I wonder ....

• Monday, April 7, 2008 - Resources?

Where do you get your:

Chicks
Egg cartons (do you use those?)
Seeds
Cattle
Horses
Mason Jars

and anything else you use on your homestead

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What time do you go out to gather eggs? The only thing I've heard is that chickens usually lay in the early morning. Is that your experience?

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If you had to limit your homestead to ONE animal, which would it be & why?

~ Happy Trails ~
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• Monday, April 7, 2008 - <i>Untitled Comment</i>

Posted by OklahomaSweetPea06
I get my eggs from the pastor of our church and his family. As far as the egg cartons go we just give them our "store bought" ones and she reuses them unless they look pretty beat up and nasty(from broken eggs or what not).... We buy our seeds from the Home Depot and what ever store carries a good brand, my dear friend recently picked me up some heritage seeds from where she was at in co and shipped them to me as I cant find them here locally. Since we consider ourselves Urban HomeSteaders at this time, cows and such are store bought at our Military Commisary here on post.

Mason Jars have been blessedly found at our local Goodwill and Freecycle group

Edited by OklahomaSweetPea06 on Monday, April 7, 2008 at 03:50 PM
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• Sunday, April 13, 2008 - I'm glad you asked

Posted by jackiebridgen
what time people's chickens lay. I don't know if it's to do with daylight or temperature (I'm in the UK so nowhere similar to you guys) but our chickens lay really late in the day!
We were once told, don't let them out until they've laid! My goodness they would be in there til mid afternoon!
So I'd be interested to hear when other people's chickens lay.
Blessings
Jackie
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• Friday, May 9, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Anonymous
You can buy chicks from online hatcheries like Murray McMurray or do as I do--local feed stores almost always have chicks and other poultry (especially goslings, turkey poults, and ducklings). You can pick and choose what you want and less amounts than an online hatchery requires (they need you to buy so many so that the chicks stay warm enough during shipment). It's slightly more expensive per chick but probably evens out since you aren't paying shipping.

Mason jars can be bought at any Wal-Mart. I prefer the wide-mouth. Easier to clean!

I do use egg cartons. Either people save them for me (it's amazing how many people save them when they find out you have chickens, lol). One time I gave several dozen eggs to an Amish family (we're in Amish country) and the woman brought me out about 100 egg cartons. It was a very neat trade.

Organic heirloom seeds are important to us (keep in mind that you can't save seeds from hybrids and GM-plants--they are bred specifically to only grow one year) so we buy seeds from the health food store. Your local farmer's market is a great way to meet up and swap seeds as well.

Livestock can be found at livestock auctions (these are often sick animals, so I caution you to be careful when going that route), through local farm ads, or Craigslist. You'll also probably find some sort of networking system among homesteaders in your area.

I gather eggs throughout the day. Hens do generally lay pretty early--by 11 they are usually done.

I couldn't limit my homestead to one kind of animal because I think that part of successful homesteading is diversity. If my chickens get attacked by coyotes I still have raw goats milk. If my goats get sick I still have wool. If everything else goes wrong I have a freezer full of pork. Really I think that only large-scale farmers have the luxury of being able to focus on only one animal/crop.

We moved from the city onto a homestead a couple of years ago. I mentioned in a previous comment my blog link--it's www.xanga.com/sashahomeschoolmama. I'm not sure if our story might help you in your journey. I certainly wish you luck!

~Sasha
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We are a family of 9 right now. Our dreams of homesteading have taken flight .... even if the plane is still sitting on the runway, at least we have flight plans. We home school, home church and run home businesses. Our favorite thing to do is spend time together <GASP> Yes, we actually enjoy each others company. Some times we just sit, chatting ... other times we're watching the races ..... at times we're reading books ..... and other times we're just playing with what ever we can find. This blog will be used to keep track of the journey we're on .... the journey of life ... I'll post about many things .... like ....... drama skits my children create, how to's of homesteading (or maybe the how-not-to's as I find them out), home school projects, lessons and findings, basic thoughts running through my brain ... and probably everything in between. I look forward to your wisdom, input & friendship.

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