Homesteader Depot

Tag: poultry

  • Chicken Coop for $1 and an Hour to Make (Video)

    Chicken Coop for $1 and an Hour to Make (Video)

    Ever had a poultry overload on your homestead? Or maybe you’d like to get started raising chickens but have very little space, time, and funds.

    This video from Off Grid With Doug and Stacey shares their very easy, cost-effective chicken coop idea that takes very little time to make. This is perfect if you’re adding a few extra hens to your homestead but have no place to put them, or need to quarantine a new or a sick animal. It’s also perfect for small yards or gardens, and of course, anyone with a small budget! Enjoy:

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  • Tips For Raising Your Own Holiday Turkey

    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 holidays!

    That being said, there are a couple things you should know. It’s not quite as simple as buying some baby turkeys, known as poults, and feeding them until November, then slaughtering and serving. If your goal is to have a freshly slaughtered turkey for your Thanksgiving meal, you need to be mindful of a few things. Also, there are a few other holidays you could raise a turkey for! But more on that later.

     

    To Start

    Turkey breeds that you’re used to seeing grace the family table during the holidays grow very fast. If you begin raising breeds like this in the spring, they will be huge by the time Thanksgiving rolls around, and possibly won’t even fit in your oven! These commercial breeds can reach sometimes higher than 20 lbs at 20 weeks of age. If this is the breed of poult you can get your hands on or would like to breed, and you buy them in the springtime, you’d probably be better off slaughtering them early and keeping them in the freezer. It might not be fresh, but it would still be your very own, organic turkey.

    Slaughtering these turkeys earlier than November can be more humane, as well. Really big breeds like this can suffer in intense summer heat, as their respiratory systems get taxed trying to cool their big bodies down.  For breeds like this, it’s best to start in late July, so they will reach a good size for serving by Thanksgiving.

    Of course, the great thing about raising your own livestock is you are not at all limited to these commercial breeds! If you’re interested in a more unique, natural kind of Thanksgiving turkey, and have an interest in raising turkeys in general for your homestead, you will want to consider a naturally-mating, heritage poult. These breeds will, as the classification implies, breed naturally and provide you with fresh poults in the springtime, to continue on growing and relying on your gang (actual name for a group of turkeys, not kidding!) for sustenance throughout the year.

    However, if you’re going with a non-commercial breed like this and you’d like to raise a prize Thanksgiving turkey, you need to buy your poults right away! You won’t want to start any later than May to have a turkey worthy of stuffing by the time the holiday arrives. These breeds can take between 24 and 28 weeks to reach the desired size to attend a large family feast.

     

    Other Holiday Turkeys

    But enough about Thanksgiving! Although this is the holiday we have grown to associate the most with turkey, this tasty poultry can also be served to celebrate Christmas or Easter! For Christmas, obviously, you will want to apply the same reasoning you would for Thanksgiving, simply shifted a couple of weeks later (although again, you can always simply slaughter and freeze your birds when they reach a large enough size, even if it’s before the holiday in question).

    While ham traditionally graces the Easter feast, it was not too long ago that turkey used to serve this purpose as well, and certainly still can! The thing is turkeys who have lived through the winter put on an extra layer of fat that can lend itself to some incredibly delicious flavoring, making it perfect for a festive occasion in the spring.

    To raise a bird that will be the right size and flavor for an Easter or other spring gatherings, choose June or July hatchlings to assign to the task. These will be ideal and can be slaughtered midwinter to be frozen through the spring if they get too large.

    So many people these days seem to associate a large, juicy turkey with Thanksgiving alone. In fact, you often only see whole turkeys in the supermarkets around Thanksgiving! However, these delicious birds reach such large sizes, they’re ideal for big family gatherings or festive occasions throughout the year.

    So when summertime approaches, consider buying some poults for your homestead this year and try your hand at raising your own holiday turkey!

     

  • Why Raise Meat Chickens?

    Why Raise Meat Chickens?

