Real Food Homestead

Grow. Raise. Cook. Preserve.

Animals

Raising Healthy Meat Chickens for Beginner Homesteaders

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When I began my homestead journey, I had never even seen a chicken up close. I grew up in the suburbs of a big city and no one I knew had chickens in their backyard.

Fast forward to today. We have been raising our own chickens for about 5 years now. We have had mostly laying hens, but we have had to butcher a few roosters that got out of hand.

Old, grumpy roosters don’t usually taste very good, even if you pressure cook them for a long time. They are just past their prime.

This fall, we are starting something new (and checking something off the goal list!) and raising purely meat chickens. Unlike the dual purpose breeds we have had in the past, these chickens are going to be raised strictly to be slaughtered for meat.

Why raise chickens for meat?

Organic chicken at the store is very expensive. And even though it says organic, you never know exactly how those birds were fed or treated. By raising an animal yourself, you can control what they eat, how much room they have and how they were butchered.

We want our chickens to have a good life before they end up on our table for dinner. Factory farms don’t provide them that.

How are meat chickens different from laying hens?

  1. Meat chickens only live about 10-12 weeks depending on breed. Laying hens can live many years, depending on your preference.
  2. Meat chickens are bred to have large breasts which are good for eating.
  3. Meat chickens grow fast and eat constantly if you don’t watch them. Laying hens grow slower and don’t mature for several months.
  4. Meat chickens have more health problems if they grow too fast. You must watch and care for them more closely than laying hens.
  5. Meat chickens don’t forage much for their own food. They will eat until they die on the food you give them, so you have to regulate their food 12 hours at a time.
  6. Meat chickens poop wet poop and they can make a large mess quickly. Their coop will need to be cleaned out more often or if they are in a chicken tractor it needs to be rotated often.

Is eating organic, humanely raised meat important to you? Click here to see how you can raise your own meat chickens to get the best quality possible. Raising meat chickens | Homesteading | Organic Chicken

Will raising my own meat chickens save me money?

The chickens I bought at the feed store were $2.14 each. I was originally going to buy them online from a hatchery, but they were going to charge me $50 extra for shipping! So I ordered through my local IFA and they didn’t charge any shipping because they were already ordering fall chickens for their store.

Cost varies depending on where you live and how much your feed will cost. You will want to add your feed cost to the cost of the birds and divide by how many birds you butcher.

The reason I say by how many birds you butcher instead of how many birds you bought (we are starting with 15), is because meat chickens are notorious for getting sick or dying of health problems. Most likely you will lose a few before butchering day.

When you compare costs, you need to compare with the organic birds at the store. Don’t just compare to any bird because your’s will probably be healthier than even the organic chickens at the store.

I will update this post at the end of the 12 weeks and let you know if it was cheaper to grow our own. Even if it isn’t cheaper, the quality of the food is much better than store bought.

What do I need to get started?

Just like raising regular laying hens, there are a few things you need to get started. I discussed those things in this post about baby chicks, but I will add them here too.

Chick waterer

Chick feeder

Plastic or metal container to put them in

A wire lid (you can make one out of wood scraps and chicken wire)

A heat lamp with red bulb

Chick starter

Wood pellets or pine shavings for bedding

Raising Meat Chickens

Once your meat chickens get bigger (probably a couple of weeks because they grow fast), you will need to move them outside. You can buy(or make) a separate coop for them or keep them in a chicken tractor that moves around for less cleanup.

You don’t want to put your meat chickens in with your regular hens and rooster. The meat chickens will eat everyones food and maybe even the eggs. You will also have to clean out the big coop more often if the meat chickens are in there too.

An Awesome Resource for Raising Meat Chickens:

The best resource I have found on raising your own meat chickens is by Marjory Wildcraft of The Grow Network.

She has an awesome video series that tells you everything you need to know about the process from chicks to butchering. When you buy the video, you also get some awesome bonuses: 2 videos and 2 e-books on raising chickens. The videos by Justin Rhodes are funny and helpful.

Anyways, I can’t say enough good things about this DVD and the bonuses. You can buy the digital version or get the DVD in the mail.

