Low maintenance farm animals promote sustainable practices and are a wise choice for beginners or those with limited experience in farming.
Learn all about miniature cattle breeds for your small homesteading farm. This easy guide will help you choose perfect breed. If you have small farm and
Free plans and instructions to build this DIY goat shed that I use for my dairy goats but can be used as a small barn for any backyard livestock or 4H animals!
Yes, homesteading on a one acre farm is possible. Here's a plan for you. Learn which animals to raise, which plant to grow, and structures to build.
Backyard livestock is a hot topic these days. Can livestock really be raised in a traditional backyard? Yes and you'll be amazed what you can do!
A list of the Best Farm Animals for Beginners so you can start your hobby farm without getting in over your head. Start your homestead with confidence!
Get unique, out of the box income idea for your hobby farm or urban homestead. Find new ways to make more money and turn your money-sucking hobby into a profitable business.
When you are just starting out on your homestead it's easy to want to jump in with both feet and get a whole whack load of animals. However, it can be wiser to start out slower. Today I'm going to talk about why, and what animals are great to start out with on your
Pretty much every farm animal can be raised for profit if you know what you're doing. We're giving you the pros and cons of each.
Beekeeping starts before you get bees. Here are some important things you need to consider as you begin your beekeeping venture.
Find over 20 federal and private grants for homesteaders, farmers and individuals looking to start a lifestyle in sustainability.
Homestead management can be difficult. Trying to stay on top of everything can feel impossible days. There is always something to do. How do you keep track of it all? Budgeting for your homestead, gardening, feeding the animals, when to buy more feed, etc. etc. etc. You need some homestead management printables! It's never fun
Need a large size chicken coop with all the farmhouse charm? Look no further than this DIY Plans for Chicken Coop, free plans to build your own today!
Keep foxes away with motion-activated lights and sprinklers. You can also repel them with a homemade fox repellent spray of chili powder and water or chili pepper, vinegar and raw garlic.
Two acre mini farm here we come! We have two acres of land in North Carolina - here's how we plan to make the most of it.
Do you want to build a duck house or coop for your new ducks? Here are 37 of the best free DIY duck house plans we've collected from all over the net.
Wow! This winter has been some kind of crazy! It's way too cold! Y'all bundle up out there! We're fighting a serious case of winter boredom around here - with our chickens that is. They are plucking each other's feathers out, just because it's something to do. Not a good thing when temperatures are dropping so. I thought I would try my hand at making a boredom buster 'Flock Block'. It is the perfect way to entertain your chickens while providing them with some wholesome winter nutrition. And it's super easy to do! No need to spend $15 or more. Make it yourself. Save money, and know exactly what your feeding to your flock. Printable Recipe Ingredients: 2 cups Scratch Grains (This helps boost their metabolism and keep them warm.) 1 cup Layer Feed (I used pellets.) 1 cup Old Fashioned or Quick Oats (I used Quick Oats.) 3/4 cup Black Oil Sunflower Seeds (High in protein - to help grow back those missing feathers) 1/2 cup Cornmeal 1/4 cup Flour 1/2 cup Raisins, Dried Cherries, etc. (This time, I used a mix of Raisins, Cherries, and Cranberries.) 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon (Multiple health benefits) 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper (De-worming properties) 4 Eggs, beaten and shells finely crushed 1/2 cup Blackstrap Molasses (High in calcium, iron, magnesium, and potassium) 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (Coconut oil is best, but you can use corn or vegetable oil if you don't have any.) Method: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly spray two 8 inch cake pans with cooking oil. Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix wet ingredients in a small bowl, then pour into the large bowl. Using a spoon, mix everything together until well coated. Press half of the mixture into each baking pan. Smooth it as flat as possible. Use the back of a wooden spoon to create a small hole near the edge of your 'cake', for hanging. (see picture) The hole is not necessary if using with a swinging treat holder. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, then remove to cool. Once completely cooled, remove the block by inverting the pan. It may be helpful to run a knife around the edges first. Placement is easy. Either run a piece of twine (or small rope) through the hole, and hang your 'better than Flock Block' in your run. Or, place it in a swinging treat holder for your chickens to enjoy! The convenient size of these blocks also make them easy to store. Just pop the second one in a gallon zipper bag until ready to use. Place it into the freezer for extended storage. Happy Chickens! The kitties seem to like it too... lol Related Posts you might enjoy: DIY Swinging Treat Holder for Chickens Chicken CRACK - They go CRAZY for it! Growing Grass Inside for Small Flock Winter Treat Feeding
Homestead dogs can make such a difference! But not every breed is suited to every job on a hobby farm or homestead. Here are breeds listed by jobs to help.
