Types of Chickens on my Homestead

I recently purchase some chickens. Let me show you what they look like:

Golden Sex link: Purchased 2

Road Island Red: Purchased 7

Ameraucana: Purchased 4

Australorp: Purchased 2

Black Sex links: Purchased 1

Raising Urban Chickens

A couple things to remember when raising chickens:

1. Chickens can live over 24 hours without food and water right after hatching. Once they get food and water they can no longer go without.
2. During the first week of life chickens need to be kept at 95 degrees. Every week thereafter, chickens need less subsidized heat. Using a heat lamp is an easy way to provide heat.
3. New chickens need chick starter. Adding grit to the feed can also help with digestion.
1. If you are against medicated feed, simply pull some weeds "roots and dirt intact" and give that to the chickens with their organic feed. This will help build immunity to disease found in their environment.
4. Keep your water far away from the heat source. This reduces the risk of bacteria forming in the water. It also keeps the water cool.
5. You can see eggs as early as 4 months from when you get your birds. That's if you purchase birds in February, but if you purchase chicks in May then you might not see eggs for 6 to 8 months. It all depends on how much sun light the chicken gets. 

Master your own world one things at a time

Preparing for future calamity is a difficult idea to grip. Most people feel a sense of over whelmingness. They feel as if they have no control over their outcome and have a sense of hopelessness. Thus, leading to do nothing and relying solely on other people when something does happen. We hope for the best and plan for the worst.

In order to be fully prepared for … from losing a job to and EMP attach, we must first start with mastering our own tiny world. Gaining control over our own destiny is easier said than done. We must first develop an understanding of who we are and what we have control over. We must focus our minds on the little things. Things you can do, afford, or understand. Jumping into something a little to deep will lead to more depression and less action.

A quick list of things I have control over:

• My time
• Willpower
• Character
• A few dollars in the Bank
• My Garden
• My Chickens
• My mind, I can learn anything
• My Expenses…

A quick list of things I have no control over:

• My Job
• My Neighbors
• Natural Disasters
• My Country, State, City
• City water, city power...

The Key is to master what you do have control over and work towards having control over those things that have control over you.

Now think of things you can do to better have control over those things you don’t have control over:

• My Job
• Try Making money online
• Build a Nest Egg
• Start a business...
• My Neighbors
• Good luck with this one J
• Natural Disasters
• Build a first aid kit
• Build a 72 hour kit
• Own some tools
• My Country, State, City
• Get involved with local government
• Vote
• City water, power...
• Collect rainwater
• Install a solar system
• Install a wood burning stove...

Thinking about all this stuff at once can be overwhelming. Start by making a plan.

For example:

• I purchased a Berkey Water Filter. I saved my money and bought it. Now my family and I will have pure drinking water even if we end up living in the woods someplace "Hope that never happens, LOL". The point is that we will have pure water regardless if something happens to my Job...
• I am building a rainwater collection system. Harvesting water is a good way to keep water near you. And it will lower my water bill when I garden.
• I am getting chickens, bees, growing a garden… 

The little things will eventually lead to self-mastery and sustainability. You don’t need to go out and buy the entire homestead all at once. You only need to master what have control over and eventually you will have control over your entire situation.

Studies have shown that when people feel in control of their lives they have less stress, depression, they have a less change of heart disease, and live longer.

Health Study References for this Post.

Syme, L., & Balfour, J. (1997). Explaining inequalities in coronary heart disease. The Lancet, 350, 231-232.

Rodin. J., & Langer, E. J. (1977). Long-term effects of a control-relevant intervention with the institutionalized aged. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35(12), 897-902.

Storage Shelf Design

These storage shelves are really easy to build and they look great.

How I built these Shelves:

• 3/4 inch mdf board 3 boards - from Home Depot
• I had Home Depot cut 1 board up into 4 inch wide strips (I screwed these into the wall to hold the weight of the shelves)
• I had Home Depot cut 2 boards into 16 inch wide strips and large triangles for the corner shelf
• I purchased 8 2x2x8's for the Posts (I later notched out groves for each shelf to rest in.)
• I purchased some finish wood to make each shelf look nice. I had them rip some 2x4x8's a quarter inch thick.

The Flash was weird on the rest of these, Sorry

Self-Sustainability and the Happiness Advantage

People throughout time and around the world have survived many different scenarios. For the most part these situations have not only been drastically different, but have had emotional tolls on the people involved. Some people remain happy and some do not. This leads to the question why? Why is it that some people surviving in poverty, surviving a natural disaster or in the future “Surviving an EMP Strike or Solar Flare”, and that people still find happiness?

