How to Save Time With Animals
by
Marywoita
3 Materials
Easy
Are you looking for ways to simplify your homestead processes?
I’m going to share a few ways to put your homestead animals to work to help save some precious time.
How many of you are looking for ways to save time on your homestead? I’m raising my hand.
Some days it seems like there are never enough hours. Am I right?
One way that we try to save precious time around our homestead is by striving for a simpler life. But sometimes homesteading doesn’t really feel simple.
There’s always something that needs to be done. We get up early, take care of our family and animals. There seems to be never ending projects, repairs, or routine maintenance.
A sometimes overlooked way to save time is by using your animals as helpers by doing what they were born to do.
Garden Prep
Goats, chickens, and pigs help prep garden areas before planting. Goats help by getting rid of unwanted brush, chickens scratch and help till the ground. Pigs are also great at digging and turning soil.
They Provide Fertilizer
Aka manure. Goats, rabbits, and chickens are great sources of manure for the garden.
Some say that using chicken manure is best because it is very high in nitrogen and also contains a good amount of potassium and phosphorus.
We use a mix of both goat and chicken manure around here. And personally, I prefer using goat manure over most other livestock because it’s almost odorless.
Pest and Insect Control
Chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, guineas, and pretty much all fowl help keep insects under control.
Guineas are especially helpful if you live in an area with a lot of ticks. We have definitely noticed a decrease in the amount of ticks hanging around here since we added guineas to the homestead.
I just found the first tick of the season on my daughter this morning. And you know one of my first thoughts was… Time to add more guinea fowl!
See 7 more tips here.
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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Awesome tips! Thanks for sharing
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
what do you do about predators? We have raccoons, foxes, coyotes, hawks that all want the chickens so we can't allow them to free range but have to keep them confined behind fencing, even the dog has a vendetta against the chickens. Hawks are seen almost daily in my area and a neighbor did have a few chickens carried off by the hawks.