Hi guys. Any advice on what to do with a mature rooster that attacked me today when I was walking away from him and the hens? He is 6 years old and before today he’s never actually attacked me, and his talons cut my leg. I have a young child at home and I’m worried he will do it to my child. Do I put him on the grill? My first reaction was to unaalive him immediately but I decided against it for now. I’ve had to cull chickens before to eat them or if they were sick but never my rooster. thanks

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I'm a farm boy who returned to my roots. My wife and I lived in a mobile home behind my parent's house on the small family farm of 52 acres of fields, forest, and large creek. I originally got chickens because my aging parents could use the meat and eggs as well as my wife and I. My mother 'helped' in caring for them but frankly, her mind was fading even back then. Chickens were something that she had raised all her life, so I felt that she was competent.

Unfortunately, I was partially wrong. For instance, I got a variety of assorted breeds of started new chicks, low priced because they were a nearby hatchery’s over-runs, to offset predation because our flock of chickens were free ranged and there were occasional losses. One day, she opened the chick's coop door to look at them and never closed it.  25 chicks, a month old, gone in one night.  Tracks indicated a family of raccoons.  She really tried to care for the chickens but things did not improve until my younger sister and her family moved back home to care for her. Dad had died of cancer several years earlier and that pushed her mind into full dementia. The chickens did better without her help.

I raised layers and meat birds. Periodically during good weather, I would get on a tractor and plow a shallow furrow just so the chickens could find earthworms and insect larva. In late summer I would herd them through a hay field so that they could feast on grasshoppers. They certainly seemed to like that. Those are pleasant memories.

Sadly, some neighbor's free running dogs, unconfined is illegal here, slaughtered the chickens during a single day while I was at work. I had to use a tractor to bury the carcasses.  Since then, no chickens.  No eggs with bright orange yolks. We only have pale, store-bought, eggs from egg factories because I am now physically unable to care for a flock. No more hearing roosters in different parts of the pasture sounding off as they watched for predators. Lastly, the chickens ranging through the barnyard greatly lowered the fly population because chickens eat flies and maggots.  I miss them.

How difficult is it to get the homestead tax exemption in Texas?

Hello folks,

I wasn't exactly sure where to put this. But I needed to share some of my thoughts and experiences.

-----Background-----

I was born in a city and lived there for the first 18 years of my life. I trained as a chef for 10 years moving quite a bit usually to a city or a large town.

I always thought that living in a city is what I wanted, I met my now Fiancée around two years ago and that was our plan. Well we ended up moving into an older farm house with her brother (has autisim and has really struggled to live alone) and her dad. All of us split rent.

-----Past two years-----

Well my father in law hunts, and being from a Canadian city; it wasn't really something I ever thought I'd do. As a chef though I had mentioned that being around dead animals for a good portion of my day, I wanted to be a part of the whole thing.

We all went out hunting last November and I tagged my first white tail. Hung it for about a week and a half before butchering. Most incredible meat I have ever eaten.

We also have had chickens for about a year and a bit now. Raising different breeds — started with Lohman Browns, and then my fiancee found more breeds she liked. Recently we got our hands on the chickens that started our interest, Ayam Cemani and Zombie chickens. We have had enough eggs for ourselves and family.

I have decided my longterm project is to 'create' what I want to name the Alberta Cemani chicken — effectively and Ayam Cemani (all black) with a peacomb to avoid frostbite during our hard winters.

My fiancee has taken up hatching turkeys and guinea foul (mostly as pets). With any luck we'll have a breeding pair of each.

My second project is meat rabbits (first step is convincing the fiancee its a good idea). I have heard they are one of the best sources of meat available for the amount of care and money.

We recently expanded to a larger coop. I also have to fix the other side of the building as it is quite sad.

And all of this is done while I am working my way through college at nearly 30.

-----take aways-----

City living is nice for certain things and works for plenty of people. I have found that I don't think it works for me.

And if anyone finds this and is wondering if they could start a homestead. The answer is yes. If I am able to do this, nearly anyone can. The biggest thing I can say, reach out to neighbours on social media to ask for advice for your area. Community helps and often can lead to some really beneficial trading and bartering.

To anyone who's made it through this.

Thank you.

And I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

OK, so we (family) are sitting on a fairly large land, given my current location, and we do farm some seasonal crops. We have a sort of barn that measures 70 by 35 feet that has been running for almost two decades now, and no not all the time was it profitable. We previously have reared free range chicken; this was profitable at first but diminished within years, dairy farming which seemed promising, pig farming, goats and sheep keeping but none has stuck and also the markets kind of crumbled given the competition around.

We are kind of busy so no one has time to fully commit on the farm. We do not sit far away from the city. With all that, we still do rear chicken since they are not as labor intensive as other animals that have been in the farm/barn.

I need a sort of guidance on what might be the best venture I could invest in that would utilize this space without having to break me. I have thought of space sensitive ventures like mushroom farming, Cricket Farming. At least I know with the barn space I have, proximity to the city etc., this would be a somewhat good idea.

TL:DR
Have any of you ventured into barn spaces that required low labor that have proven to be profitable or at least work?

Just wanted to appreciate this beast of a stove here perfect for that life I’m always chasing. Any ideas on how you might move something so big like this I can’t imagine how you may

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I have been running a small homestead for about two years now, few raised beds, small greenhouse, some chickens, and a workshop I use pretty regularly. The workshop is what pushed me to finally sort out a proper solar setup because running extension cords from the house got old really fast.

First attempt was not great. Picked up rigid panels without thinking too hard about where they were going to go and quickly realized my shed roof was not ideal at all. Awkward pitch, partial shade in the afternoon, and the surface had just enough curve that the panels were never sitting properly. Output was disappointing and I spent a good few months just accepting it as normal.

