Help me get my "homestead" started - Chickens, Ducks, and Bees

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Morning all,

I feel like it's time to go ahead and get started preparing for the spring around here. My family just moved onto about 11 acres over last summer. Moved a house trailer out to live in while waiting to build a house. I'm planning on scaling up my "Freedom Garden" that I had been growing in the neighborhood we moved out of. It was about 24' X 36' with tomatoes, zucchini, squash, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, okra, cucumbers, green beans, and maybe a couple other odds and ends here and there. I am decent with that, although I will have to start the soil from scratch here.... yay... I am going to add a bunch of corn, watermelon and hopefully strawberries, but I don't know anything about strawberries yet.

On to the critters. I want to raise a few chickens for eggs, and maybe to eat? I don't even know if you eat the egg laying chickens? Or if I could, you know pets.. I also want to have some pet ducks for the little pond. In the spring time TSC has the little baby chickens and ducks. I was hoping to start with about a 6 pack of each. I don't know what to build for them to mature in or live in once grown. I assume I need something small to start them in like a little dog house size with a heat lamp? I don't have any outbuildings that I would be able to put it in, so it would have to be stand alone. Or I guess I could go ahead and build a chicken coop to put the little box in but it would probably be too far away from power...

Bees are next. I don't even know why I want bees? I just think it would be fun to watch them and I think they would be good for the garden. I think that just takes buying a hive kit and some tools. I have a friend that raises them so I *think* I should be able to get enough information to get started good with them.

 

[sea2summit]

Do you have a fence around the pond or are you just getting the ducks to feed the yotes? Half joking, domestic ducks aren't very bright and make great predator food.

I would build infrastructure first, coop or tractor, then worry about getting critters. Nothing wrong with TSC birds but talk to the locals or ask on the local FB group and I bet you can find some that are going to be a little healthier at the start. I'm no PETA guy and I've bought I don't know how many birds from hatcheries but the way young fowl are treated from hatchery to mail to the store is pretty disturbing.

Bees are a big time suck until they are well established, I'd recommend finding the local bee club and attending the meetings. Also the best place to get nucs, although you're getting toward the end of "season" for reserving a nuc this year.

Just me but if I was in your shoes I'd get a steer to feed out, 4-6 month old pretty cheap. Easy to maintain and will provide you with 20-40lbs of the fertilizer you need every day...granted you gotta put that much feed in him.

You must decide now if the are pets or food though, and make sure the family is on board with the decisions.

 

[Doughknob]

We start chicks in a cat kennel with heat lamp in the basement for a month, then out to the coop. U can eat any chicken but the older the tougher. Laying starts around 5-6 months. meat chickens typically eaten at a couple months old.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Do you have a fence around the pond or are you just getting the ducks to feed the yotes? Half joking, domestic ducks aren't very bright and make great predator food.

I would build infrastructure first, coop or tractor, then worry about getting critters. Nothing wrong with TSC birds but talk to the locals or ask on the local FB group and I bet you can find some that are going to be a little healthier at the start. I'm no PETA guy and I've bought I don't know how many birds from hatcheries but the way young fowl are treated from hatchery to mail to the store is pretty disturbing.

Bees are a big time suck until they are well established, I'd recommend finding the local bee club and attending the meetings. Also the best place to get nucs, although you're getting toward the end of "season" for reserving a nuc this year.

Just me but if I was in your shoes I'd get a steer to feed out, 4-6 month old pretty cheap. Easy to maintain and will provide you with 20-40lbs of the fertilizer you need every day...granted you gotta put that much feed in him.

You must decide now if the are pets or food though, and make sure the family is on board with the decisions.

No fence to keep the yotes out. I was thinking of floating a house on the pond for them?

Yes the reason for this post is to start the infrastructure first. So I can hopefully get it done before spring.

I really got to get on top of the bee thing...

Not really in the cards for a beef yet. My wife is vehemently opposed to eating a pet that she names... And I am not established enough yet on the property to be comfortable shuffling large animals until I have a plan for house build and cross fencing etc.

 

[EddieWalker]

I've bought my land in 2003 and moved onto it in 2005. I did everything wrong, but hopefully I'm learning by my mistakes. If I was to do it again, I would get the place fenced a lot sooner. Predators never stop!!!

We free range our chickens. My wife likes different colored eggs, so we have a variety of breeds. They need to have a fence around them to keep out coyotes. Hawks rarely cause any damage, but coyotes will grab one and run off with it 24/7

Egg layers are not good for eating. Two completely different types of birds. Layers need to be kept in a coop and not allowed to free range. They are harvested at around 2 months old. But I'm not sure on that. We've considered it, but have not done it yet. I'm not sure if we will or not, it's a lot of work cleaning the birds. You buy them at the same time, so you have to butcher them all at the same time. If you wait too long to butcher them, they mature and the meat isn't as good to eat.

This is why you don't eat laying hens and roosters. By the time they are old enough to lay eggs, they are too old to eat. By the time the roosters are mature and turn into the devil, there isn't any meat on them. Roosters are pure evil and in their obsession with mating, they run themselves into super tough, lean, stringy meat that isn't edible. We crock pot their breasts for the dogs and they don't care for it either.

Fencing, shelter and water that doesn't freeze in winter need to be done right away.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

So is there any reason to keep roosters around if you aren't planning on breeding?

 

[newbury]

If you are going to keep bees now is the time to get two hives and the needed materials (frames etc.) and order the bees. for spring delivery. The bees often sell out and are difficult to get, unless your friend can set you up with a colony or two.

 

[EddieWalker]

No. We hatch about 100 chicks a year and half of them are roosters. Of those 50, we usually get one or 2 that do not become the devil. Usually it's a dozen at a time that I kill to almost the girls down. Rarely do I kill them before they turn. We want to find a calm breder, and that is very difficult to do.

So is there any reason to keep roosters around if you aren't planning on breeding?

 

[NorTracNY]

I'd suggest that you prepare for bees for 2023. Find a local group, take classes (around here they are occurring now), and buy some equipment to build. Maybe visit a mentors apiary this summer.

For chickens, the only advice that I'd add is to factor in the total number you're going to want into what to build. Keep in mind that if you bought all the chickens you wanted that in 3 years you would only be getting a fraction of the eggs you'd be getting when they are 30weeks old. Depending on how you protect them and the predators it can be tough. Plan to get a handful every year and if you have larger losses one year, then you just get a few more.

 

[oosik]

When we moved onto the property - there was nothing but a very old log cabin to "live" in. It kept the rain off our heads but not much else. Night time activities - keep the mice and chipmunks out of our sleeping bags. It was a GREAT incentive to put max effort on getting the house completed. We arrived in May - moved into the new house in October.

That first year we had no spare time. 100% of our efforts were on the new house.

Second year - big garden - plant fruit trees - manicure the new mile long gravel driveway.

From experience I would suggest you check with your neighbors regarding livestock, water fowl, chickens, gardens and the like. They can be a windfall of valuable information. They can advise on what must be done to make things work.

Example - I knew from the get-go that chickens & rabbits would require an enclosure like Ft Knox. I have an abundance of wildlife that would enjoy my new barnyard crowd. Owls, hawks, coyotes, skunks, raccoons, badgers, weasels, cougars and even Black bears.

I learned that pocket gophers would be the downfall of our garden and raise havoc with any planted trees. We found an answer for both. Root cages for the planted trees - buy fresh vegetables at the local farmers market.

Good luck. You and your family are beginning an adventure that will never be forgotten.