As for my family, we are starting our journey raising meat chickens. Today on our Facebook Group I will be doing a Facebook Live from our garage (where we are keeping the chicks) to show you our set up. If you are interested, you can join the Facebook Group Real Food Homesteaders and watch the replay anytime.

We hope that by raising our own meat chickens, we are taking charge of the quality of our food. If this interests you, please join us in raising your own meat chickens.

Edited: Here’s what happened with our meat chickens: Raising Meat Chickens: 5 Things I Learned the Hard Way.

If that isn’t possible where you live right now, see if you can find local farmers to buy your chickens from so that you can know that your food was raised in the best way possible.

meat chickens pin

Have you raised meat chickens before? Leave your suggestions in the comments below. And if you found this post helpful, please share. Thanks!

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7 Types of Manure and How to Use It on the Homestead

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Homesteading can be dirty, stinky and frustrating. You can come in the house (hopefully mudroom or garage) covered in poop, dirt and sweat. Today we are going to hit on one of those: manure.

Manure isn’t something I usually talk about here on the blog, but for homesteading it can be very important. Manure is the natural waste product of animals on the homestead, and by utilizing it properly you can increase yields in your garden and orchard.

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7 Types of Manure and How to Use It on the Homestead

Do you have many animals on your homestead? Click here to find out how you can utilize their manure to increase yields in your garden and orchard. Types of Manure | Gardening | Composting

Cow Manure:

  • Needs to be aged before it can be applied to the garden.
  • Fresh cow manure contains high levels of ammonia and pathogens.
  • Good for all-purpose fertilizer, but not as high in nitrogen as others.
  • If not aged, fresh manure can be harmful to you and your plants.
  • It needs to age atleast a year in compost before use.
  • Cow manure has a 0.5-0.5-0.5 N-P-K (Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium) rating.
  • Make sure you only use manure from horses that aren’t eating grass or feed that contains herbicides (which might kill your plants).

Do you have many animals on your homestead? Click here to find out how you can utilize their manure to increase yields in your garden and orchard. Types of Manure | Gardening | Composting

Horse Manure:

  • Needs to be aged before it can be applied to the garden.
  • If not aged, fresh manure can contain E Coli bacteria and can also burn your plants.
  • Horse manure needs to age atleast 3 months in compost before use.
  • Good for all-purpose fertilizer, but not as high in nitrogen as others.
  • There is a chance there will be weed seeds in the manure.
  • The aged manure will smell earthy (not stinky) and be crumbly like commercial potting soil.
  • Horse manure has a 1.5–1.0–1.5 N-P-K rating.
  • Make sure you only use manure from horses that aren’t eating grass or feed that contains herbicides (which might kill your plants).

Do you have many animals on your homestead? Click here to find out how you can utilize their manure to increase yields in your garden and orchard. Types of Manure | Gardening | Composting

Goat/Sheep Manure:

  • DOES NOT need to be aged before use.
  • Can be put directly into your garden box for fertilizer.
  • Sheep manure is high in phosphorus and potassium.
  • It is dry and usually odorless.
  • Goat/sheep manure is about an 1.5–1.0–1.8 N-P-K rating.

Do you have many animals on your homestead? Click here to find out how you can utilize their manure to increase yields in your garden and orchard. Types of Manure | Gardening | Composting

Chicken Manure:

  • Needs to be aged before it can be applied to the garden.
  • It is high in nitrogen and phosphorus.
  • If not aged, it can be harmful for you and may burn your plants.
  • Chicken (or turkey/duck) manure needs to age atleast a year in compost before use.
  • Chicken manure rates at about 1.7-2.4-1.7 N-P-K rating.

Do you have many animals on your homestead? Click here to find out how you can utilize their manure to increase yields in your garden and orchard. Types of Manure | Gardening | Composting

Rabbit Manure:

  • DOES NOT need to be aged before use.
  • Can be put directly into your garden box for fertilizer.
  • Rabbit manure is about an 3.5-1.0–1.8 N-P-K rating.

Do you have many animals on your homestead? Click here to find out how you can utilize their manure to increase yields in your garden and orchard. Types of Manure | Gardening | Composting

Cat/Dog/Pig Manure:

  • Not recommended to use as garden fertilizer.
  • May contain parasites and pathogens that are harmful for humans.

