Why Did My Hens Stop Laying Eggs?
You wake up and it’s a beautiful morning. As usual, you grab your basket or bucket and go to the chicken coop to gather the eggs. You lift the nest...
Cashmere Goats – A Homesteader’s Complete Guide
The first time I ran a metal comb through a goat's winter coat and pulled out a handful of fiber softer than anything I owned in my closet, I...
Holstein Cow – What Every Homesteader Should Know Before Getting One
If you ask most people to picture a dairy cow, they picture a Holstein. That black-and-white spotted animal is the face of the dairy industry, and...
How Many Eggs Does a Chicken Lay a Day?
The honest answer is that a healthy hen can lay at most one egg a day, and most don't even do that. It physically takes a hen 24 to 26 hours to...
Chicken Dewormer – The Complete Guide to Treating and Preventing Worms in Your Flock
Every flock I've ever kept has carried some level of worms, and honestly, that's normal. Chickens live outside, they peck at the ground, they eat...
Do Cows Have to Be Pregnant to Produce Milk? The Straight Answer
This is one of the questions I get asked most often by people visiting my homestead, usually while they're watching me milk a cow that very clearly...
Cattle vs Cows: What Is the Actual Difference?
Most people use cattle and cows interchangeably, and honestly, most of the time it does not matter. But the moment you start planning to bring...
How Long Do Chicken Eggs Take to Hatch? A Complete Incubation Guide
If you are raising chickens on a homestead, hatching your own eggs is one of the most rewarding things you can do. It closes the full loop of...
Goat Hooves: Everything You Need to Know About Structure, Trimming, and Common Problems
If you keep goats, managing their hooves is one of the non-negotiable maintenance tasks that comes with the territory. Neglect it and you will have...
Can Chickens Have Pineapple? What Every Flock Owner Needs to Know
If you keep backyard chickens long enough, you find yourself holding a piece of fruit and wondering whether it is safe to toss into the run....
What to Feed Pigs – A Complete Guide to Pig Feed for Homesteaders
Getting pig feed right is one of the most important decisions you will make on your homestead. Feed typically accounts for 60 to 75 percent of the...
Domestic Sheep Herding: A Practical Guide for the Small-Scale Homesteader
Sheep are one of the most forgiving livestock choices for a homestead. They ask for less than cattle, produce more than chickens, and reward patient...
Quail Eggs: Nutrition, Uses, and Why Every Homesteader Should Raise Quail
If you have ever held a quail egg in your hand, the first thing you notice is how small it is. About a quarter the size of a standard chicken egg,...
Beekeeping Supplies for the Homestead: Everything You Actually Need
Bees are one of the highest-return additions you can make to a homestead. A couple of hives will pollinate your garden, orchard, and surrounding...
Chicken Diseases: How to Identify, Treat, and Prevent Them in Your Backyard Flock
If you keep chickens, sooner or later you will deal with a sick bird. It happens on every homestead, no matter how clean the coop or how carefully...
Katahdin Sheep: The Homesteader’s Guide to This No-Shear Meat Breed
If you have been thinking about adding sheep to your homestead but dread the idea of annual shearing, worrying constantly about parasite loads, or...
Goat Milk: The Complete Homesteader’s Guide to Raising, Milking, and Using It
If you want one animal that punches well above its weight for self-sufficiency, the dairy goat is it. A single productive doe will give you fresh...
Amish Chicken Coop Design – What Makes It Work and How to Build Your Own
Walk onto any working Amish farm and you will find chickens that look good: alert, clean-feathered, active, with good body condition and a...
Beekeeping for Beginners – Everything You Need to Know to Start Your First Hive
There are not many additions to a homestead that pay dividends in as many directions as a beehive. You get honey, obviously. But you also get better...
The $0.5 Livestock Feed That You Can Make at Home
I’ve been buying commercial feed since I began homesteading, but the more I learn new stuff, the more I wonder if it's the right choice. The first...
What Happens When You Let Chickens Free Range Full Time
I did a lot of research about raising my chickens free-range, before I decided most of it was BS! The result? If I wanted to learn anything and help...
What Do Cows Eat? A Complete Guide to Cattle Nutrition for Homesteaders
If you are raising cattle for the first time or thinking seriously about adding cows to your homestead, understanding what they eat is the...
Goat Breeds: A Practical Guide to Choosing the Right Goat for Your Homestead
Goats are one of the most practical animals a homesteader can raise. They are efficient converters of rough forage, they produce milk, meat, and...
Valais Blacknose Sheep: The Complete Ownership Guide for Homesteaders
If you have spent any time in farming circles online, you have seen the photos. A round-faced sheep with a black nose, black knees, and black feet,...
Why Raising Rabbits Is the No. 1 Investment in 2026
Everything costs more than it used to, and you feel it every time you open your wallet. Groceries, utilities, gas, and the prescription refills that...
How $20 Can Feed Your Chickens All Spring
You just dropped another $40 on a bag of layer feed last week, and now someone's telling you $20 can feed your entire coop of chickens for a whole...
Varroa Mites: The Silent Threat Destroying Backyard Beehives
Beekeeping is one of the most rewarding self-sufficiency skills you can develop. Bees support pollination, food production, and honey harvesting....
What Do Pigs Eat? A Practical Guide for Healthy, Happy Animals
If you’ve ever raised pigs or thought about adding them to your homestead, one question always comes up early: what do pigs eat to stay healthy,...
10 Things I Wish I Knew About My Chickens Before Spring
Spring is a special time of year for chickens. Everything seems to explode all at once, from egg surges to a hormone, broodiness, and highly...
Build a Self-Cleaning Chicken Coop
The recent spike in the cost of eggs has led a lot of people to construct a chicken coop and raise chickens for the first time. There’s plenty of...
Can Chickens Eat Carrots?
When you raise chickens, you quickly learn that a healthy flock starts with a varied diet. Fresh kitchen scraps can be a wonderful supplement to...
Is Rabbit Manure a Good Fertilizer?
Gardeners have used animal manure to enrich soil for centuries, but not all manures behave the same. Rabbit manure stands out as one of the most...
