The decision to switch to a homestead or off-the-grid lifestyle can initially be scary but can pay off in multiple ways down the road. Not only does it save money, but it allows you to be self-sufficient and constantly immersed in nature. If you've lived on a homestead for many years now, you could probably write a book on the things you would have done differently when first starting out. If you're on the other end of the spectrum and are a homestead newbie, you can benefit from the trials and tribulations of the more seasoned homesteaders.
The consistency of your income and food source are critical elements to your success on a homestead. You want to create your own income on your own land without having to step foot in a traditional office setting. As a result, you want everything, including your home and your animals, to be as cost-effective as possible. For example, chickens are a common animal found on homesteads. There are ways to raise them that will save you money and give you fewer headaches.
Take a look at 6 ways in which you can save money by owning chickens!
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Madison Paige Spencer
Billy D. Jones
Kipp Glazier
Ryan J Metivier
I’ve had chickens before and it was easy!! Looking forward to having them again.
Chicken rustling?
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Jamie Latham
Brenda Shaffer
Ben Westlund
Post like this are awesome!
New Hampshire chickens can hide in brush, are good for eggs and meat, require almost no attention and the roosters will (attempt to) defend the hens. I can’t recommend the breed enough. Being able to hide in the brush is a two sided coin. They can easily do a ninja vanishing trick and hide from predators. On the other hand, if you ever scare them bad enough to think that you’re a predator, you’re probably going to need a small child with sharp eyes close to the ground to find them. 😉 Best off not to chase them around the yard during the day. Rhode Island Reds are the same chicken, but colored brighter.
You want at least 4 chickens per rooster. If you buy the typical bulk chickens at 50/50 percent, plan on slaughtering the extra roosters a few weeks after they hit puberty. They will be a decent size, and have tender meat. 😉
If you handle the chicks often, they are much nicer when they grow up. They are still 47 times easier to catch at night.. which is another reason they need shelter, from predators.
You will need to shovel the poo out eventually, so don’t attach anything closer to the floor than you want to try to shovel under. 😉 Some people muck out their chicken house once a month. Actually, if you don’t have too many chickens crammed in to a small space, you can leave it on the floor for a year, or even two, and it will compost itself where it sits.. assuming it’s just a dirt floor. If you own a well, note that all livestock shelters should be at least 50 feet from the well. Chickens don’t do well on concrete anyway, it tears up their little feet because they incessantly try to tear up the ground looking for bugs. If you must put your chickens on a concrete floor, plan on the extra expense of laying down a nice thick layer of straw or wood chips every time you muck out the chicken house.
Take extra care providing them with a place to lay eggs that the hens adore, or every day will be an Easter egg hunt. 😉
When you first bring them home (or they are old enough to move in to their home), lock them in their shelter for three days. They will understand that that is their home, and put themselves to bed at night. This way, you can let them run free and feed them free range. God help you if they discover yummy bugs in your garden though. Chickens can fly.. or at least make a valiant effort to get the bugs on the other side of the fence. 😉
They don’t need warm water in the winter, but they do use water to control their body temperature, so it is critical in the winter. A heated water bowl is a godsend. Fat healthy chickens can survive temperatures to -20 degrees with shelter. Plan on giving them a heat lamp if you want the skinny frail ones to survive the winter. Plan on the heat lamp (and use a timer) from the start. Two hours after dark in temperatures approaching 20 degrees below zero is the LAST time you ever want to be digging through boxes of junk, installing a heat lamp, and dragging extension cords through the snow. 😉 On that note, chickens produce a lot of humidity (and ammonia from their pee). You want the chicken house to be ventilated, even during the winter, until it gets cold enough to turn the heat lamp on.
They think that bug zappers are amazing snack producing machines.
You can feed them virtually any rotten food hiding in the back of the fridge. Chickens are dumb as a box of rocks, but they have an uncanny nack of knowing when something is infected with something that will make them sick. On that note, if your chickens do ever refuse to eat anything that they would normally eat, best throw it in the burn barrel and incinerate it. 😉 There are a few odd things that you shouldn’t feed your chickens. The only one I recall is avocados, because that’s the only one I ever got scolded for trying to feed them. You might want to Google that bit.