Human Manure:

  • Human urine and feces can be used as fertilizer.
  • I would not do it unless in a survival situation.
  • I do not recommend it.
  • To find out more, check out this book: The Humanure Handbook by Joseph C Jenkins

Tips for using manure:

  1. Compost it with wood chips, straw or other “browns” for the best fertilizer.
  2. Don’t use fresh manure on plants without composting first (except rabbit, goat and sheep manures).
  3. For conditioning your soil-use 40 lbs of manure for 100 sq ft.
  4. For poor soil or new garden beds-use 80 lbs of manure for 100 sq ft.
  5. To give your garden a boost, add 1-2 inches of compost to the top of your beds.
  6. You can add fresh manure to the garden after you harvest and let it sit all winter to age before the spring growing season.


Taking advantage of your “natural” resources:

Organic fertilizer is expensive. Why not use what you already have?  By composting manure from your own animals, you save money and use more of your own resources. Now that’s self reliant!

Animal waste may not be something you think of as an asset, but for your homestead it totally is. You are feeding and caring for an animal, and you want to reap the benefits of whatever they produce.

So whether it is eggs, meat, fur, honey or manure, those products are very beneficial to your family and homestead. By using things your homestead is already producing, you are being a provident homesteader.

types of manure pin

What kind of manure do you use on your homestead? Let us know in the comments below. And if you found this helpful, please share. Thanks!

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18 Ways to Keep Your Homestead Animals Cool in the Summer Heat

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It’s hot outside! July is usually our hottest month here in SW Colorado, but I know around the country it can get really hot for several months in a row.

So today I wanted to talk about ways to keep your homestead animals cool in the summer heat.

Sudden temperature changes can really be hard on outdoor animals. Last year we got a spike in temperature in May and we weren’t ready for it. We lost our rabbit buck because he got overheated. We were really upset about it and from then on we kept a closer eye on the weather.

On our homestead, we mainly raise chickens and rabbits as our livestock. Therefore, those are the animals I am mostly going to discuss today.

How do you keep your animals cool on the homestead during the summer? Click here for 18 ways to keep homestead animals cool in the summer heat. Summer | Keeping Animals Cool | Chickens | Rabbits

Basic Tips for All Animals To Keep Cool in the Summertime Heat:

  1. Make sure they have fresh water to drink.
  2. They need a shady place to rest in the heat of the day.
  3. A ventilated area is recommended so that air can circulate and keep them cooler.

How do you keep your animals cool on the homestead during the summer? Click here for 18 ways to keep homestead animals cool in the summer heat. Summer | Keeping Animals Cool | Chickens | Rabbits

Tips to Keep Your Chickens Cool and Happy in the Summer:

  1. Make a shallow area of water (such as a kiddie pool or shallow plastic bin) for them to put their feet in to keep cool.
  2. Add a fan overhead in the coop to circulate air.
  3. Freeze fruits or vegetables in an ice block for the chickens to peck at.
  4. Use a mister outside of the coop to keep them cool (if they choose).
  5. You could spray the grass with water (or a sprinkler) and then let them out in the cool grass for a little while.
  6. Make sure there is a dirt area where they can dig and stay cool.
  7. Have a tree or bushes for shade.

How do you keep your animals cool on the homestead during the summer? Click here for 18 ways to keep homestead animals cool in the summer heat. Summer | Keeping Animals Cool | Chickens | Rabbits

Tips to Keep Your Rabbits Cool and Happy in the Summer:

  1. Freeze a water bottle and put it in the rabbit cage for the rabbits to lay by to cool off.
  2. Use a mister over the cages to keep them cool.
  3. Plant a tree near the rabbit cages to shade them in the summer (and a wind break in the winter).
  4. Use a sprayer to spray them down in the heat of the day.
  5. Provide something cool for them to lay on (like a wet towel or cool tile).
  6. Make sure they have shade to get under during the hottest part of the day.
  7. Put ice in their water bottle.
  8. Brush them to decrease excess fur.