Did proper research the second time around, went through Sungold Solar's options for non standard roof surfaces and switched to flexible panels. Fit the roof properly, worked around the shade situation better, and now the workshop runs completely off solar. Small pump, lights, tools charging, none of it touches the house power anymore.

For anyone just starting to think about solar on a homestead I would say do not assume your roof is suitable for rigid panels without actually checking first. Saved myself a lot of frustration once I understood that.

What does everyone here use for power in their outbuildings or workshop setups?

I currently have chickens and I want to get ducks. For my chicken I have a coop and metal run. What I plan on doing is buying a coop and metal run for the ducks and cut a hole in the metal run fence to combine the chicken and ducks. I know I need a small pool for the ducks, my question is do i just give them separate food in each of their runs? Or what is the best practice or not even cut a hole in the runs and don't combine them.

Hello all,

This is my first time posting to any reddit community but I have always found it to be an amazing resource. Lately I (36 M) have been doing a lot of reform in my personal life and part of that has been separating my self worth from my job. The capitalist hustle culture makes me miserable and is going to kill me, so I want to check out. I'm privileged to own my home and .5ac that I want to make as self sustaining as possible and use to learn as much as I can about farming, homesteading, sustainability, really anything in that realm. Where do I start? Can anyone point me towards some reading or content?

Need help with a tree

Video Includes Types of Forges, Safety Equiptment, Anvils, Tools and Everything You Need To Know For Getting Started. Save Money and build some of what you need yourself.

Video Here If Allowed: https://youtu.be/SMuDJeLgOO4

Please feel free to check out Resist The Grind on Youtube for more historic trades, blacksmithing projects, and green woodworking. Sorry about the errors the other day, think this post is correct now. - Best, u/obxchris 's wife

Hello. I'm disabled mentally and physically and looking to find myself, a community where I belong, and my soul family. I'm trying to create a little slice of heaven for myself and am looking into homesteading as a possible route for the future with my found soul family. I'm as*xual so i don't plan on finding my soul family or my possible future homesteading lifestyle the traditional way, i.e. through dating, marriage, or doing everything myself with said traditional family. My only living immediate relatives are my aunts (sisters) and my brother all of which are disabled either mentally or because of old age. I have an "adopted dad" who's in a wheelchair and two "adopted sisters" one of which is also disabled. I also have a godson. Now I know my ideas/dreams are far fetched, out there, idealist and visionary and a little crazy but most dreams are I suppose and I believe in magic and fairytales and happily ever afters personally. This is the general idea for my Aspiring Homesteading future. My dream is that I'll either win the lottery and buy land in another country with safer and freer politics and rights and hire assistance to do all the homesteading for me as I'm disabled and can't do it all myself if any. Or else the world will find peace and defeat the f*r r*ght p*litics in the world eventually to where I won't have to move and the opportunity and networking and assistance will somehow present itself the more I put myself out there in the community like this reddit community and local neighbors and such etc. Or maybe someone will create a land or country I can be apart of someday and join with my soul family. In any case, I'll need to surround myself with knowledge and start planning and start networking so I can find the appropriate people to help bring my dream to life as I know it will take a village to make come true. I personally believe that where there's a will there's a way and that if I build it they will come. In other words if I start the journey I'll find what's meant to be for me, my soul family, and my dream. Thus why I joined this reddit community and others. To begin the journey, to network, build the basic skills, start planning, to put myself out there and see where it leads me. Because history is being made for better or for worse and things are changing in the world and I want to explore my options and see what's out there. But first I need to know about other countries and there politics and what kind of off grid niche lifestyle I want as there's a lot of options out there. I've looked into tiny houses to boat life to cob houses to life in Canada and in England to life in the woods etc. all I know is that I'm scared of the forests and bumps in the night and what could be out there and I know I want sustainability and a local community close by where they have shops and events we can enjoy. So if anyone has any ideas towards those topics in particular and can let me know what other requirements I'll need for the journey that'd help my Aspiring dreams and planning a lot.

This is the weekly thread for:

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let me know if there is any flaws in this design (besides money).

wasn't sure where to post and ask, but saw on my fyp something called treehouse festival in norfolk UK which does a lot of outdoorsy/bushcraft stuff, has anyone been there/is it worth checking out?

hello. we are a married couple, 29m and 25f, with a young son (2). We are searching for an off grid homestead within the EU, preferably Croatia.

We would like to find a like minded couple to communicate with and potentially join forces. we would split the cost among us.

You would need to bring at least 15 thousand euros to the table.

Our vision is to be a goat and sheep ranch, likely practicing transhumance/ semi nomadic lifestyle in one of the Mediterranean regions (Dalmatia, Greece, Spain etc).

If you’re vegetarian we respect that but do not expect us to abide by your practice. Same goes for religion, if you’re of one of the Abrahamic sects, do not seek to enforce such beliefs. We are pagan.

The primary goal is healthy food, low cost of living, freedom and active life. Through cooperation we could achieve immense things as combined families.

Its a 12 volt forced air double walled waste oil burning heat exchanger furnace. It runs on 12 volts and free used motor oil.

This is the part I’m still trying to figure out.

A garden can look productive, but behind the photo there’s still watering, weeds, pests, succession planting, harvesting at the right time, and figuring out what to do with everything before it goes bad.

For those of you who have been doing this for a few seasons, what change made the biggest difference?

Drip irrigation? Better bed layout? Mulching? Fewer crop varieties? A stricter planting schedule?

The point where the garden stopped demanding constant attention and started feeling manageable.