Hi all! I've currently got no means of jumping into anything (this is like a year of grinding at my current job and saving) but I'm interested in running a small homestead for myself.
I've been doing research, looking into things, and I think I can manage doing small things. The problem may (or may not be) I'm independent. I hate relying on people and often power through things I don't want to hit a goal- example- just recently got my own apartment.
But I don't want to be stuck at a desk my whole life. I've always loved the idea of getting my hands dirty, living out country side, have a small handful of livestock. I'm in the planning phase. My grandma's got land and I'll be talking to her later about my planning.
I've written down things I might need so far but I'm interested to know if there's any other things I might need to know, the good, the bad, the ugly. I wanna know how it's really like out there.
by Double_Discipline418
7 Comments
You say you are Independent and don’t want to rely on people, but the biggest part of your plan relies on being dependent on grandma. What if something happens on her end and she cant support your independence?
I’m going to be blunt here, Scratch out the word “temporary” and everything else after “work” in the steps part. You’re not gonna make a profit off 5 chickens and a handful of goats. You will have to work unless you plant to being “independent” on your grandmother’s dime. That’s the reality of homesteading. Most of us do it as a hobby and/or to less our reliance on going to the grocery store.
I’d suggest using a more bullet-pointed format instead of sentences, that way you can see info quickly and have a clearer picture of what steps or ideas you have for each category of homesteading to want to achieve. This also makes keywords (like what you need to buy, projects you need to finish) easier to identify at a glance.
Best of luck!
So if I’m understanding you, these are the animals you’ll be taking care of after working your 9-5?
You absolutely won’t make profit off a handful of hens and 1-2 goats. My neighbor has a whole herd of high quality milking/show goats including breeding males and so can get decent money selling kids but she’s still pretty much breaks even with feed costs, inevitable vet bills, fencing (goats love breaking out), etc. This sounds like a great plan to have a lovely country life but there is no way it can be financially sustainable as a primary source of income.
One thing you’re going to want to do is find bulk feed and see what their minimum purchase quantities are. We have two places within a two hour drive of us that do bulk feed and both require a 500# minimum. It’s WAY cheaper, but depending on what they will do, you may be looking at needing a truck, grain storage, etc.
We’ve been slowly building up our homestead for ten years and are JUST now to the point where I don’t have to work. My husband still works a very demanding desk job, but we’ve been lucky enough to have lucked into a low mortgage all those years ago and dropped our grocery bill enough to be able to support me being home. It’s super rewarding but it is a lot longer and slower a journey than most people are willing to share on social media.
It don’t matter how deep ya dive. Hundreds of chickens may not be profitable. Egg laying is seasonal. Look into broiler birds if your serious. They can be raised in large groups with less work and sell better than eggs. But then you have to butcher wrap and process hundreds of birds. Good luck on your journey. If ya like hard work homesteading is fun, but I have yet to find a away to be just better than broke.