Tag Archives: chickens

How to Find and Use a Farm Sitter to Enjoy Vacation as a Homesteader

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We don’t go on vacation much. Hardly ever, really. And our version of a vacation is usually just a 3-day weekend visiting family. Between all the packing for five people; all the prep (and cost!) to leave the animals in someone else’s hands; all the stress of getting there and getting home–and worrying about everything while you’re gone!–then all the unpacking, washing, cleaning, and catching up when you do get home…blah! There’s nothing relaxing about it! Besides–we like being at home! But we also like our family. And we like adventuring … Continue Reading…

Putting the Summer Cover on the Chicken Hoop House

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Our busy Sunday this past weekend also included putting a new, summer cover on our chicken hoop house. Mr. Fix-It decided to try adding a little brown spray paint to the plastic cover to offer a little bit of sun filtering and shade. We also hang a tarp on the side to create real shade, but I didn’t object to the extra step because it’s a great opportunity to let the kids practice spray painting something they couldn’t mess up. Who knew spray painting was a life skill? Like everything else, … Continue Reading…

How to Steam Farm Fresh Eggs for Easy Peeling

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Have you ever had this happen? You buy a dozen beautiful, rainbow-colored, farm fresh eggs and can’t wait to eat them! You have visions of scrambled eggs, quiches, cakes, and a lovely tray of deviled eggs at the family picnic with those brilliant yellow yolks…NOPE. By the time you peel them, all you have left is the yolk! NOPE. By the time you peel them, all you have left is the yolk! Peeling fresh eggs is always a struggle, but peeling farm fresh, pasture-raised eggs can be a nightmare! Both the … Continue Reading…

How to Help Needy Families with Your Extra Eggs

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As I said on Monday, We have about 15 chickens in the chicken house right now and during peak egg season that amounts to about a dozen eggs a day! As we’ve downsized, marketing our eggs has been less of a priority and we’ve focused on using them up, or giving them away. Our last post talked about ways to save those eggs for your own family’s use. But farm fresh eggs can provide huge nutritional value to families that struggle to put food on the table! This post is about … Continue Reading…

Using Up Extra Eggs With Breakfast Freezer Cooking

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This time of year the chickens really get down to business and each hen start laying about two eggs every three days–not quite one egg a day. Egg laying is related to daylight hours, so longer daylight hours this time of years leads to the start of the spring egg glut. {smile} With 15 chickens in our chicken house right now, we get about a dozen eggs a day! Yes, we do sell eggs. But as we’ve downsized the farm, we have reduced our marketing time and focused more on self-reliance. … Continue Reading…

Choosing Livestock (Part 3) …The Dollars and Cents of Starting a Small Farm

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So here we are at Part 3. You’ve already decided that you’re ready to bring some livestock out to the farm. You’ve done your research and planning and know what type of livestock you want to start with. But within each species there is a huge list of individual breeds to choose from–and each one has plenty of breeders and admirers swearing that theirs is the best breed ever! The Livestock Conservancy identifies and tracks heritage livestock breeds only, and they have lists of 22 breeds of cattle, 10 individual … Continue Reading…

Choosing Livestock (Part 2) …the Dollars and Cents of Starting a Small Farm

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This particular part of the series became a two-parter (and then THREE PARTS) because there’s just so much to cover when it comes to choosing livestock. Livestock will be, by far, your largest investment in your small farm. In time, resources, and heartache. Choosing the right animals to fit your needs, your goals, and your farm space will make the best use of your limited resources, and be less stressful for you AND the animals. If your tractor dies, there will be financial pain and angst. When you lose a … Continue Reading…

Pros and Cons of a Hoop House Chicken Coop

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Our latest chicken coop is a hoop house style made from an old greenhouse frame, with hog panel sides and salvaged tin for the front and back wall. We wrap it in 9 mil plastic for weather proofing. There are runner boards (or skids) along the bottom on both long sides. This means we can drag it around the field as needed–something we do weekly. That also gives us something to fasten the plastic to in the winter. At the top of the hog panel wall on each side are … Continue Reading…

Choosing Livestock (Part 1)…the Dollars and Cents of Starting a Small Farm

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So, now we get to the fun part of a small farm–The critters. It’s the part we tend to get over-zealous and the most impulsive about–and probably the most important that we take our time and think through! {smile} On a more serious note, it really is the part people most often get in over their head with. We’ve ended up with a lot of cast off livestock over the years. From “adopting” chickens at the animal shelter, to a goat tied to our porch rail with a note, to … Continue Reading…

In the Cold, In the Wet…the Daily Farm Adventures {94}

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This past weekend we pulled the sides down on the chicken house for the winter. It was cold. And wet. And we all worked anyway. That doesn’t mean we didn’t have some fun along the way. Because honestly, these boys are never serious for very long! We added some screws to the towing skids to strengthen them up. Those skids are also what we attach the side walls to when they are rolled down. Everyone got to help out working tools and running errands. Then we unrolled the plastic sides … Continue Reading…

Chicken Hoop House Maintenance…the Daily Farm Adventures {88}

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For the 4th of July we went camping (and got rained out) and then spend the whole day Sunday on some farm upkeep (and catch up!). The WHOLE day. Meaning, I walked the dogs at 5:30 am, then went straight in to cook breakfast, we got dressed, and headed out. It was sopping wet, but we managed to get a lot done, before the clouds rolled in at 5:30 pm. (If you’re thinking about homesteading, might I recommend Muck Boots. There’s pretty much no other way to survive, trust me!) … Continue Reading…

Well, It’s Been Raining…the Daily Farm Adventures {86}

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That’s about all I can say. It was terribly dry and God has now sent us FOUR DAYS of rain. I’ve given up on the keeping the floors clean! But I found a few pictures to share with you from just before the clouds rolled in… Liberty the “barn cat” that lives on our front porch, shamelessly begging for some kitchen scraps… Henny Penny, our rascally free-ranger, also shamelessly begging for a treat on the front porch… And Molly, with her calf Bubba (he’s got a noticeable under-bite and as … Continue Reading…

Chickens and Flowers and Fruit…the Daily Farm Adventures {84}

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The weather’s been typical Tidewater spring lately. Hot and humid, muggy and thunderstorms, cool and buggy…usually all in one day! {smile} So we opened up the sides of the chicken house for more air flow–and a few bold ladies immediately wiggled themselves through the side panels and have been free-ranging it. I don’t even have the heart to be mad at them anymore. It’s been a 10 year battle, and they’ve won. And it’s never all of them. Usually just the same handful of trouble-makers. Frenchie here (one of our … Continue Reading…

Yard Birds…the Daily Farm Adventures {81}

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We built a new chicken house (I’ll be sure to get pictures to share soon!). The hens seemed to love it. Then they all shared a dust bath–which cause a hole–which they all decided to wiggle out of. And here we are with free range chickens again. {smile} I’m sure I know who the ring-leader of the escape was. See that black hen there. Her. Definitely her. There’s two small problems with this. 1. They leave piles of chicken…um…waste everywhere. I mean everywhere! And especially underneath of wherever they decide … Continue Reading…

A Little Encouragement on the Homestead…the Daily Farm Adventures {80}

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Our series the Dollars and Cents of Starting a Small Farm has been going well, but it’s been awfully serious. Livestock farming is an expensive proposition and it can feel discouraging to list out all the ways farming gets complicated and costly. But like I said in the very first post, this series isn’t meant to discourage, it’s meant to be a tool to help prepare you for success! After coming off a hard lambing season, the post on Health and Wellness was particularly hard to write on a positive note. … Continue Reading…