If you do have to keep your chickens locked up, look in to a chicken tractor (shelter / cart) so that you can move them around. It will save your yard, and give them a change of scenery. Also, hang old CDs and DVDs where they can see them. As they swing in the wind, they will flash and keep the chickens preoccupied watching them. If you have too many hens per rooster (~10) they will all gang up on one hen and beat the piss out of her. The CDs attract their attention long enough that they never get around to ganging up on each other.
If you free range your chickens, supplement their food by giving them chicken feed at bedtime. My girlfriend used to work at Pizza Hut, so we threw left over pizza at them every night. People who bought our eggs swore they tasted better. ^^ Anyway, if you supplement their food they will consistently lay eggs every day. Use a timer during the winter to keep a light on and confuse their biological clock in to laying eggs all year.. if you want to. This is harder on the hens bodies, and will shorten their lifespan a bit, similar to overbreeding a dog. Provide them with a permanent bowl of oyster shells so they can produce good egg shells.
Oh yeah, for some unfathomable reason, chickens prefer dirty murky drinking water. You don’t need to change out their water every time it gets yucky, that’s the way they like it. I had to train myself not to rinse out the bowl / waterer every time I give them water (unless it gets really gross). I’m hopeful that this is one of those hidden mysteries that God reveals when we go to heaven. 😉
Pine pitch is the very best thing for chicken band aids. First off, after you clean the wound, it seals it. Second off, chickens tend to pick at each other’s wounds and make them worse. The pine pitch is terribly sticky, so after they peck at it once and get their beak all sticky, they won’t do it again. 😉
Vaseline is good for preventing frostbitten combs, but just picture trying to chase your roosters down 2-3 times a day, in the winter, and convincing them to let you apply it. No thank you! The combs only provide a minimal amount of cooling in the summer anyway, and aren’t really necessary. Keep an eye on your roosters combs during the winter, if the combs are long enough and get frostbitten, then apply Vaseline so they can heal. We have horribly frigid winters, so all of our roosters combs froze repeatedly until they were about 3/8 of an inch long. Once all of the roosters combs are that short, you don’t have to worry about it ever again. Actually, I got to where I didn’t apply the Vaseline until the black frostbitten part got that close. Apparently, once the comb is frozen the roosters don’t feel it and don’t care one way or the other.
In the summer, when it gets terribly hot out, chickens take dust baths to stay cool. (At this point they should have a shady area to stay out of the sun.) If you don’t want them tearing up chicken sized holes in your yard, provide them with a shallow sand box of very fine sand or plain old dirt. ..make the box big enough for two chickens, in case one of them decides to hog the box all day. 😉
If you think you have predators lurking around your chicken coop at night, find a cheap reliable AM radio, tune it in to the first Christian preacher you can find yelling his head off, then turn it up as loud as you dare. The predators will never go near the chicken house with that racket blaring. ^^ Pro-tip: plug it in to the same timer as your heat lamp and leave it on permanently. Who knows, maybe you’ll brain wash your chickens in to being Southern Baptists or something. ^^
Anything with giant eyeballs will scare off eagles and large hawks, if that’s an issue in your area. I got a big flashy Halloween BOO! sign from Wal-Mart on clearance with giant eyeballs on it. Did I mention that chickens are attracted to flashy shiny things. ^^
A set of flashy LED Christmas lights couldn’t hurt.
http://www.motherearthnews.com
has an amazing amount of chicken related resources online. 🙂
I wubs my chickens. ^^
..I should write a book or something, lol.
Can’t wait!
Bev Everett-Wiechering
Chris James
I have 5 chickens. All the eggs I can eat and cool backyard friends. Cost me about $15 a month.
If you’re growing grass on your homestead you’re fucking crazy. And if you have any predators at all, this is just asking for it. Love, 23 years in a cabin in Colorado mountains with many chickens ducks and geese.
Colleen Wagner
Dayna Wagner told me you’s guys have chickens. Perhaps this is an interesting read.
I forgot to tell you that I saw baby chickens running around behind the Salvation Army yesterday! They were too cute
Thank you Vince!!
wow! You don’t see that everyday! You brought some home,right?? lol I can send ur dad down to building a coop!
Only in Florida Colleen!We have wild chickens and roosters lol