Happiness increases Sustainability

Society knows very well about misery and how to live with problems. We understand that life is not perfect and that mistakes are made. People often times prepare with the worst in mind without realizing that they are training their minds to miss the positives that are in front of them.  We, as Preppers strive to eliminate the bad that comes from not being prepared only to produce the average. We should be striving to produce the better and focus on the best. Navigating negativity out and implementing positivity in its place. Every day the Best and Brightest Preppers sacrifice happiness for success, because we all have been taught that if we work harder we will be successful. When, in fact, we are more successful when we are happier. When we help each other, teach each other, build our communities, and prepare together we are much happier.

We are what we believe we are

“In a study performed by Margaret Shih and her colleagues at Harvard, a group of Asian women were given similar math tests on two separate occasions. The First time around they were primed to think about the fact that they were women, stereotypically worse at math than men. The second time around, they were told to focus on their identity as Asians, generally thought to be math whizzes compared to other ethnic groups. The result: The women performed far better in the second situation than they did in the first. Their math IQs hadn’t changed and neither had the difficulty of the questions. But in the second instance they believed more in their abilities, and this was enough to make a substantive difference in performance.” The Happiness Advantage, page 74.  I believe that we are what we believe we are. If we believe that we can make a rocket stove out of junk than we can. People become more creative, positive, thought provoking, self-sustainable, and prepared when they are Happier. There is nothing else that directs our actions more than what we believe.

We should try to fail on purpose

Say What!? Yes that’s right, you should be trying to fail. Some companies fail on purpose to ignite their inner creativity, sparking problem solving solutions that would not be thought of unless failure took place. Build scenarios around failing systems and think about alternative solutions beyond your current understanding. Creativity is the beginning of self-sustainability. And guess what? When we focus on becoming positive we become more creative. “Constantly scanning the world for the negative comes with a great cost. It undercuts our creativity, raises our stress levels, and lowers our motivation” The Happiness Advantage, page 91.

How to Plan for a Successful Homestead

Figuring out all the money stuff of homesteading can be pretty tough. Let me give you an example of what to do.

Your Current Lifestyle vs. You Backyard Homestead Lifestyle

Bills you can reduce	Current Lifestyle	Homestead Lifestyle
Mortgage (if you downsize your house)	1,200	700
Utilities: Sewer, Trash, Water, Gas, Electricity	300	120 – Replace with wood burning stove, solar panels, wind turbines…
Car Payment (If you downsize your vehicle)	300	150
Fuel for Vehicle (be fuel conscious)	300	200
Cable Bill (Use internet for TV)	100	0
Grocery Budget	800	300 (Grow your own food)
Clothing	500	100 (Buy things when you need them)
Home Repair	300	50 (Don’t hire someone, ask neighbors to help or learn how to fix things)
Total	3,800 of bills	1,650 of Bills (Savings of 2,150)

The point of this chart is to help you create your own budget plan. You can save money and live great.

People will tell you that homesteading is a poor way of living, going without all the comforts of life. I disagree. People can homestead, reduce their bills, grow their own fresh produce and keep their internet, tv, air conditioning… whatever you want. There is no one size fits all with homesteading. Instead, homesteading is a way of life where you rely more on community than big business. Instead of a consumer mindset you take on a do it yourself mind set. Try to build your own chicken coop rather than buying one from the feed store. Take a change of canning your own green beans rather than relying on the green beans you buy from the store.

One thing I learned from my Dad is to never be afraid to try. Try to build something, Try to repair something, try to improve your home by laying your own tile. The worst thing that can happen is you screw it up and have to pay some to fix it. And by the way, to have someone come fix it is pretty close to the cost they would have charged in the first place. You’re only out some time. Don’t be afraid to tackle that project. I like to say “Just Cut the Carpet”.

A few months ago I took the first step in building my own fireplace in my house. It was In the front room, Believe it or not. My wife was so nervous because I had never done it. And the first thing I did was “Cut the Carpet” in our nice front room. lol

I saved thousands of dollars doing it myself and now we have a beautiful stone fireplace in the living room. I talked to my neighbor who was a licensed gas guy to help with gas and my other buddy who owns a stone company. That’s why I talk about homesteading is a community event.

How I Built an Auto-Feeder for my Chickens

This is my video about how I made my automatic chicken feeding system. Gravity feed.



This system cost me:
Pipe: $9 bucks for 10 feet from home depot
90 degree elbo: $2
1 Pipe Cap: $2
Buckets: Free from local bakery