The animals on our homestead are very precious to us and we want to make sure we are taking care of them, especially in the summer heat. I hope these 18 ways to keep your homestead animals cool will give you some ideas to help your outdoor animals as well.

keep cool pin

How do you keep your animals cool during the summer heat? Let us know in the comments below. And if you found this post helpful, please share. Thanks!

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6 Ways to Use Eggs on the Homestead

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Eggs, eggs, eggs! Most homesteaders start drowning in eggs about this time of year. Your laying hens are producing an abundance and you don’t know what to do with all of them!

green eggs in hay

What do you do with all of those eggs?

You can read here about how we lost our chickens last fall to a fox. Therefore, we started over with chicks just this spring. We have 12 laying hens now, but they aren’t quite old enough to produce yet.

Therefore, we don’t have the egg issues most homesteaders are experiencing in the summertime. But we have been in this position many times in the past, and here are some things you can do to manage your over abundance.

boiled eggs, peeled and cut in half on a plate

How to use eggs on the homestead:

  1. Give them away-Share the wealth with your friends and family. I’m sure they would love to have some colored, fresh eggs from your homestead.
  2. Sell them-Set up a sign in your yard or take them to the farmers market. Wherever you sell them, you can bring in good money selling fresh eggs in your area.
  3. Freeze them-Crack a dozen eggs into a freezer bag (or ice cube tray) and freeze them for later. Then you can use them in scrambled eggs or omelets.
  4. Keep them in the pantry-As long as you don’t wash them, eggs can be kept in the pantry for several weeks at a time without refrigeration. Fun fact-Stores in Europe don’t keep their eggs in the refrigerated section. They are on the shelf with other goods. When keeping eggs in your pantry, try to use them in order so they don’t get too old. You can date your cartons or have some kind of system of putting new ones in the back. Whatever helps to keep you organized.
  5. Try some new egg dishes for your family-Move over boring breakfast! Here are some fun egg recipes that will help your family eat up more eggs daily.
  6. Dehydrate them-I haven’t done this yet, but you can dehydrate eggs and store them for later. Here is a post about just how to do that!

fried eggs on a plate


Eggs can be a valuable commodity on your homestead. There is nothing quite like getting a fresh egg from the chicken coop and making your breakfast with it the same day. Now that’s fresh food!

eggs pin

How do you love to use your eggs? Let us know in the comments below. And if you found this post helpful, please share. Thanks!

If you are thinking about getting chicks this spring, I have prepared a free class called “Taking Care of Baby Chicks” that will walk you through taking care of chickens from chick to hen. I hope it helps you get the confidence to raise chickens on your own.

How to Create a Bee Waterer for Your Backyard For $10 or Less

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Bees are important to our gardens and our food supply. As I discussed in this post, we need bees and they need us.

I wanted to make a bee waterer for our backyard to give them a water source close to the hive where they could drink and cool off.

But you don’t have to have a beehive to have a bee waterer. Any bees (or butterflies) that visit your yard to pollinate you flowers and vegetables could use a quick break at the bee waterer.

Have you thought of making a bee waterer for your garden? It is a cheap and simple way to help the bees and butterflies stay hydrated every day. Bee Waterer | Garden Ideas | Save the Bees

Here’s what you will need:

Shallow container: I’m using a plastic pot liner from the dollar store ($1), but you could use something you have laying around the house.

Glass pebbles: I got these at the dollar store as well ($6), but if you have some your kids don’t play with anymore, you could use those. Choose any color you like. The glass attracts bees and butterflies, and allows them to drink without drowning.

Elevation: You need to put it up high, to keep other animals out of it. The birds may use it as well, but I believe they will share with the bees. I am putting mine on a stand ($3) from the dollar store, but you could use a table or something else around the house.

Water: Because it is a shallow pan, you will need to check it daily to see if it needs to be refilled.

It is fairly simple to put together:

  1. Put the liner in the stand.
  2. Lay out the pebbles in the liner.
  3. Put the waterer wherever you want it to be.
  4. Add water to the pebbles.

