Learn by Doing
Animal Guides
Chickens, ducks, turkeys, geese, quail, rabbits, goats, sheep, pigs, cattle and bees: getting started, housing, feeding, care and health.
Raising Chickens →How-To Guides
Step-by-step guides for every animal, the garden, orchard, pasture and compost: getting started, housing, feeding, daily care, breeding, health and harvest.
From Soil to Harvest
Garden and Land Guides
The vegetable garden, orchard, pasture and compost — with the key numbers and links to the trackers that keep your records.
Growing a Garden →Poultry
Raising ChickensChickens are where most homesteads start: a few hens give eggs every day, meat birds fill a freezer in eight weeks, and…Read the guide →Raising DucksDucks are hardy, quiet, lay well through cold weather and eat slugs and bugs. They need water — lots of it —…Read the guide →Raising TurkeysA few turkeys raised from spring poults fill the holiday table and the freezer. Broad-breasted birds grow fast; heritage breeds forage, breed…Read the guide →Raising GeeseGeese are grazers: on good grass they need little feed, they weed some crops, and they sound the alarm at anything strange.…Read the guide →Raising QuailCoturnix quail are the fastest return on the homestead: eggs at 6–8 weeks old, meat at 7–8 weeks, all in a small…Read the guide →
Small livestock
Livestock
Raising GoatsGoats give milk, meat and brush clearing. They are clever, social and famously good at escaping, so fencing and company come first.Read the guide →Raising SheepSheep are grazers that give meat, wool and sometimes milk. They are calmer than goats and easier to fence, but they need…Read the guide →Raising PigsTwo feeder pigs raised from spring to fall fill a family’s freezer with pork, ham and bacon. They till ground, eat garden…Read the guide →Raising CattleA family milk cow or a few beef steers are the biggest step on a homestead. They need good pasture, steady hay,…Read the guide →