When I first started homesteading, I didn’t know the difference between hay and straw. Not because I was uneducated; it’s just not something a suburban kid would ever have known. I had country cousins whom I visited, and my uncle even raised quail at our house. It was just something that I never caught onto. The fact that most of the visitors to my house don’t know the … [Read more...] about Hay! That’s Not Straw!
6 Ways Diatomaceous Earth Can Help Your Homestead’s Health
If you can pronounce Diatomaceous earth, kudos. If you can SPELL Diatomaceous earth, double kudos. But even if you mispronounce it like I do, (Dianysis, Diagnosis, Dionysus) that doesn’t mean you can’t use it as an effective tool on your farm or homestead. So, what is Diatomaceous earth? It looks like something Tony Montana would snort off his desk in Scarface, but it is … [Read more...] about 6 Ways Diatomaceous Earth Can Help Your Homestead’s Health
How to Raise Chickens on a Budget
A common misconception about raising chickens is that it costs a lot of money. While you can surely buy a luxurious coop and high-end chicken feed, the chickens can still be productive and happy no matter how much you spend. Chickens are successfully raised in some of the poorest countries on Earth, so you can do it too. Coop: First off, you’re going to need a coop. The ones … [Read more...] about How to Raise Chickens on a Budget
Poultry Care: Sometimes You Gotta Change its Diaper
Yes, really. Only it's called a "clearing a clogged vent." One of the most frequent health problems of baby chicks is a clogged vent. The vent is the single hole in the rear of a chicken responsible for waste and laying eggs in adulthood. As a chick, sometimes their feces gets stuck in their baby fuzz, thus clogging the vent and keeping them from defecating. This results in … [Read more...] about Poultry Care: Sometimes You Gotta Change its Diaper
Winter Homestead: How to Save a Frostbitten Chicken
So, you found a frozen chicken on your homestead. What do you do? Set the microwave to defrost? Fire up the fryer? Just kidding. If the chicken is still alive, there are ways to help save her. This happened to us recently. One of our Americuanas didn’t come into the coop at night and was caught outside in a freezing rain storm. We found her the next morning huddled beside a … [Read more...] about Winter Homestead: How to Save a Frostbitten Chicken