    If you are used to buying your chicken from the supermarket, you might not realize this, but there is one breed of meat chicken that dominates the modern, globalized meat market.

    You know it well, and yet probably don’t even know the name. You buy your whole fryers, your boneless skinless chicken breast, your thigh meat, your wings, your drumsticks, your whole legs. It might come from different brands, priced differently, sometimes on sale, sometimes more expensive for higher quality. But it is almost always the same chicken breed: the Cornish Cross.

    The Cornish Cross has not always been the prominent meat chicken breed in the United States, but these days, it makes up the great majority of meat chicken you will buy at the supermarket. And this is not because it is particularly nutritious or has the best tasting meat. It’s mostly because it grows quickly and is easy to raise in captivity. An unfortunate downside to how quickly the Cornish Cross evolves is that its immune system cannot keep up with its body, which increases the needs for harmful antibiotics.

    This is so true of so many breeds of meat animals as well as vegetables. They are bred and raised not to offer the best flavor and nutrition, but to be suitable to the unsustainable model of the large-scale factory farm. While we are very lucky these days to have more and more options on the market as far as quality and responsible management of factory farms, nothing beats raising your own meat chickens.

    When you raise your own chickens, you get to control what breeds you purchase and raise, what they’re fed, and what their day-to-day lifestyle is. You can experience the beauty and flavor available beyond the ubiquitous Cornish Cross! This is because when you are the chicken farmer, you don’t need to raise chickens for the sole purpose of selling them, but rather for your own pleasure and sustenance.

    If you’ve ever thought about raising your own chickens, this spring would be a great time to get started! You could be slaughtering your own by fall.

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  • Why Chickens Are Your Best Friend on the Homestead

    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 chickens can provide. If you have chickens, you could have fresh eggs all the time, which is a great way to add to the amount of protein your homestead can produce. Most homesteaders utilize their chickens for eggs, but it is certainly possible to use them for meat, as well, if needed. Those who have a large number of chickens, as well as a rooster for a renewable supply of chickens, can raise some for meat, too.

    Pest Control

    Chickens around the garden can be a great way to keep your pests under control. They will eat many of the bugs and worms that tend to cause problems for fruits and vegetables. This helps to keep your garden safer and stronger.

    Natural Fertilizer

    In addition, chicken manure is high in nitrogen, and it also features phosphorous and potassium for the plants, which can help them to grow strong. In fact, it has more than horse manure or cow manure. If you want to have healthy plants, your chickens can help you once again!

    In addition to these benefits, you will find that chickens tend to get rather noisy when predators are sneaking around and trying to get into their coop. This can provide you with an early alarm system in case foxes or coyotes are causing trouble on your property. Even if you have just a small bit of land, chickens can do well and provide you with all these advantages.

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  • Crops to Grow to Feed Your Chickens

    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, chickens benefit the most from a diet full of a wide variety of plants, fat, and protein.

    If you can let your chickens scratch around in a pasture, this is ideal. They love to hunt for bugs (most people don’t realize that chickens are actually predators!), and they love eating grass and shoots and whatever they can get their claws on.

    There are also several great crops you can grow for your chickens, that you can either plant in the area they frequent, or harvest and feed to them, to reduce your chicken feed bill and get them that optimum nutrition they need and love.

    Here are a few of the best plants to grow for feeding to chickens:

    Sunflower

    Sunflower is pretty easy to grow, really fun to watch, especially if you’ve got small children, and, when it’s done, you can toss the big flowers in your chicken pen and let your chickens go nuts on it. They’ll love the protein and fat-rich seeds, and the sport of pecking them out!

    Peas

    Peas make a great ground cover crop, and if you’ve got the space for a lot, they’re a wonderful supplement to any chicken diet. They’ll most likely enjoy nibbling on the whole plant, not just the peas themselves.

