How Do I Start My Subsistence Farm?

I am asked all the time, "how did you start all this?" No, I wasn't born on a farm nor did I grow up on a farm. I grew up in the city and suburbs living the life of a typical daughter of a corporate worker. We had a family dog and the occassional hamster. But my summers were spent with my grandparents at their summer cabin in Western New York. While there, I often had the opportunity to visit a great Aunt and Uncle who were dairy farmers. I had another Uncle who raised beef cattle part time, but had a lot of land, grew hay and owned a tractor. Somehow all these sites, sounds and smells instilled a strong yearning in my heart to live a life closer to the land.

So, when the opportunity arose (we moved to New England, bought an old farmhouse and I was working now from home), I decided to try my hand at producing my own food. I'll write about the steps in the order we did them.

RAISING CHICKENS for EGGS

We started with laying hens - 25 to be exact, as that was the minimum order through Murray McMurray hatchery where we got them. (And we've gotten most all our birds from them over the years with good luck, so I recommend them). Chickens do not need much in the way of housing and are fairly care-free. We built what looks like a glorified dog house in the back yard, drove in some green metal stakes and surrounded those with chicken wire to make a yard.

Buy a breed of chicken that can survive in your climate. We are in New England, with cold winters, so we choose a large-bodied chicken - your well-known Rhode Island Red. They enjoy a smaller house so they can "snuggle" for warmth in the winter. They need something to roost on at night and several "laying boxes" filled with straw or hay or leaves. Old milk crates or fruit crates work, or just build a few boxes, 1 foot square. One box for every 4 or 5 hens.

Change out their water twice a day. You can buy all sorts of chicken water containers, but a dishpan from the dollar store works good too. (We use chicken waterers in the summer and dishpans in the winter as it's easier to deal with the frozen water that way).

You MUST protect your birds from predators. Hawks, weasals, raccon, fox, fishers, coyote and the neighbor's dog are all threats to your birds. If you let your birds wander your yard unrestrained, expect to lose many. Provide a small fenced area for them and cover it with bird netting when they are small, to keep out hawks. Let them go inside at night and close the door tight against night preditors.

Feed them daily. You can buy "Layer Pellets" at most feed stores and supplement it with kitchen scraps. Our girls LOVE kitchen scraps - veggies, potato peels, heels of bread, old dinner rolls, popcorn, carrot tops. You name it, they'll eat it. The only thing we have found they will refuse is citrus fruit. Feed them plenty and give them treats and they'll keep themselves entertained. Don't expect them to forage for all their food.

Gather eggs at least twice a day. If you never have any "egg eaters" you could get away with once a day, but we've found if the eggs sit too long, someone sneaks in and eats them - usually other hens.

Hens will lay well for about 2 years. They will live and lay for up to 7 years, but production drops. We find it best to swap out our flock every 2 years. Two year old hens are very easy to get rid of / sell. Never takes me more than a day, once I post a note.

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