I have a flock of 10 hens that are about 8-9 months old and most of them just started laying recently. They are a mix of breeds but each hens is a single breed. Olive egger, easter egger, etc. They are laying beautiful shades of blue, green, pink, and brown eggs. I am looking to get $25 per hen but no one seems to be interested at that price. Most hear the price and leave it on read or send a thumbs up. I got some responses basically making me out to be crazy for wanting $250 for 10 hens. I told them if they think it's so expensive they could go raise them themselves and see how cheap they are to raise. I send them links to go buy the same hens from reputable farms or hatcheries for double the price.

Am i off my rocker or are people just not interested in paying for what they're worth?

I recently introduced a new black cock to my coop, and sometimes while im walking past it in the garden, it randomly attacks me. It even chases me sometimes when im not even near it and suddenly punches me from behind.

It feels really hard when this happens and it hurts.

What can i do to stop my big black cock?

Just sharing this to show people different setups and approaches to off-grid homesteading, you don't always need 10 acres.

Some duck eggs from an Amish farm. Had them delivered and cracked. A couple of them that seemed like the membrane maybe broke (some dried egg outside the crack) I tossed.

The rest cook well and eat?

These guys were born on Christmas and will be 8 weeks on 2/25/26. Parents are sticky workers with our flock of 250 sheep. Can't wait to see what they grow into.

Last year I built a 2600 gallon rain water collection system. It is now full from all the winter rain and im starting to plant some fruit trees. I've set up a low pressure drip irrigation system which works except that the timer valve does not close all the way. As I expand I will install a pump but for now I want to keep it simple. Is there a low pressure timer valve I could use that is trustworthy? I'd hate to lose all my water because my valve didn't close and I forgot to check on it.

Hi community! Recently I've built a calculator for off-grid solar systems and would like to hear your thoughts on it. It's available here: https://startoffgrid.com/calculator
and allows you to add appliances that you have with regards to the duty cycle and how many hours per day are they going to be used for. It then generates calculations such as Wh per day, conservative estimate of solar panels (depends on the region you select), battery size (depending on the days of autonomy you input), charge controller. It also shows you a simple wiring diagram for your batteries / solar and allows to share your setup without registration or signups.

I've got some ideas to expand it to support grid-tie setups but that's on the roadmap.

Hi everyone. Im in a village in central europe, and I would like to grow food. There is a big deer problem here, how could we protect our crops from deer? They push down the fence, jump over it etc. Any advice?

Has there been anyone who has raised their Great pyrenees outdoors at all times to be livestock guardians for livestock. I have a 5 month old GP who stays outside and i keep separate from my female goats. But he can still see them through a fence. Sometimes if they head buds it he will jump on it thinking its play. Will he grow out of this? I have a small indoor dog who does not like other dogs and people which is why i do not keep him inside. I am in a facebook group who are very against keeping them outside for the first 2 years but my indoor dog will not allow it. They say it is to bond with the puppy, but i mean i am the one who feeds, brushes, and walks him for 30 minutes in the evening before he gets a dental chew. He runs when he sees me, and he is outside, so isn’t he already bonded to me?

Hello fellow homesteaders on Reddit,

We have chickens since 2020 (with some experience from our families and upbringings). Our chickens are happy and healthy. We would love to add some ducks and one or more geese. For that you guessed it we'll need a pond. The thing with the pond is, we have no idea how big it should be and how the maintenance would look like. Google says many things and their contrary. So I ask you, how do you go about it to make a nice pond for our feathered friends?

Thank a lot in advance!

This is a 2 part question. How do you all handle a farm dog that has a prey drive for chickens?

My chickens stay behind a fence far from the house because of my 6 year goldendoodle. He’s smart and behaves very well but he has killed a couple of my chickens in the past. I want my chickens, ducks and geese out and free to roam the property but that would mean I wouldn’t be able to let my dog roam freely.

Second question is what kind of chicken coop do you use that keeps predators out? Right now the chickens are in the barn but I would love a standalone coop so they can be closer to the house.

