Tag: chickens
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8 Ways Chickens Can Benefit Your Homestead
Do you have chickens on your homestead? Whether you’re wondering if you should get some, are already an experienced chicken owner, or are just wondering exactly why you chose to raise chickens in the first place, this is for you. Chickens provide several important benefits to your homestead. While their feed and coops may be…
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No Waste Chicken Feeder
Chickens can be messy and needy. They throw their food all over the place and then squawk at you until you give them more. This is no reason not to place a chicken coop in your backyard though. They do give you plenty of eggs and some meat. And chickens can make interesting companions, even…
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4 Completely Natural Ways to Rid Your Property of Mice
Mice can be the bane of the homestead pantry, and feed shed, and garden, and…well, you get the idea. One thing that is important to understand is you will never have only one. You may see only one, but there where there is one there is the potential for dozens more. With a very…
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4 Things Baby Chicks Need for Healthy Living
Baby chicks. Fuzzy and cute, warm and cuddly, they are adorable beyond words. Sometimes called the “gateway drug” to adding animals to a homestead, the chickens these chicks grow into can add any number of benefits to your property, from pest control to fresh eggs to a Sunday Roast. If you are contemplating joining…
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Simple 15 Step Chicken Hoop House
If you are gearing up to add chickens to your homestead, or your current chicken coop isn’t cutting it, here’s a design that works well and doesn’t take a lot to put together. The goal of this design is to have a good amount of space for the chickens to graze, in an area…
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What Does “Free Range” Really Mean?
With an increase in animal rights and animal cruelty awareness, the words “free range” has become a more common sight on packaging at the grocery store. It labels animal products from animals that are farmed in a way that gives them access to outdoor spaces and free access to grazing for food. However, since…
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Homemade Suet Cakes for Chickens
Suet cakes are a great treat for your chickens, especially as the summer heat creeps in and they have a hard time sticking to their normal activities. Chickens love to peck and scratch, it’s truly what they live for. If you have chickens in a coop who can’t freely forage this way, they might end…
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13 Useful Ways to Reuse Eggshells
If you raise chickens or simply eat a lot of eggs, you probably produce a lot of egg shells! And simply throwing them in the trash is a huge waste. Egg shells are loaded with beneficial nutrients and properties, and there are lots of ways to reuse them and make the most out of your…
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Why Chickens Are Your Best Friend on the Homestead
If you are homesteading, one of the best animals you can have on your property is the mighty chicken. It is highly beneficial for you and your family, as well as your garden, as you will see. Eggs and Meat Naturally, this is what most people consider when they are thinking about the benefits that…
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Urban Chickens (Infographic)
More and more, urban dwellers are looking into what it takes to raise chickens in their own backyard. Chickens are a great way to homestead wherever you are; they’re small, don’t require a whole lot of space, are cheap to feed, and the best part: you get lots and lots of eggs! If you’re considering…
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Clipping Chicken’s Wings, The Easy, Painless Way (Video)
It’s a common myth that chickens can’t fly, in reality, they certainly can. In the wild, chickens are able to fly short distances, enough to get them over fences or up into trees. If you’ve got free range chickens or chickens contained by a fence, you probably don’t want them to be practicing their hereditary…
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5 Mistakes First-Time Chicken Farmers Make
When it comes to homesteading of all kinds, trial and error is a great way to learn. However, when you’re raising animals like chickens, you probably want to reduce the possible mistakes you can make. If you’re considering starting your own chicken flock, you’ll want to do it right. We’ve got a list of five…
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Making Chicken Feed: Pros and Cons (Video)
As with all things DIY, I’ve always assumed that making your own chicken feed would be healthier, and more affordable. However, I’ve been reading that while that can be true, it’s not always the case. These homesteaders and YouTubers have been making their own chicken feed, and received a lot of questions about how to…
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Composting Chicken House (Video)
When it comes to homesteading, I think the more (proverbial) birds you can kill with one stone, the better. After all, that’s a huge part of what homesteading is all about: creating your own little self-sufficient system. This plan for a composting chicken house is awesome. It’s well-known that chickens can be easily put to…
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Crops to Grow to Feed Your Chickens
Chickens are some of the best and easiest homestead animals you can raise, but their feed bill can get kind of pricey, especially if you have a big flock! Not to mention, what chickens really want to eat, and what gives their yokes that beautiful, rich yellow color is lots of fresh produce. Like us,…
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More Ways to Profit Off Your Land
A few weeks ago, we wrote an article on ways to profit off your land as a homesteader, and we promised there’d be more, so here it is! This week’s post on how to profit off your land is all about livestock, dairy, and meat. Being able to raise, consume, and sell your own animal…
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5 Ways to Use Vinegar for Your Chickens
Vinegar has so many uses around the home in general, it should be no surprise to you that there are a lot of ways to use it around your chicken coop! Both distilled white vinegar and apple cider vinegar are wonderful to keep your chicken coop clean, your chickens healthy, and keep you happy! Here…
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The $5 Chicken Tractor (Video)
Popular homesteading vlogger Justin Rhodes has been on a tour of American homesteads this month, and through his travels, he found this impressive $5 chicken tractor made by his friend, Ryan from Wholesome Roots. I love seeing great, innovative, and frugal ideas for homesteading in general, but it seems people seem to get particularly innovative…
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Frugal DIY Nesting Box Ideas
If you want your chickens to provide you with lots of wonderful, nutritious, farm-fresh eggs, they’re going to need some cozy nests to get the job done! You don’t need to spend an arm and a leg to trick your coop out with some nice, comfortable nesting boxes for your lovely egg-laying ladies. Here are…
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Why Are My Chickens Not Laying Eggs? (Video)
There are definitely reasons to keep chickens other than for producing eggs, but for the most part, eggs are probably why you’re raising chickens! So when they stop laying, what do you do? Well, Becky from Becky’s Homestead on YouTube has some solutions. There are several different reasons why your chickens might not be laying,…
