Show me/ tell me abt your micro/mini homestead

[Hedgeland Farms]

Hatched out 26 barred rock chicks for the freezer!!

They sure are cute at this age

They are 2 days old!!

 

[1cock2hens]

Pens don't have to be pretty, just functional lol.

I LOVE using what's available to me to make things work!! It's super interesting and cool to see what can be done, and repurposed.

Isn't that part of what homesteading is about??
Using what you have on hand to make what you need in hopes of keeping costs minimal!

I definitely agree. I've been looking for just about everything free I can find to repurpose for years, half of my house was built with reclaimed material. I'm saving up building material for a greenhouse right now, animals destroyed our plants too many times this year

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

I definitely agree. I've been looking for just about everything free I can find to repurpose for years, half of my house was built with reclaimed material. I'm saving up building material for a greenhouse right now, animals destroyed our plants too many times this year

I use A LOT of pallets as I can grab them from work pretty regularly (the only perk of the job ) we even collect the boards that break off the pallets into a separate box....so when I need to fill in the gaps of the pallets...I just use those...perfect fit..no cutting...though they aren't always perfect...

I have some serious thinking to do....

I have 2 coops...thinking I wanna downsize to one...but I have 10 laying pullets and 18 8 wk Olds in this coop...

I can harvest the laying pullets...but as far as the babies...I am not sure...

Grow em out..and harvest...
Or try to sell them once spring hits...

I am unsure...my goals shifted pretty quickly for next yr..and now I am stuck

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Still daydreaming my future homestead. Re-sketching it right now.

Has anyone got experience raising pigs on here?

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

This is our second season with them...but still learning

 

[JacinLarkwell]

This is our second season with them...but still learning

Do you get new ones each year for meat, or breed your own? I would love to raise a few breeds (if I could find them), but all I can really find is commercial info or people that keep the tiny ones as pets

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

Do you get new ones each year for meat, or breed your own? I would love to raise a few breeds (if I could find them), but all I can really find is commercial info or people that keep the tiny ones as pets

We purchase weaned piglets bc we don't have room to actually have and house a breeding pair.

They are strictly for meat. I can't imagine keeping them full time! They are ornery!!!

They have a decent sized pen that I'd put no more then 5 in, but wouldn't house them in it long term.

I keep them 9m (which I am learning may be a bit too long as our last pig was 365lbs live and we brought home 265lb in meat)

We have the 3 this yr...
1 last yr...

The more there are the more ornery they seem to be.

I am raising one for someone else. They bought the pig, and are paying me 500 to house and feed them. They are paying their own proccessing fee.
I am currently at 380 spent for food thus far for all 3. So I likely will not even break even, but my cost will be less and I'll get 2 pigs instead of one.

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

I am learning with our space...planning some animals seasonally is best for us.

The pigs will go in May and turkeys will come in April ...also meat.

Most of our animals are for meat purposes. I do not care to continually feed them (its not even in the budget!)

The chickens stay bc they provide eggs and meat both...

The rabbits are the kids pets
The ducks are also the kids pets
And the goats are my pets lol

But everything else gets rotated out...including the chickens...(but we also always have chickens )


Also...we've not had a preditor issue with our chickens...aside from the pigs..the other day..a chicken hopped the fence while they were free ranging and didn't stand a chance...

So that's a thing to consider

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

Do you get new ones each year for meat, or breed your own? I would love to raise a few breeds (if I could find them), but all I can really find is commercial info or people that keep the tiny ones as pets

Also, we found our breeder on Craigslist... his set up is amazing and clean (as clean can be with pigs) he stock appears healthy and his feeders are mostly Berkshire which is what I wanted for our pig breed

 

[JacinLarkwell]

We purchase weaned piglets bc we don't have room to actually have and house a breeding pair.

They are strictly for meat. I can't imagine keeping them full time! They are ornery!!!

They have a decent sized pen that I'd put no more then 5 in, but wouldn't house them in it long term.

I keep them 9m (which I am learning may be a bit too long as our last pig was 365lbs live and we brought home 265lb in meat)

We have the 3 this yr...
1 last yr...

The more there are the more ornery they seem to be.

I am raising one for someone else. They bought the pig, and are paying me 500 to house and feed them. They are paying their own proccessing fee.
I am currently at 380 spent for food thus far for all 3. So I likely will not even break even, but my cost will be less and I'll get 2 pigs instead of one.

Are they very loud typically? Or just when they get excited or upset?