From chickens to ducks to turkeys and more, poultry add variety to the homestead and perform a myriad of important duties. Click on any article tagged “Poultry” to get tips, advice and even reports of our goofs here at Homestead Lady.
This article is titled “Backyard Chickens for Beginners” for a reason. We hope to help you make decisions about chicken feed, chicken coops, keeping chickens in winter and a few other housekeeping items. Even at a beginner’s level, you can learn quality techniques for keeping a happy, healthy flock.
Join us as we go through the steps of canned meat, specifically fresh chicken. From growing, to butchering, to pressure canning you can do this! Keep this low carb, gluten free, healthy dinner food on hand all year round. Continue reading “Canned Meat: Homestead Chicken”
Do you remember our popular, if controversial article, “Why Ducks Might Not Be Right For You”? Well, here is its sister post, “Why Ducks Might Be Right For You”! Come learn all about the useful and remarkable duck, and decide if some just might be right for your homestead. Continue reading “Why Ducks Might Be Right For You”
The Do It Yourself Homestead is your homesteading manual. Do you lie awake at night, wondering how to make your family more self-sufficient in an uncertain world? Are you fearful and wondering how you are going to make it through to your homesteading dreams with your current finances? Are you wanting to gather your family together, as opposed to watching them drift apart, distracted by the siren call of the modern lifestyle? Are you wanting to feel more prepared for any eventuality so that you no longer experience fear when reading the newspaper? Are you wondering how to expand your homesteading efforts while still maintaining the rest of your life?
Maybe you’ve considered homesteading, but you’re stuck in an apartment, and don’t even know where to begin.
Never fear, The Do It Yourself Homestead is here!
Ready to start homesteading but don’t know where to begin? Are you a city kid like me and have to learn all your homesteading skills from scratch? I am genuinely excited to share these homesteading titles with you as you begin your journey towards self-sufficiency. Books are among my greatest, most effective homestead mentors. Even after homesteading for a number of years, I’m still collecting great books. Continue reading “Homesteading Books: Beginning Basics”
Losing your livestock to predators is expensive, frustrating, and flat out heartbreaking — and protecting them isn’t always the easiest of tasks. While you may be tempted to break out your shotgun, there are numerous non-lethal steps you can take to keep your animals safe. Join us for this guest post! Continue reading “3 Non-Lethal Ways to Protect Your Livestock from Predators”
You can’t help yourself anymore – the signs are everywhere! You keep checking out chicken books from the library and reading them instead of sleeping at night. Instead of picking out curtain colors, you’re dreaming of feather colors and deciding on backyard chicken breeds. Your spouse keeps trying to engage you in conversation but your eyes wander to the shed as you wonder if it could be converted to a chicken coop. You set out for the grocery store, but end up at the feed store, standing helplessly in front of the chick cages, paralyzed by their cuteness. What are you going to do? How can you be sure you’re ready. Fear not, grasshopper, if you keep seeing signs that say, “Chickens for Sale”, we’re here to help you be prepared for the inevitable. You WILL end up with a shipment of chicks in your backyard and we’re here to help you be ready. Continue reading “Chickens for Sale – Help!”
So, this month we’re celebrating National Preparedness month and we’re going to share a few of the off-grid cooking methods we’ve been practicing this summer. I am NOT an expert in this DIY stuff, just so ya know! Growing up, I went “camping” every year with my family but we always went to a KOA Kampground…at the beach. So, does that actually count? Anyway, one of my favorite off grid cooking options is definitely my solar oven. So, here we are sharing an easy, peasy solar oven recipe: Budget Chicken Dinner. Continue reading “Solar Oven Recipe: Budget Chicken Dinner”
Have you ever heard of Diatomaceous Earth, or D.E.? If you have baby chicks, ducks, turkeys or even kittens, you may want to check out this completely natural pest control. Continue reading “Diatomaceous Earth: A Must for Chick Care”
You know it’s time. As the weather starts to warm after the chill of winter, the chicken house once again becomes a presence for your olfactory senses. Plus, your children are restless to get outside and have some fun. It’s the season for coop cleaning with kids. With a chicken house on hand it isn’t hard to teach your kids the value of hard work in the family and on the homestead. Continue reading “Chicken House: Coop Cleaning with Kids”