Poultry birds are essential to the sustainability of a homestead. It is simply the most economical way to provide protein for the kitchen table in both good times and bad. While a chicken surely cannot provide the same amount of meat as a cow or even a goat, they are far cheaper to both purchase and raise. I love raising cattle, but we have a … [Read more...]
10 Ways To Keep Your Chickens Happy And Healthy This Winter
Raising chickens in the winter can seem challenging, especially for new chicken owners. Cold mornings and less daylight make the wintertime unenjoyable for most people. You walk outside to tend to your chickens and feel frozen immediately. Just because you are cold and don’t want to be outside doesn’t mean your chickens are too cold. Chickens … [Read more...]
4 Things to Feed to Your Chickens So They Lay Eggs Year Round
Contrary to popular belief, chickens can lay eggs year round. Some people say the heat of the summer, the short days of winter, or old age will stop chickens from producing eggs. Those things do have an effect, but even so, chickens will keep producing eggs all year and for years to come as long as you do two things: Keep them healthy and keep … [Read more...]
Chicken Coop for $50 and 1 Hour To Build
Why buy something expensive when you can make it yourself? Even a halfway decent chicken coop is going to cost you at least $100, probably more. But what if I told you it's possible to get a great chicken coop for only $50? If you own chickens, like DIY projects, and you have an hour to spare, you should try this homemade chicken coop by Off … [Read more...]
Feed This To Your Chickens and They’ll Produce Tastier Eggs
The foods you feed to your chickens have a huge effect on their overall health and the quality of their eggs in both taste and durability. The old adage, “You are what you eat,” definitely holds true when it comes to poultry flocks. Chickens, just like people, require specific amounts of fiber, protein, and vital nutrients in their diets to … [Read more...]
4 Reasons NOT To Get Chickens
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...]
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...]
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...]
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 … [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...]
20 Creative Ways to Cut the Cost of Chicken Feed
If you have a dozen chickens and you're feeding them organic, non-GMO commercial grains, you're going to spend well over $100 a month just on chicken feed. But as Justin Rhodes says in this video, we've only had grain for chickens for about a century, and chickens have been around for thousands of years. This is very good news because it means … [Read more...]
8 Tips for Raising Happy, Healthy Ducks
If you’re considering getting birds for meat or eggs, ducks may be an excellent choice for your homestead, farm or backyard operation. They are hardy, relatively disease free, easy to care for, reliable egg producers, and are exceptional foragers, eating many garden pests such as slugs, snails, grubs, and a wide variety of plants (including many … [Read more...]
10 Things You Need for a Basic Chicken Coop
If you've been dreaming of eating freshly gathered eggs in the morning, you may be considering building a chicken coop in your backyard or on your homestead. Designs and plans can vary widely for chicken coops, depending on what building materials you have on hand and how many chickens you want to raise. However, there are some basics every good … [Read more...]
Butchering a Year’s Worth of Chickens (In One Morning)
I've known many people who talk about how great it would be to raise their own chickens for meat, but most of them have never actually butchered a chicken, and a few of them would probably be too squeamish to handle it. Butchering chickens is not exactly fun. It's messy and brutal, but necessary. If you're interested in raising chickens for … [Read more...]
9 Quieter Chicken Breeds for Urban Homesteaders
It's no secret that roosters can make quite a bit of noise when they're sounding the daily wake-up call. In fact, they often raise the alarm all day long, even if it's only to let the hens know they've found a bug. But did you know that hens can be as noisy, if not noisier? Many hens will start cackling when they're getting ready to lay an egg. … [Read more...]