    Clover

    Clover is another great cover crop, that’s very easy to grow and wonderful for chickens to eat. You can plant it as you would any other cover crop, and simply pull small patches up to feed to your chickens. It will regrow pretty quickly, making it a reliable source of fresh greens for your ladies. It is also ideal for inside their coops or in an area you let them scratch.

    Dandelion

    You most likely won’t have to grow dandelion, you probably already have it growing in your yard! Dandelion is a wonderful all-purpose herb, you can eat every part of the flower, leaves, and roots, and also make very beneficial medicines out of it. On top of that, chickens love to eat it! If you have a field with a lot of dandelion growing in it, let your chickens scratch around there, or, buy some seed packets and plant a few patches of it. It’s nutritious, delicious, and useful for chickens and humans alike!

    Amaranth 

    Amaranth is an “ancient grain” from Central America that most Americans have never heard of. It’s a surprisingly easy grain to grow, and while it would take quite a bit to provide a regular source of grains for a household, you can easily supplement your chicken’s diet with a small patch of it. They love to munch on the little seeds of grain, and they’ll enjoy the leaves too. Plus, it’s a beautiful plant!

    Comfrey

    Comfrey is another universally useful homestead plant, and while it’s not safe for human consumption, chickens love it, and it’s really healthy for them too. Many gardeners like to use comfrey as a cover crop, or plant it all around the perimeter of their garden. It’s easy to propagate and has too many uses for the garden, and for a natural medicine cabinet, to count, so plant as much of it as you can and throw some of the leaves to your chickens every now and then. They’ll love it, and it’s a great supplement to their diet.

    Buckwheat

    Buckwheat is yet another wonderful cover crop, that’s also a great addition to any chicken’s diet. It is an annual crop, that you can grow in the summer and dry for over the winter, so this is an awesome option if you have the space and would like to store some chicken feed up for the winter.

    Yellow Mustard

    You might find a few uses for this healthy green yourself, but one of them is feeding to chickens. It’s healthy for them too, and pretty easy to grow. They’ll love both the seeds and flowers, but you might find yourself snagging some of the spicy leaves for your salads or stir-frys too!

    Alfalfa

    Alfalfa is a classic crop to grow for animal feed, and for very good reason. It is healthy, easy to grow, and your birds will love it. If you don’t have a lot of space to grow it, you can also sprout the seeds for your chickens as you would for yourself! Chickens love sprouts, and it would make a wonderful addition to their diet full of great nutrients and minerals.

    Stinging Nettle

    Like dandelion, you might already have this growing in your yard! Stinging nettle also has many medicinal uses for humans, and it a great treat for chickens. You could plant a little patch of it for your own use and feed some to the birds, or just let them scratch and hunt in any area that has stinging nettle growing in it.

    Coconuts 

    This won’t apply to everyone, of course, since coconuts don’t grow anywhere, but if you happen to be somewhere like Florida, California, or Hawaii, with lots of coconut trees around, your chickens will love feasting on a cracked open coconut. This is a great option for coconut meat that’s too tough to be enjoyable to humans. Simply break a whole coconut open and toss it in the chicken coop. Your girls will be thrilled!

     

    By planting crops that you can also feed to your chickens, you’re not only going to be lowering your feed bill, you’ll be providing them with far better nutrients than any chicken feed can provide them. Whether you’re trying to save money or simply introduce more variety to your chickens’ diet, these plants are going to be a real treat for your egg-laying ladies.

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  • A Simple Guide to Raising Turkeys

    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 decide if you want to start with mature turkeys, or with baby turkeys, which are called poults. You can buy poults as you can baby chickens, and raise them up from infancy. Or, you can buy already mature turkeys and let them breed.

    There are distinct pros and cons to each. If you buy mature turkeys, if you get at least one male, you’ll be able to breed your own pretty quickly, and also most likely be able to harvest meat sooner. But if you start with poults, while it will take much longer to harvest eggs or meat from them, it is definitely easier to start out and get used to.

