Everything you need to know about raising a wide variety of livestock on your homestead: chickens, guinea fowls, goats, cows, horses, sheep, and many more.
Plus, how to tackle all of the issues that may arise. From predators, to dealing with a pregnant animal, nothing is left out. Whether you’re beginner or more advanced, you’re definitely going to find a lot of new information here that you can apply.
Keeping animals on the homestead reduces the family’s grocery store expenses, infuses more healthy whole food into the diet, and is often quite a joy. However feed storage is often an imposing obstacle that must be dealt with properly. If animal feed is not stored in a manner that prevents spoilage and rodent infestations you … Read more
The coop is supposed to be a safe and healthy place for your chickens to live. In order for them to be healthy you need to allow for ventilation. With a poorly ventilated coop, your chickens can develop respiratory problems. Without proper ventilation the ammonia from the chicken droppings will accumulate and cause breathing problems … Read more
An assassin bug infestation is no laughing matter. If you’ve ever dealt with these pests before, you know how frustrating it can be to have them on your property. Although some types of assassin bugs are completely harmless to humans and would rather spend their entire life cycles outside in your garden, munching on garden … Read more
Chickens do not like to be dirty birds – they love dirt, and hate water. It is just that simple, fellow homesteaders. If you have ever had to give a chicken a bath – or a wash off a chick with the dreaded “pasty butt,” you know exactly what I’m talking about. To keep themselves … Read more
Growing your own duck food may not only save you an enormous amount of money over time, but will also provide both a sustainable and more natural diet for your meat and egg birds. It is possible to do away with store-bought commercial feed entirely if you cultivate aquatic and ground food plots for your … Read more
It can seem like an eternity for chicks to hatch in your incubator or in a clutch of eggs beneath a hen. Once you notice the first peck hole in the egg the excitement builds and you call for everyone else on the homestead to come watch and share in the joy of new life. … Read more
Leaf miners are a destructive variety of insects that can kill a garden or orchard in a single season, or harm plants enough to drastically reduce their yield. These tiny black fly larvae leave pale lines or blotches on the plants they carnage. These bad bugs are the larvae of the Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera Diptera … Read more
Feeding goats properly is essential to the overall health of the herd, and to the success of any meat goat, dairy goat, or fiber goat homesteading operation. Goats are ruminant animals, they have four stomach chambers. When they are eating the wrong type of food, too much of the right kind of food, or introduce … Read more
Homesteading with pigs offers a plethora of delicious and money saving possibilities. With proper shelter and sturdy fencing, pigs can be raised on even small homesteads, and not merely on large rural farmland where I am blessed to live. Pigs (or hogs as we call them in my part of Appalachia) grow quickly, and can … Read more
Most homesteaders choose to keep chickens as part of an effort to put quality, humanely raised, and incredibly inexpensive food on the table. Whether you are raising chickens (and other poultry birds) for their meat and eggs or solely for the eggs, doing so as cheaply as possible helps the birds pay for themselves over … Read more
Adding to your poultry bird flock during the twice annual chick days event – or any time, is always an exciting event. So exciting in fact, some folks enter “chicken addiction” mode, and forget to carefully look over each baby bird before agreeing to purchase. Even those rare folks who can resist the urge to … Read more
Rabbits have incredibly simple dietary needs. Most rabbits are, sadly, kept in hutches off the ground and never get the chance to touch grass when they are commercially raised. Homesteaders can (and should) go an entirely different and more healthy route with their meat rabbits allowing the animals to feed far more naturally, and costing … Read more
Pygora goats are a relatively new addition to the fiber goat industry. They were developed in the United States during the 1980s – and became hugely popular with keepers both large and small. These miniature goats are one of the smallest of all 300 or so goat breeds on the planet and are the smallest … Read more
Keeping your flock both happy and healthy begins and ends with coop setup and maintenance. Even if you free-range your poultry birds daily like I do, the attributes of the coop still play a significant role in the overall demeanor and wellness. You will need to provide not just the basics (food, water, and bedding), … Read more
Have you ever heard of Kinder goats? Most folks have not, and that is a true shame. This small dual purpose goat breed has a lot to offer self-reliant families on homesteads both large and small. Kinder goats are a miniature to small size type of goat that not only makes an excellent “farm pet” … Read more
You have fed and raised a hog all spring, summer, and into the fall. It is now time to bring home the bacon. You got the pig to your ideal size to get the most out of it, I like ours to be right around 300 pounds, but go with your preference. A good butcherer … Read more