Here is what the finished product looks like:

Have you thought of making a bee waterer for your garden? It is a cheap and simple way to help the bees and butterflies stay hydrated every day. Bee Waterer | Garden Ideas | Save the Bees

This is going to be a pretty and functional addition to your backyard, front yard, or wherever you want to put it. We are going to put one near the hive and one in the garden, so it can get refilled when we water the garden.

bee waterer pin

Have you made a bee waterer for your garden? Let us know in the comments below. And if you found this post helpful, please share. Thanks!
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The Essential Guide to Raising Laying Hens For Your Homestead

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Laying hens are an asset to any homestead.

We got our first chickens about 5 years ago, and we really enjoy raising them. I do have a son that is not fond of chickens (we had a mean rooster a few years ago that attacked him several times).

But for the most part, they have been very valuable to our homesteading journey. Once you get chickens, you feel like a real homesteader! Then you want ducks, rabbits, turkeys, etc. That’s why they call chickens the “gateway animal”.

You can raise chickens for eggs or for meat. While we have chosen dual purpose birds, we will keep them mostly for eggs until they get too old and need to be culled.

Next year we are hoping to start meat chickens, but for this post we will focus on raising laying hens and roosters.

Chickens are good for so many things on the homestead: eggs, meat, fertilizer, bug control, tilling and entertainment.

Common questions for new chicken owners:

When can chicks move to the coop?

Our new baby chicks we talked about in this post just recently moved out to the coop. Once your chickens can stand the outside temperature and they have their “real” feathers, it is time to let them go outside with the other chickens.

Since we lost all of our chickens (but one that we gave to a friend so she wouldn’t be lonely) to a fox in the fall, we didn’t have any older chickens in the coop. They have the place all to themselves.

But, if you already have older chickens in your coop, you need to give them space to get used to the older birds first.

You can do this in 2 ways:

  1. Leave the chicks in the cage and set it in the coop with the other birds. That way they can get used to each other, but the chicks are some what protected from the bigger birds.
  2. You can put them in a separate coop or atleast separate them by chicken wire from the bigger birds for a few days until they get used to each other.

Either way, when the birds do get joined together, a pecking order will have to be established. Usually, the younger birds will get pecked a few times and then get in line at the end of the order. But, just incase, keep a close eye on them for the first few days for harsh treatment.

If you are looking to build a chicken coop for your new chickens, check out these ideas –> 17 Cool DIY Chicken Coop Ideas For Your Birds.

Are you thinking of adding laying hens to your homestead? We answer 10 questions about how to take care of your laying hens for optimal health. Raising laying hens | Chicken Care | Backyard Chickens

What does a good chicken coop need?

  • Access – There should be atleast 2 doors to your coop (one for you and one for your chickens). This makes the coop easy to clean for you and easy to get in and out of for the chickens.
  • Nesting Boxes- There should be atleast 1 nesting box for every 4 hens. Hens actually produce better if they have to compete for box space.
  • Ventilation-Your coop should have good cross-ventilation to keep your chickens healthy. If your coop is air tight, it will get stinky and could cause health problems for the birds.
  • Insulation- Insulation in the coop (especially in cold winters) will help keep the chickens in a healthy temperature range.
  • Lighting – There should be windows in your coop. As discussed below, hens need a certain amount of light in order to lay regularly.
  • Roosts – Chickens prefer to sit and sleep on roosts, so providing many roosting spots in the coop will make them happy.
  • Feeders & Waterers – Make sure your chickens have access to good food and clean water every day. In the hot months, you may need to refill water more than once a day. In the cold months, make sure your water doesn’t freeze overnight.
  • Outside Run or Safe Area to Free Range – You need to have a run attached to your coop or an area that the hens can safely free range during the day. Make sure there is a fenced area for them to roam and that if they are free ranging they have somewhere to go if predators show up (including large overhead predators).

How should you feed them?

Just like baby chicks, older chickens need food, water and shelter to thrive.

When you are raising you own livestock, one of the advantages is that you can control what kind of food they eat. Because what they eat eventually you will eat too.

Therefore, you want to feed the best to your chickens to get healthier chickens and eggs for your dinner.

  1. You can feed them organic or regular chicken feed from the store.
  2. You can let them free range for their food (in the warmer months).
  3. They can eat kitchen and garden scraps (except for anything on this list).
  4. You can also make your own chicken feed (here is a great recipe).