If you don’t have space and your chickens are cooped up in small coop, or even if you need some
How to make your own chicken or poultry feed: Mix 6 pounds corn, 6 pounds wheat, 4 pounds peas, 2 pounds oats, and 2 pounds fish meal.
all the details on our chicken’s new digs
Are you not sure if you can make homesteading work with the amount of land you have? Here are 28 farm layout design ideas to inspire you.
Learn to identify the signs of worms in sheep, and how to prevent and treat them. Parasites in sheep can quickly destroy their health.
To kick off our summer crafting, we decided to make some whimsical little animal necklaces. Its a kid-friendly project that just needs a little supervision.
SUPER helpful list of how to get started with some of the best ways for making money farming - even on just a SMALL homestead!
To decide which animals are right for your homestead, you'll need to consider several factors. Here are the most common types of livestock.
To begin worm composting, save time with this easy, step-by-step beginner's guide. Plus, get your most pressing vermicomposting questions answered.
The chooks are happy! - by Rebecca Lowrey Boyd
"When starting your garden seedlings indoors, plant the seeds in egg shell halves. Crack the shells around the roots of your plants and transplant them outdoors. The shell is a natural fertilizer." That's a great idea! I'm starting to save my breakfast egg shells :-D Let's see how many I need... I don't have a farm yet, I live in a high-rise and have a balcony and a couple large windows. I didn't have the energy to plant anything this year :-( But I have balcony full of pots, just waiting to be filled :-D I want tomatoes and paprikas. Especially tomatoes. Chili might be a good idea. It would be nice with pumpkin, but the big halloween pumpkins aren't recommended to be grown on the balcony. Pumpkins need a lot of "food" and water, and that is not a good idea for a balcony... I would like carrots and other roots, but those aren't too rational to be grown on balcony either... I suppose I need to go back to Mommy and borrow some land from her. I suppose if I do the spring work, making the benches and planting the vegetables, she will be ok with watering them during the summer, especially if I do her garden too :-D Strawberries I want, and I also want one of these pots with many holes :-D I know strawberry pots are practically a really stupid idea, but I like the look of them. Here's a great idea of how to "replace" that with what we have :-D (It would be stupid (for me) to start growing bilberries (huckleberries?) and lingonberries on the balcony, as we have forest full of berries nearby.) I want some lettuce. That is so quick and easy, I could grow some this summer too :-D What I really want is herbs. And black flowers! I love black flowers :-D Anyway... I was looking for growing things in pots and found "cardboard columns for leaf vegetables" - a little more down there were cardboard houses... Someone came up with the bright idea of using wastepaper instead of straw in cob... and I was lead to a whole different strain of thought :-D From "The Backyard Homestead" - 1/2 acre homestead :-D My mother owns about 10 ha in Finland. I'm sure I could get one of them (that's about 2 1/2 acres) and produce all the vegetables for me and my husband, and even keep some animals. I could also "borrow" some of her land to get winter food for my animals :-D Anyway, the house has been a problem. I want a Victorian house, but building materials are very expensive and I don't have the know-how. But another thing I LOVE is the English cob cottages with thatched roof! I didn't know they are cob cottages. I thought they were brick houses. I cannot afford that, but cob can be made of... anything. *_* Which means, I can BUILD my own "English country cottage"! Now, Finland is not England, we have the snowy winters and short summers of continental Northern countries, but I suppose this house would manage that too. It doesn't need to be big, we really don't need more than we have now, which is 60 square meters (about 650 Square feet). I have lived in a house without plumbing and it's not so bad. What IS a surprisingly serious problem to me is that my mother doesn't have the fiber optic line for internet. My husband would go crazy in two days. :-D (And so would I ;-)) Back to cobhouses. We both love the hobbit holes, and this would be the perfect way of building one :-) That little miniature model of a hobbit hole looks very much like I'd like it :-) A big kitchen with a hole in the floor to cellar and a big pantry; like the one Laura got from Almanzo... A little entré, living room, study and bedroom and a small bathroom. Perhaps the first year I could put the whole area on long-stemmed winter wheat, to get the straw for thatching ;-) Then we need to build animal housing and a carpenter's workroom for my husband and a fibercraftswoman's workroom for me, and milk room... Oh, yes, I'm hopelessly optimistic, ignorant and inexperienced when it comes to things like this :-D It would probably take way too long to build a big cob cottage the way I think... but - as long as my living situation is what it is, these are just dreams and as it is now, will never lead anywhere. Here's Year of Mud
From raising goats, I know how to keep them happy. It starts by giving them a perfect shelter and we have suggestions for inspiring goat sheds just for you.
Expert advice on how to establish self-sufficient food production, including guidance on crop rotations, raising livestock and grazing management. Your 1-acre homestead can be divided into land for...
SUPER helpful list of how to get started with some of the best ways for making money farming - even on just a SMALL homestead!
There are many types of farms, as they can raise animals or grow crops. Next time you see one, remember farm jokes for a good laugh. Farming is growing plants or raising livestock to sell or use.