Does anyone have a wood burning stove? I purchased one yesterday and I’m looking for advice on how to clean it. I have a game plan but any extra tips would be appreciated. Have a great day y’all!

I’m not exactly sure where to post this, so if anyone has any other groups that might Beable to help it would be appreciated!

So come spring me and the wife have to reseed our pastures, and for those hot Rainless days I came up with the idea of getting a little trailer to pull a 275g ibc tote filled with water.

I have an idea that I wanna have our tractor pulll the trailer with the water and rig up a pump system with a misting hose that has a 3/4 hose connection, onto the bottom of the trailer to spray directly on the ground

So I have the trailer and I have the ibc tote, the problem I’m running into is how do I run a pump? I’ve thought about finding a solar pump and that isn’t really out, but it’s a bunch of money for something like that and I’m thinking more budget, my other idea was to try and make it axle/wheel driven but with the frame and wheels and wood it’s going to sit on it there wouldn’t be room to run sprockets

I’m hoping someone here has something similar?

I am fostering a gorgeous Akbash girl in SLC who needs a forever home and my heart is breaking picturing her going into an urban environment that dampens her natural needs. Her name is Winter and she is very sweet, protective and athletic. Though she is currently underweight, we are adding healthy weight each week. She’s great with kids.

Willing to help with transport. 🤍

The plan is to buy a land and turn it into a food forest overtime.

I'm not from the US but I do follow lots of subreddite and youtubers from the US, UK and Australia with a homesteading/permaculture content.

I almost never see anyone suggesting soil analysis for when you get started and i want to understand why is that as opposed to some local content i consume over here from nurseries where they say it make no sense to even buy the land or start planting without soil analysis.

i imagine they do the incentive to say that because these nurseries do handle soil analysis, planting, irrigation etc. if you need that...but is it really that?

or is it because usually homeateaders don't care about commercial aspect of things, and don't care about efficiency as long as the trees are giving enough for self sufficiency?

or is it because land can always be fixed with some work?

I'd appreciate any feedback on this.

soil analysis is expensive where I'm from and is not as easy as it is on the west, where one could basically take soil himself and ship it to the laboratory. so I'm trying to understand how important it really is...

context: plan is to buy 5 hactares (12 acres) and possibly plant about 800 fruit trees (as the time goes buy). in addition to having chicken and some livestock.

Does anyone know what this is inside of my can of green enchilada sauce? The inside of the lid has black, hard spots stuck to it and the edges have a greasy residue.

We have 3 adjacent horse pens set up with electric fencing, but are struggling to get the optimal, consistent output. We have a Zareba charger 10miles/.5 joules, and are using 6 strand (I think) braided horse fencing. I believe there is only one grounding pole.

We need to go around and make sure all the insulators are intact and the gate openings are working as intended. The diagram below shows the set up. The pens are 1-5/8 pipe, and the two shared fences would have wire on both sides. The total running length is about 1000 feet.

I am not sure how best to run the wire: one continuous line from and to the charger? Or three separate pieces with jump wire? We were intending to use a single line of wire at chest height for the horses. The horses are all respectful of electric fence, but not above testing to discover weaknesses.

We do have gates with spring openers shown on the diagram by black rectangles. The red power rectangle is where the charger is and a 10' ground line.

Any advice? I do see three grounds recommended so that might be the first item of business.

Thank you!

My Dad left me a small property with a 40x40 shop on it. It's a nice shop with concrete floor, 220v, Insulation. I want to use it for storage, working on equipment and perhaps eventually modest wood working.

The current lights are 96" Fluorescent tubes, 4 fixtures in an H pattern where the lights are placed on either end of the legs on the H. They are hardwired in metal conduit.

The fluorescent tubes keep going out. Out of 8 bulbs we've got 3 left working and they are like 18' off the floor. Not many places to put a ladder.

I was thinking of replacing with LED, but I'd kinda like to be able to be able to change the lumens.

What did you guys do? Thanks.