When will hens start laying?

Young hens will usually start laying eggs at 22 weeks of age. These are usually cute, little eggs at first.

It may take up to 6 more weeks to lay full size eggs.

How long will they lay?

A hen will lay regularly for about 2 years, and then her production may slow down. She will lay eggs all of her life, but not at a steady rate.

Are you thinking of adding laying hens to your homestead? We answer 10 questions about how to take care of your laying hens for optimal health. Raising laying hens | Chicken Care | Backyard Chickens

How many eggs can you expect to get?

The average amount of eggs a hen will lay is one a day (in her prime). This can vary depending on age, breed and outside factors.

What conditions need to be right for egg laying?

Along with genetic factors, a hen needs 4 things for optimal egg production:

  • Protein – A hen needs to have enough protein in her diet to lay eggs. You should be either be buying a egg layer feed at the store, or supplying extra protein by way of bugs, oyster shells, etc.
  • Light – Hens need 15 hours of light for optimal egg production. During the winter months, egg production usually goes down and can sometime stop completely. You can supplement light in the coop during these short days to continue egg production. There are people on both sides of that debate and it can get heated (no pun intended). I will save that for another blog post.
  • Stress – Happy chickens produce healthy eggs. Chickens under stress may lay less. If kids chase the chickens with sticks or a predator has recently tried to attack the coop, production will probably go down (atleast for a few days).
  • Temperature – Extreme temperatures can also decrease egg production. Optimal temperature for laying is 50-80 degrees F. In the summer, you can cool off your hens with shade, ice and fans. In the winter, you can keep the coop warm with a heat lamp and deep, thick bedding. You can add a heat lamp, but be careful of fire danger in the coop.

How often should you collect eggs?

You should collect eggs atleast once a day. You don’t want to leave eggs in the nesting boxes for too long because they can be stepped on, pooped on or freeze in the winter time.

What do you do if you have a broody hen?

Some hens go broody (sit on a group of eggs in order to hatch chicks). This is great if you have a rooster and you want baby chicks.

If not, you will have to break her of the habit before it gets too far along. She won’t be happy, but it needs to be done.

If you want chicks, separate the broody hen and her eggs to another location where she can be sheltered and fed while she sits on her eggs. Twenty-one days later (if all goes well) you will have new baby chicks on your homestead.

Are you thinking of adding laying hens to your homestead? We answer 10 questions about how to take care of your laying hens for optimal health. Raising laying hens | Chicken Care | Backyard Chickens

What if I have a rooster?

When you get new baby chicks, it is very likely that you will get a rooster or two in a batch (even if they have been sexed at the store).

Advantages to roosters:

  1. They will protect your hens from predators.
  2. Roosters are really pretty.
  3. They are the romantic depiction of life on the farm.
  4. They will allow you to breed for baby chicks in the future.

Disadvantages to roosters:

  1. Some roosters can be really mean. They may attack small children or even adults.
  2. They can crow at all hours of the night and morning. I used to have one that like to stand outside our bedroom window and crow all day long.
  3. Roosters seem to want to mate with the hens a lot. They will jump on top of the hens and make a scene fairly often.
  4. Roosters eat food but don’t produce eggs (cost/benefit analysis may be needed).
  5. If you live in city limits, you may not legally be able to keep your rooster. You need to check with your community ordinances.
  6. If you choose to cull them, make sure you do it when they are fairly young. A mean old rooster takes awhile in the pressure cooker to become fit to eat.

Chickens are called the “gateway animal” because once you have learned to take care of chickens, a whole other life becomes available to you. Just make sure you don’t get carried away.

I usually try to only add one new type of animal a year to our homestead so I can learn how to take care of them properly without getting overwhelmed. But once you have chickens, you will love them. They are fun to watch and they are very valuable to the homesteader.

laying hens pin

Do you have any tips or tricks for raising happy hens? Please let us know in the comments below. Thanks!

If you are thinking about getting chicks this spring, I have prepared a free class called “Taking Care of Baby Chicks” that will walk you through taking care of chickens from chick to hen. I hope it helps you get the confidence to raise chickens on your own.

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