    Set up

    Turkeys, like chickens, will need a habitat. They can wander, like chickens, but beware that they’re known for being mean, so you’ll probably want to keep them in a sizable coop if you’re just getting started. Turkey coops are just like chicken coops, only bigger. Each turkey will need at least 6′ of space.  The hens will want brooding boxes, just like a chicken, only since they’re larger you’ll have to take that into account.

    The hens will want brooding boxes, just like a chicken, only since they’re larger you’ll have to take that into account as well.

    You can also give them a fenced in area attached to their coop, if you’d like to give them space but don’t want them interfering with the rest of your homestead. Some people also give them electric fences.

    Food

    You will most likely want to feed your turkeys store-bought feed, unless you are able to give them a considerable amount of space in which to forage, and in that case you’ll probably still want to supplement their diet with some feed anyway.

    You can purchase feed specifically for turkeys, or general game feed. You can also feed them scraps from your garden and kitchen, as you would chickens.

     

    Turkeys are a great addition to the homestead, and I hope this simple guide gives you a basic idea of what’s involved with starting them out.

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  • Why Are My Chickens Not Laying Eggs? (Video)

    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, and she’s got some suggestions for how to determine what those reasons are, as well as how to help them out get producing again.

    These simple tips will help you determine what kind of environment and nutrients chickens need to lay eggs. They’re not just little egg machines, they’re animals who need a peaceful environment, the right nutrients and habitat, and at least some attention and TLC to produce.

    Get some insight into what’s keeping your hens from producing and learn a whole lot about how they function in this video from a very skilled and knowledgeable homesteader and poultry farmer. I always have to mention about Becky, not only does she have a great YouTube channel covering all kinds of homestead, farming, and gardening related topics, she’s a trustworthy source since she built her house herself and got started homesteading from scratch.

    Enjoy!

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  • Tips to Keep Your Chickens Safe from Predators

    Tips to Keep Your Chickens Safe from Predators

    Most homesteaders have chickens. The chickens are essential for providing eggs, so you don’t want anything to happen to them. Of course, we all know chickens are delicious. And quite a few predators know the same exact thing. Therefore, you need to take steps to keep your chickens safe from all manner of predators. Here are some tips to make it easier on you.

    What Predators Are in Your Area?

    The first thing you need to do is take some time to research what types of predators are in your area that are likely to prey on chickens. You may have coyotes, foxes, weasels, and more that are quite common. Think about some of the other animals as well. These can include rats, some snakes that eat eggs, and predatory birds. You need to devise defenses that are able to withstand all of the different types of predators in your location.

    Use Chicken Wire Wisely

    You need to use the chicken wire for more than just building a fence around the coop. Yes, you need a fence, but you also need to make sure that the wire is placed into the ground at least 12 to 15 inches. This will help stop predators that try to dig their way inside.

    In addition, you should add the wire to the top of your chicken run. Make sure the “chicken wire ceiling” is about seven feet high – you need to make sure you can still walk around under it. This will give your chickens plenty of light, but it will help to keep out pesky birds of prey that might otherwise swoop down on your poor chickens.

    Look for Holes in the Ground and Plug Them

    Take the time each day to walk around the grounds of the chicken run and around the coop to look for holes in the ground. These holes could be from a variety of different types of predators including foxes, skunks, and weasels. If you find any of these holes, plug them right away. You might also want to set out some traps – outside of the coop of course.

    Do the Same With the Coop

    In addition, you should look at the chicken coop for any holes. Even a very small hole no more than half an inch or so in diameter is enough to allow in certain predators. You never want to let predators get right into the coop. This is especially true when it comes to weasels – they seem to like killing and will often kill all of the chickens in a coop even though they might not eat much at all.

    Remove the Brush

    A final tip to help reduce the number of predators who are looking at your chickens as food is to remove the brush in the area around the coop. If a predator has to move across a large amount of empty space in order to get to the chickens, they are less likely to do so, as they do not want to be seen or caught.

    These simple tips should help to keep your chickens much safer and much happier.

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