goat ownership are the most important … [Read more...]
The Best Livestock Fencing For Your Little Farm
If you can't afford to build a perimeter fence around your property, start with your animal pen. There are many types of animal pens, but what's really important is that it's easy to build and sturdy enough to last a long time. So what does Becky from Becky's Homestead suggest? Hog panels and horse panels! These panels are made of wire railing … [Read more...]
How to Eliminate Ticks and Prevent Lyme Disease
Lyme disease is no picnic. It starts with a rash that slowly spreads across your body. Next thing you know, you have a fever, the chills, joint pain, and a terrible headache. In severe cases, you could have nausea and vomiting. If left untreated, Lyme disease can cause permanent damage to the heart or brain. Most people get Lyme disease after … [Read more...]
Warning for Everyone About to Start Homesteading
The Youtube channel, Homesteady, always makes high-quality videos. The production values--music, lighting, imagery--are great, and Aust and Kendra always have good advice. If you've never seen their channel, the video below is a pretty good introduction. The topic of this video is for people who are about to start homesteading, and it's a … [Read more...]
Protect Your Livestock from Deadly Diseases – Part 2: Mammals
This week we continue our two-part series on protecting livestock from deadly diseases. (Click here to read part one.) Keeping livestock healthy in order to provide meat and dairy for the family table is a top priority for all homesteaders. There won't always be time to wait for a veterinarian to arrive and treat an injury or deadly illness. … [Read more...]
Protect Your Livestock from Deadly Diseases – Part 1: Birds
Protecting your livestock from disease ensures not only their health and longevity but yours as well. Some poultry illnesses spread quickly and go undetected by keepers who have not yet learned how to detect the signs of infection or injury. Early detection is essential to not only saving the life of one bird but the entire flock if the illness … [Read more...]
18 All-Natural Ways to Eliminate Ants
We all want to make our homes nice and cozy for our guests… except if those guests are ants. Sugar ants, black ants, fire ants--there are 1,000 species of ants in North America, any of which might be getting ready to make your house their new home. First, you’ll see one of them crawling around your windowsill and the next day… a whole team of … [Read more...]
5 Mistakes First Time Chicken Owners Make
Have you ever thought about raising chickens in your backyard? If you live in an area where backyard chickens are allowed, you should seriously consider it. You get fresh eggs, chicken meat, free fertilizer, pest control, weed control, and more. However, you can't just dump a bunch of chickens in your yard and throw them scraps every now and … [Read more...]
15 Ways To Keep Your Chickens Cool In Hot Weather
Chickens are hardy birds and can adapt to most common weather fluctuations, with the exception of heat. Hot temperatures can kill an entire flock just as quickly as any predator. Sudden jumps in temperature are far more dangerous to chickens than a seasonal or gradual temperature increase. Unlike humans and likely many breeds of livestock on … [Read more...]
5 Myths About Goats
There are many, many benefits of raising goats. The most obvious benefits are that they produce milk and meat, which is delicious. But you can also use the milk to make soap, you can use their dung as fuel, they'll eat all your food scraps, they'll eat all your weeds, they produce manure for your garden, they're fairly easy to train and deal with, … [Read more...]
How to Clip Your Chickens’ Wings
If you were stuck in one little backyard for most of your life, you'd probably get pretty bored. You might think, What's on the other side of that fence? Maybe some fresh juicy bugs! Well, you wouldn't think that last part, but you see what I'm getting at. Chickens get bored, too, and they very curious. So if your fence is too low (about six feet … [Read more...]
6 Things Every Chicken Needs
If you're getting chickens for the first time, please don't dive in too fast. Take some time to learn what chickens need to be healthy and happy; because if you don't take good care of them, they won't lay many eggs, they could get sick, and they'll be miserable. In this video, Doug from Off Grid With Doug & Stacy lists six things every chicken … [Read more...]
3 Best Birds To Have On Your Homestead When The SHTF
Everybody knows that after the SHTF, you want to be as self-sufficient as possible. Not everybody knows how important birds are for this. Just think about it: birds provide you with eggs, meat, and fertilizer every single day. It's hard to overestimate how great that is. So the question is, what kind of birds should you get? Ducks, geese, … [Read more...]
6 Things You Need to Get Started with Sheep
There are many great reasons to raise sheep on your homestead. For starters, sheep wool is wonderful. It's nice and warm and very valuable. Sheep milk is super nutritious with far more calcium and vitamins than cow milk. And if you decide to breed your sheep, you can make a lot of money from the offspring. The downside of sheep is that they … [Read more...]
3 Animals Every New Homestead Needs
When people talk about homestead animals, they're usually referring to cows, goats, chickens, and other livestock. But in this video from Becky's Homestead, she talks about other types of animals that every homestead should have. For example, cats are great to have around because they keep mice and rats away. Also, livestock feed tends to … [Read more...]
10 Common Livestock Mistakes to Avoid
On a homestead, there is no time more exciting than when livestock first arrives. When animals begin to fill the barn, pens, and hutches, it makes newbie homesteaders feel like they have finally arrived. Unfortunately, a well-crafted plan to grow and raise your own groceries can rapidly turn into an epic failure if you make one of many common … [Read more...]
