Reposting ↓

Vinyl on the floor so wetness won't rot the wood. We also fenced in the space under the legs so the chickens can get under it from the dog kennel enclosure that isn't shown here.

Chickens are a great addition to any homestead. They are relatively easy to raise, and provide meat (broilers) and eggs (layers).

The amount of meat and eggs you get depends on the breed of chicken.

Rhode island reds, leghorns, and plymouth rocks lay between 200-250 eggs per year. Other breeds like cornish crosses, freedom rangers, and jersey giants grow larger, providing more meat and less eggs.

Waterers and feeders can be found at any farm supply store and usually cost around $10. Chicken wire fencing can also be found there, but the cost will depend on how big your flock is. A chicken coop will also be needed. It should have around 3sq ft per bird, a roosting area, and a nest box for every 3 hens. It should be big enough to shovel manure and gather eggs in comfortably. You'll also want a run (open area) for the chickens. 8-10 sq ft per bird should do. 3-6 chickens is a good start.

Daily chores involve feeding, Watering, Checking for disease, Gathering eggs, Clean coop weekly

More detailed info in PDF

Optimize your homestead

Also, here's some more information on eating heathy, just because I can.

THE DIRTY DOZEN vs THE CLEAN FIFTEEN

The dirty dozen are the twelve fruits and vegetables most likely to be bought with pesticides and poisons still on them from large scale farming. The clean fifteen are the opposite, they are the cleanest and least likely to have pesticides and chemicals applied to them. If you are ever worried about cleaning pesticides off of food you are preparing, there's a simple trick to fix it. Make a 3:1 mixture of water and distilled white vinegar and put it in a spray bottle. Spritz any fruits or vegetables you're concerned about, and let it sit for five minutes. Then rinse them off and use them normally. Yes, it really is that easy, and yes, you really do live in a corporate hell that they won't do this to your food before it gets put on a shelf. Sometimes the bananas have dead spiders from Brazil in them, it's fun.

THE DIRTY DOZEN

These are the twelve supermarket products most likely to still have chemicals or pesticides on them when you buy them. You should always spritz these with your spray vinegar and rinse them thoroughly.

Apples
Celery
Sweet Bell Peppers
Peaches
Strawberries
Nectarines
Grapes
Spinach
Lettuce
Cucumbers
Blueberries
Potatoes

THE CLEAN FIFTEEN

These are some of the cleanest products you can buy at a grocery store. You should still clean them for safety and habit, but don't lose sleep over it. Eating more of these can cut your second-hand pesticide intake by up to 90%.

Onions
Sweet Corn
Pineapples
Avocados
Cabbage
Sweet Peas
Asparagus
Mangoes
Eggplant
Kiwi
Cantaloupe
Sweet Potatoes
Grapefruit
Watermelon
Mushrooms

If you live in the United States, check the sticker number (the PLU) number on any produce you buy: if it starts with the number 9, that means it was grown organically.

The FDA version of 'Organic' often still includes GMO products as well as fertilizers and insecticides. It will always be better to grow your own, but the above is a great guide for grocery shopping

To avoid ingesting pesticides and herbicides, you have to either grow your own (guaranteed) or buy organic (mostly guaranteed).

If a plant was grown with a pesticide or herbicide, those substances aren’t simply on the surface of the plant as a residue that can be removed; they’ve been absorbed into the plant’s flesh, & even into its seeds. If you want to at least try to get rid of surface residue, a brief spraying with vinegar won’t do that. Pesticides & herbicides are acidic salts, so you need something basic to dissociate the atoms. The only things that have been shown to remove surface residue are 1) soaking in NaHCO3 (baking soda) solution for ~10 mins, and 2) washing with soap. The soap option comes with other concerns, in that most soaps themselves leave a residue on porous surfaces, like hands or, in this case, produce. To avoid creating a soap residue, you can use a “natural” soap, meaning one composed of only an oil saponified with KOH (for liquid soap) or NaOH (hard soap), like Dr. Bronner’s or Kirk’s. Conventional dish soaps, like Dawn, include additional ingredients (betaines, emulsifiers, phthalates, humectants, etc.), which is why you see them advertised as non-drying to the hands. That’s the product leaving a residue, and that residue will adhere to porous surfaces, like hands, produce, plastic, or a chipped spot on a ceramic plate.

-Informed chat member

One of my favorite PDF's in my collection, this book will take you through everything from distance measuring, cordage crafting, to trap making out in the wilderness. Give it a read before your next camping trip

This couples well with the book above. Wood is an obviously abundant material in the wilderness, learn how to make wood work for you, not the other way around.

Further reading