New to homesteading

[Bruin50]

Hello everyone. This is my first post. My wife and I are just getting started. We just purchased 6 laying hens and 2 new zealand red rabbits. We are starting out slow because we dont want to get overwhelmed. I am turning 50 sunday and was wondering if you have any advise for us to help get us going? We have 3 acres and live in the country. We live in ohio if that would mean anything. I enjoy reading all the threads and am excited for this new change in living. We want to raise our own food and save money. Also we want to stay active and healthy. Retirement is approaching us. Thank you.

[Bret]

Good work.
See how they grow.
See how you grow.
Welcome and have fun always.

[boerboy]

Great
We started recently too
Our are month old chicks
Planning to get a rooster too

Rabbits are still in planning

Wish you shared pictures of hens and rabbits. I will post mine once I reach home today.

Are you free ranging the hens?

These days growing your own food isn't about savings... There are other values though

Good luck

[Buffy in Dallas]

Your off to a good start. Starting slow is smart!

First read everything you can get your hands on. For example chickens. Go to the chicken forum and read. There's a rabbit forum too.
Do a lot of research and have everything set up before you get critters.
(fences, coops, hutches, feeders, ect.)

Ask lots of questions even if you think their stupid questions.

Plant fruit & nut trees NOW. They take a long time to grow and none of us are getting any younger.

I'm closing in on 50 yrs old too. Your future plans depend a lot on how strong/healthy you are. Since I'm disabled I won't be wrangling anything larger than chickens and bunnies. Though I would LOVE to have goats and sheep. I just can't do it alone.

[Maura]

We moved here and built a house just on time for fifty. Chickens are a good choice. Fertilized eggs are more nutritious than nonfertilized (you'd need a rooster), but fresh is so much better than store bought that you are way ahead having your own hens. If you don't have fox or loose dogs, you need to have your hens safe at night. If you do have fox or stray dogs, you'll need them confined all day. I love that when you have chickens you don't have fleas or ticks on your dogs.

[mickie8]

You have 3 acres in the country, you are already farther ahead than many! Chickens are a great start and so much fun! We started a little over a year ago and I found that my gardening ability grew 100% that first year. Plant what you like and can preserve/can - you'll find that come October it breaks your heart to start buying produce in the store again. Building hoop houses (PVC pipes and plastic sheeting, super cheap) will allow you to grow well into fall and start much earlier in the spring. We are eating the produce that I planted in February now because I had it covered for the first 6 weeks.
Good luck with the chickens - they have such personalities!

[Tricky Grama]

Welcome! You'll love it.

Patty

[ronbre]

get your fruit and nut trees and perennial plants as well as berry bushes etc in first..annual vegetables are annual, taking only one year to grow produce and die, but your fruit and nut trees, perennials and berries take longer..so get them in first.

a food forest or edible forest garden would be my suggestion..google them or read about them at the food forest thread at www.permies.com

[Big Dave]

Welcome. Lots of stuff on here.

[boerboy]

Here are pics I promised
Please share pics of your rabbits is possible

[Vosey]

Love the pix sugumarg, your bard rocks are just a tad bigger than ours, I swear they are growing in front of my eyes!

And to the OP, you're doing great! It's a long process, and along the way you figure out what you're good at, what's worth spending money on, how far along the self-sufficiency route you can realistically go. For example, we're starting to realize that plants are much more our thing than animals, chickens are OK, but barely....

[th_Wolverine]

Sounds like you're off to a good start! I am 21, and hope to have a homestead up and running by the time I'm 30, so I'm really interested in hearing what replies you get! Right now I raise rabbits at home and tend sheep as my job which I LOVE. It's what really got me interested in homesteading and finally convinced me it was what I wanna do for the rest of my life!

[Bruin50]

Thank you for the replies. I will be posting pics later today. My wife and I having been looking at our yard planning on where to put what. We didnt realize how big our land was until we really looked at it.

[am1too]

Originally Posted by Bruin50

Thank you for the replies. I will be posting pics later today. My wife and I having been looking at our yard planning on where to put what. We didnt realize how big our land was until we really looked at it.

I used to think 10 acres was big. I moved off of a city lot. It shrinks every year.

[Dusky Beauty]

I recommend the "Backyard Homestead" books-- the ones intended for planning a 1 acre or less to be as productive as possible?

Lots of GREAT information, and when you have more than one acre to work with your space seems so much bigger than it is, and like you can do/raise anything your heart desires!
I have this one--
http://www.amazon.com/Backyard-Homes...yard+homestead

and the farm animals book
http://www.amazon.com/Backyard-Homes...ref=pd_sim_b_1

[farmersonja]

My lot is about half an acre total. The house sits in the middle at an angle. The west ad north sides of the house are off limits as they are storage and lawn. That leaves me with most of the east side to work with. That being said, if you plan it out right and use various methods, you can get a lot done on very little space!