Life has developed a fairly steady routine here on the homestead the last couple months.
I get up before anyone else. Let our border collie, Tir, and pit bull, Cane, out to use the bathroom.
I make 3 peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwiches for my husband, Sam. Every day he eats one for breakfast and 2 for lunch. I can’t convince him there are other foods in the world until dinner time (and even then, he will usually sneak another before bed!)
After packing his lunch, I put his breakfast and his morning drink on his nightstand, shimmy into my jeans and my boots, find a clean or semi-clean t-shirt, grab water jugs and feed pails then head out to tend to the animals.
Each rabbit cage gets fresh cold water and 2 handfuls of feed. They get dandelion and narrowleaf plantain as treats every morning. I use these to help maintain good digestion and also build their immune systems as they are 9 and 11 weeks old.
The big chickens have a large feeder that only needs to be filled about every other day. We mix oyster shell in with the feed as well as throwing some free choice shell in the pen. Their water container is an old plastic formula container. It gets washed out every day and refilled with ice cold water. If I have any treats, they get a few thrown in the pen.
The baby chicks are about 7 weeks old now, so their coop door gets opened to let them run out of the henhouse. Feeder gets checked to make sure they ate overnight. We are still coop training because they’re being stubborn. So their feeder is in the henhouse to encourage them to go in to get dinner so we can close them in each night. Their water jar gets cleaned and refilled. They get a small helping of snacks if I have them and then they are left out to free range all day and get used to the big birds (and vice versa).
After the animals have been tended, its time to come back in the house. Hubby is normally ready to leave for work about that time and the kids are just getting up for the day.
From there, its a whirlwind of washing laundry, hanging it in our bathroom as the dryer is broken (again!), washing dishes, providing breakfast, snacks, and lunch for whichever children happen to be home that day (we have 7 between us, ages 11 to 7 months), playing referee, coaching kids through chores, and planning dinner.
About 11 am, depending on the temps, we take frozen water bottles out to the buns and refrigerated goodies plus ice cubes to the chickens to help keep everyone cool and hydrated. Kids all get Popsicles and a movie to get them through the hottest part of the day while baby naps.
Nap time means time to work on the blog, jewelry orders for my business The Fae Imagination, research about the day’s homestead topic (today was new bread recipes to help cut down on the amount of store bought breads), locate new animals, or outside chores such as mowing, cutting trees, working on the garden, cleaning pens, clearing vegetation, foraging for wild plants, etc.
Cages get cleaned 2 to 3 times a week unless they are needed more often. I am currently using hay for bedding as thats what I have available. I empty the dirty bedding and manure from the rabbit cages into the wheelbarrow and roll it to the compost pile. Then spread new hay in the cages for the buns to munch on as well as lay on. They are really good about only nibbling on the clean hay.
The chicken pen itself gets raked out, but the henhouse has a deep compost going on. Each time we clean the pen, we spread new hay in on top of the manure under the roosts. This allows the bottom layers to begin the composting process before being added into our compost pile every few months.
Around 5pm, if we opted not to do a crockpot dinner, I start cooking. We do a daily rotation of which child helps with dinner. This allows me to teach each of them to cook, get one on one time, and also work on various skills such as reading, math, logical order, etc. Its a great time to touch base and catch up with them about their day.
Just before dinner is started, chicks are rounded up and locked back in their pen and the big chickens are turned loose to allow them to free range for a couple hours before they roost down for the night.
Dinner is generally done around 6pm or shortly thereafter. We eat as a family, rotate baths, watch a movie together, and then the kids go to bed.
Chickens are cooped up for the night, feed and water is checked, animals get loving, and back inside for the night. Sam is usually in the garage working on one car audio project or another by this point and I get lost in the wonderful world of the internet. Around midnight, we call it a day and head to bed.
Tell me, what is a typical day in your life like??
If you haven’t already, be sure to check out our NEW Facebook Page Huckleberry Farms! Get daily posts about the goings on at the farm, funny memes, and information bites that can help you with your homestead journey!
