Tag: livestock
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What is a Homestead Dog?
Dogs are great companions. Homestead dogs are more than that. They serve many functions around the farm, from taking care of predators to herding your cows. A homestead dog really does do it all and then some. Once you have one, you’ll wonder why you didn’t get a homestead dog sooner. In fact, the only…
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Simple Pig Weighing Hack
Did you know that it’s entirely possible to figure out how much your pig weighs without putting it on a scale? Instead, you can use a number of things that you probably have lying around your house to figure out your pigs weight. A few quick measurements and calculations are all that it takes. This…
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5 Ways Pigs Are Valuable Beyond Just Meat
When you are living off the land, owning animals that can provide you with food can be extremely beneficial. You may grow plenty of crops and fill your pantry with canned vegetables, but if you aren’t getting enough protein, you won’t have the energy to tend to your farm and home. While there are…
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Can Rabbits Contribute to a Homestead?
Not just for pets, including rabbits on a homestead can be a great way to contribute to your food supplies, both as a food source and a natural fertilizer for your garden. If you’re into fiber arts or want some extra money, angora rabbits give an additional benefit just by growing their fur. Rabbits for…
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3 Keys to Choosing the Perfect Livestock
A farm or homestead without livestock seems unusual, to say the least. Whether you see yourself with a flock of cheerful chickens, a herd of graceful goats or a few calming cows, livestock are a valuable food source that should be planned for carefully, then cared for consistently. Are You Ready to Be Available Every…
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A Brief History of Goats
Goats are a wonderful choice for an animal to keep on a homestead. They provide delicious milk which can be used for cheese, yogurt, even butter. They help out with clearing land or mowing since they are notorious for eating nearly everything (we’ve all seen the ubiquitous imagery of a goat gnawing on a…
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Tips For Raising Your Own Holiday Turkey
If you’ve considered how cool it would be to raise and cook your very own Thanksgiving turkey, then we at Homesteader Depot fully encourage you to do this. We are all about raising and growing your own, and this is a very fun way to get started raising poultry and save some money over the…
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How to Buy a Rabbit Starter Stock
Rabbits are a great animal to raise on a homestead. They don’t take up much space, they breed very efficiently, are affordable to feed, and their meat is delicious. Since one of the biggest appeals of raising rabbits is how quickly and easily they reproduce, you will need to get yourself set up with what’s…
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Are You Ready for Livestock?
Raising livestock is one of the great appeals of homesteading. If you’ve just bought your own land or have plans to, or have considered raising goats or chickens in your backyard, you should be careful not to get too far ahead of yourself. The prospect of raising livestock is so appealing, the decision to dive…
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Can Your Livestock Make Money for You?
What type of livestock do you have on your homestead? You probably have some great animals that are working to provide well for you and your family. However, have you ever stopped to think that you might be able to get even more out of the animals? In some cases, your livestock will can make…
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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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6 Things You Should Do Before Getting Piglets
I’ve raved quite a bit in the past about how great pigs are. You can buy them as piglets for a very affordable price, and within a season have a hog big enough to fill your freezer with meat. For the initial start-up cost, space they need, food they eat, and meat they yield, they’re…
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Raising Quail (Video)
I think one of the greatest things about the internet is that we can get an inside look into what other homesteaders are doing and how they set up their gardens and animal raising operations. This is a very informative look at Big Bear Homestead’s quail raising set up, with a detailed tour of the…
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4 Things to Know About Goats Before You Get Them
Goats are fantastic homestead animals, and we write about that all the time on this site. They can produce excellent milk, help you clear brush, grass, and shrubs, and can even been great companions. But you might have some misconceptions about goats you’re not aware of, so we thought we’d share four things you might…
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How to Feed a Pig for Free
The expression “eating like pigs” is a very apt comparison, pigs eat a lot of food! They happen to be one of the most cost-efficient animals you can raise if you’re trying to fill your freezer up with meat for the year, so you’ll want to feed them well, and efficiently. Unfortunately, pig feed itself…
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A Simple Guide to Raising Turkeys
A lot of Americans only think about turkeys once a year around Thanksgiving, but turkeys are a great homestead animal to raise and breed. They’re a lot like chickens, really, only bigger. If you’re considering raising turkeys yourself, here is a basic guide to what you need to know. Starting out You’ll first have to…
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The Best Animals to Raise on a Homestead
Being able to raise livestock is one of the biggest appeals of homesteading, and it’s very rewarding too! Livestock can bring so much reward, from delicious byproducts, to valuable contributions to gardening and even landscaping, as well as companionship. Here are some of the best animals to raise on a homestead, and why. Chickens Chickens…
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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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How to Train Horses (Infographic)
I came across this infographic from Thoroughbredstallionbestminister.com on Pinterest recently and I thought it was really cool. I’m not a huge horse expert, but my ideal homestead would most definitely include horses. There’s a reason they were such a huge part of Western Civilization for centuries, and why, despite much faster modes of travel we…
