What Should Be A Part of My Urban Homestead

[CuzChickens]

Hello there, and welcome to Backyard Chickens! I am so glad you joined us, I do hope you will make yourself at home here. Enjoy BYC!

 

[BYC-user-452147]

Thank you for the welcomen and the advice.

 

[RodNTN]

Hi! Welcome to BYC! I hope you find BYC helpful and enjoyable, best wishes!

 

[BYC-user-452147]

No one have anything on emus?

 

[N F C]

No one have anything on emus?

There's a forum on emus where you can find some feedback on them:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/49/ostriches-emu-rheas

I've never been around emus so no 1st hand experience to pass on with them. On our little farm in north FL, we had chickens, rabbits and goats. The rabbits were the least amount of work and you can easily have them as a ready source of meat. The chickens were the most fun and of course, the eggs were great! The goats we got with the intent of milking and selling the young...they seemed like the most work (fencing, behavior issues like constantly escaping, nail trimming, worming, mating, etc.).

If I were to start all over again, I'd go with chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys and maybe a couple of pigs. But that's just me...as long as you do your homework ahead of time and have the resources (land, cost of feed & medicines, etc.), you'll find out what works best for your situation.

Good luck to you!

 

[rebrascora]

It's definitely worth considering a hive or two of bees as well. Top bar hives are simple to make and can be constructed from recycled/reclaimed timber, so it doesn't have to be anywhere near as expensive as the glossy brochures would have you believe.

 

[N F C]

It's definitely worth considering a hive or two of bees as well. Top bar hives are simple to make and can be constructed from recycled/reclaimed timber, so it doesn't have to be anywhere near as expensive as the glossy brochures would have you believe.

Excellent suggestion!

 

[BYC-user-452147]

It's definitely worth considering a hive or two of bees as well.  Top bar hives are simple to make and can be constructed from recycled/reclaimed timber, so it doesn't have to be anywhere near as expensive as the glossy brochures would have you believe.

I have looked into the flowhive but not a regular hive. I am conserd that the bees would bother the other animals.

 

[BYC-user-452147]

Does anyone have plans for a top bar hive?

 

[rebrascora]

The Flow Hive is a beautiful piece of design and engineering but would never pay for itself in honey production and in my opinion it doesn't really encourage people to learn about bees and beekeeping.
Free plans for a top bar hive can be found at the biobees website but I'm sure there are many other sites with similar plans. A google search would no doubt yield several hits. Don't get too bogged down by dimensions though. A top bar hive can be as simple or complicated as you wish to make it. I have one made out of an old corner cabinet and another made from an old apple crate. Beekissed here on BYC recently made one out of an old filing cabinet I believe.

I currently have 10 colonies within 15 feet of my back door and would not want to have them anywhere else. My bantam pekins(cochins) are often on, under and around them with no problems and whilst my cats learned the hard way that bees are not to be messed with, when they were kittens by sticking their noses in the entrance and being stung for their trouble, they all live in harmony now and I often see the cats sitting on the roof of a hive enjoying the warmth. Of course animals like sheep/goats/cattle and horses would need to be fenced off from them as there is always the chance that they will start to scrub against the hive and aggravate the bees or tip the hive over, but as long as they are not a threat to the hive, there is no problem.