He survived, 6 of 18 girls survived (it was a coordinated attack). Family won't take him in for help as they live in the middle of no where, but he is struggling. He's bruised (literally black and blue), and can seemingly only crow 2 or 3 times before he just curls up on the ground (lays down, head first). He is okay inside but as soon as he goes out, it starts again.

I've made sure they're fixing him good food, giving vitamin water, making sure he rests (poor lad fought HARD). Do you have any suggestions? It's been 4 days now

You never expect to have to start feeding hay in mid summer, our pasture is normally green an full this time of year. We are actually having to purchase hay...

Guessing we will cut feed cost by processing out some of our live stock.

My mom and I own 20 acres in MT.

I had always dreamed of moving out there “someday” but my girlfriend was less than enthusiastic about it.

Well, after 16 years, we’re splits. So I find myself unable to afford my house payment on my own. So I guess the day has come, or is coming soon.

I’ve decided to sell the house, pay off the mortgage, my truck, and some other minor debt, use what’s left to build myself a small 16x20 cabin, and move up there. I figure I should be able to live off of what’s left for quite awhile if I’m frugal.

I know 16x20 is small, but mom already has a larger house up there with a full kitchen, septic, etc. This would be my spot to get away from it all. (Even her.) I could also stand to downsize. I will have water from the well running to it, but just catch the grey water in a bucket under the sink. I’m planning to have a composting toilet so I don’t have to use the outhouse during a Montana winter. As far as amenities, it’ll be pretty rustic.

For showers, I can use the big house.

I’m planning on building it myself. I have some construction experience although that was a lifetime ago, I still remember most of it. While we have grid power, I’m planning my build with going off grid in mind. I’m doing a single slope roof facing south so I can cover it with solar panels.

I’m planning to build the base from pressure treated wood on adjustable concrete blocks. The framing will be rough cut lumber from the Amish (Mennonite?) sawmill just down the road. I would do pier & beam, but not far down is mostly sandstone, so I don’t think I need to worry about frost heave if I dig down to the stone.

In addition to the money I should have left to live on, I’m a writer and amateur blacksmith. I’m planning on doing some freelance work to bring in some money and building a small smithy. Both careers take time to get established.

There is a small trailer I can live in while I’m building.

As for skills, I’m a decent gardener, and I know how to preserve food. I’ve been learning about keeping chickens and goats. Thanks YouTube.

I’m probably crazy for doing this, but it has always been a dream and now I’m free to do it. Someday, I might be ready to re-enter society, but I think this will be good for me. Also, my mom is still plenty capable, but at 71, she could use my help even though I’m no spring chicken myself.

Excuse the rambling post. I’m mostly trying to talk it out in my head.

Tldr I found a dead mouse and looking for mouse maintenance advice.

We bought a small rural home on an acre last month and seem to have inherited some unwanted guests. With long term homestead plans in mind, I would like to be rid of the mice.

I found one dead deer mouse by following my nose with no obvious cause of death. I have not heard scurrying or found any droppings or nests anywhere (but I obviously can’t see inside the walls).

Living rurally with fields for neighbors I expect this issue will be one to deal with frequently and I would like some tips on preventative measures (especially when we add birds and their feed to the mix) to keep mice out/away and deal with them when they wander in. Thank you so much for sharing your experience and knowledge!

We're buying some land in Eastern Washington, dry and prickly grass under pine trees. What would you do? Chicken tractor? Pretty ground cover? Best fruit trees? Anything you think would be a good consideration, I appreciate. We will have some irrigation. Nothing industrial but I understand I need a water plan

I’m looking for ideas for what to do with this outdoor arena. We don’t have horses and don’t plan on ever having them. It’s about 6” of sand on rocky substrate, and it’s a waste of our land. We have a garden and an orchard, and also some fenced in paddocks. So what should I do with this? No bodies of water, we’re on a well with no summer rainfall!

Bought 6 acres of fenced property. A lot of it is dilapidated barbed wire fence, some chain link sections, some spots are great, others not. I am thinking goats are my best option to get rid of all of the weeds in our pasture but I feel like I would have to redo all of the fencing. I hear they are notorious escape artists... any recommendations on how to tackle this? Should I do movable electric fencing to keep them enclosed in areas I want ate down?

I have seeds for California Sweet Bush watermelon (90 days to maturity) and Sugar Cube cantaloupe (80 days to maturity) that I forgot to plant earlier. If I plant them now, would I still have time to get a harvest (which would be in early October)? I'm in New England zone 6b, average first frost is around October 10th but will likely be later due to climate change.

I am from a country where land is not as plentiful as it is in the new world and a lot more expensive. Growing up a city boy I dreamed of being self sufficient, farming my own food, raising my own animals, going hunting, all of it. I have no clue why that lifestyle interests me so deeply. I read your posts here, watch videos homesteaders share on YouTube and even check out real estate listings on the internet knowing full well "I wanna build a homestead." is not a good reason of immigration lol. My realistic dream for now is to build a semi-sufficient homestead in a ~1 acre plot somewhat close to the city and live a half-homestead life, when I have the money. This is the only realistic way for me to afford the self-sufficient life style i dream, as due to my occupation as a lawyer I need to be close to the city. So yeah, that's me. I guess I have 3 questions, did anyone here immigrate just to be a homesteader? Does anyone live a half-homestead lifestyle I described? And does anyone manage to work as a lawyer in a homestead? If so I would love to hear your stories. Oh and pet your animals and water your produce for me :)

Hello people hope yall are doing well, my family and I are looking into buying land dividing it for all of us. I was wondering if you guys had any info/advice/ideas when buying land, im in the state of Texas and i wanted to see if i could sell the resources of the land (lumber, dirt, etc.) or if theres any programs/businesses that can assist in us making our journey smoother and efficient. We’re looking into getting 2 acres and grow from it. Thanks much appreciated :)

Hi! We have some healthy and mature apple trees and are attempting to do everything organic and pesticide free. There is one bug that is eating our apples that we can't seem to get rid of. And none of our Google lens searches have been helpful.

We've twice sprayed all our trees with neem oil, which doesn't seem to help much.

We're in the West Catskills in New York if that helps.

Thank you for any wisdom in helping to identify this and get rid of it.

https://reddit.com/link/1drcgfg/video/xr583uyqti9d1/player

I do a thorough full body check after our long morning walk and check their ears, legs and tail after they come back in from the dog run. My poor dogs must think I'm some kind of perv constantly feeling them up but I can't tolerate the thought of them being fed on like that.

Spiders? Scorpions? Snakes? No problem. I'm very much live and let live when it comes to those. I actually really like snakes.

But there is nothing on this Earth that skeeves me out more than a tick. They're just plain vile. I'd like to get some guinea fowl but I've got a nesting pair of Red-Tailed Hawks in the west hedgerow so I doubt free ranging birds would last very long.

A couple weeks ago we closed on 90 acres and yesterday I picked a couple bouquets of wildflowers! It was so fun and joyous!

https://preview.redd.it/uhue4rhyeg9d1.jpg?width=2455&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=54970f0634a41120754ef8caf1e39eb5cd57cc74

Our turkey hen got broody a few weeks ago, decided to let her go for it. We now have six new turkey chicks, crossed between Narragansett and bourbon red.