The Creative Homesteaders

The Creative Homesteaders Recently moved from Treasure Valley to Eastern Idaho. In 2025 we're breeding Havana rabbits! We got our first Barred Hollands in 2021 and bred them in 2022.

Barred Holland chickens are put off for a time, but I have contacts if you are looking for some! We recently moved to Eastern Idaho and are building our homestead back up. We breed for health and quality and strive to use natural methods whenever we can! We sold our flock in 2023. We're hoping to start a new flock of these wonderful birds within the next couple years! Hollands are currently the mo

st endangered heritage breed that originated in America, and they are listed as "critically endangered" by The Livestock Conservancy. We're entering the world of rabbits! In 2025 we're breeding Chocolate, Black, and Broken Havanas! PM us if you're interested! In addition to breeders, we are also gardeners, bakers, and dabblers in beekeeping. We're always learning new things and would love to share tips with you as we go!

The other day I returned from a trip, opened the chicken feed bin, and found...Nothing! The animal sitter used the last ...
04/08/2025

The other day I returned from a trip, opened the chicken feed bin, and found...

Nothing!

The animal sitter used the last of the feed the day before. I couldn't go to the feed store until the next day. That meant a full 24 hours without commercial feed.

Instead of panicking, I went into the kitchen and made my ladies some breakfast.

Cooked lentils as a nutritious filler, dry cat food and scrambled eggs for protein, wheat grains as a carbohydrate, dried and crushed eggshells for calcium, and whatever kitchen scraps I had on hand.

That evening I fed them a similar dinner, only with a bit of soaked oat flakes instead of eggs.

The chickens enjoyed the meals—especially the scrambled eggs—and I gained confidence in my abilities as a chicken keeper.

Chickens are tougher than we give them credit for. They used to eat only the bugs and greens they found in the farmyard, with a bit of grain in the winter.

That said, hatchery hens nowadays are bred to produce eggs like crazy. I had a few girls who started laying right at four months! These high production layers do need a balanced diet, but they also won't die if you take things into your own hands for a day.

Once you understand the principles of a chicken's diet—the basic needs, such as protein, carbohydrates, calcium, etc—you can go off the beaten trail and innovate.

As I like to say, you can "follow your gut." Once you make an effort to become well informed and attuned to your instincts, no one will understand YOUR flock better than YOU!

And each step we take to learn a new skill, such as creating your own chicken feed, brings us one step closer to self sufficiency.

(NOTE: There are many hot opinions on chicken diets. I lean towards the more old fashioned side of feeding then loosely, but with a modern awareness for balanced diets. Regardless of what I've decided, everyone should do their own research and decide what is best for their flock and situation!)

What do you use to feed your chickens in a pinch?

Hello fellow homesteaders!Last winter we sold our homestead in Treasure Valley to travel around the US in an RV for 8 mo...
03/16/2024

Hello fellow homesteaders!

Last winter we sold our homestead in Treasure Valley to travel around the US in an RV for 8 months. It was a challenging but amazing experience!

Now we're settling down again in Eastern Idaho and I'm excited to build up our homestead again! Here's what's happening right now.

We don't have Barred Hollands right now. But I loved my Hollands and plan to find some again in the next year or two!

We're breeding Havana rabbits right now. We're expecting broken blacks and both solid and broken chocolates. PM us if you're interested!

04/30/2023

Hello friends!

A little (or not so little) update! In December 2022 we sold our little homestead and moved into an RV for a 9 month road trip around America. It's been a blast!

We plan to settle down again next fall in an undecided location and accumulate our chickens again come spring, so we will not be breeding again until 2024. If you are looking for some Barred Hollands in the Treasure Valley area, I'd refer you to Desert Hatchery. They began breeding Hollands this spring and also have a wonderful variety of Marans, Ameraucanas, and Olive Eggers!

With winter approaching fast, it’s tempting to set up a heat lamp in your coop to keep the hens warm.Think again! Heat l...
11/10/2022

With winter approaching fast, it’s tempting to set up a heat lamp in your coop to keep the hens warm.

Think again! Heat lamps may be harming your hens more than helping. Here is why I choose not to use them.

1. Chickens are not egg machines. They need a vacation from laying every once in a while, and nature provides winter for that purpose. There is also a rumor that making their days longer with artificial light to force them to continue laying will shorten their lives. Whether or not this is true, making them lay over the winter will certainly cause them stress!

2. Your chickens will adjust to the extra heat. If there was a sudden power outage in your area, they would possibly freeze to death!

3. They don’t need it. As long as they are allowed to naturally adjust to the colder weather their feathers will keep them perfectly warm in freezing temperatures!

4. Heat lamps are fire hazards.

5. If your chickens don’t need the extra heat and you don’t mind low egg production, what’s the point in raising the electricity bill?

The only times I use heat lamps for chickens are when I have young chicks, because I’m too “cheep” to buy a fancy heat source. And I sometimes use them when my silkies get soaking wet from the snow or rain and it is predicted to go below freezing that night. But I never consistently use heat lamps for adult birds.

Instead, make sure your coops are well ventilated. The goal is to have good airflow but not drafts. I’ll go more into this in another post.

This is why I don’t use heat lamps, but each chicken keeper’s situation is unique. If you do decide to use a heat lamp, make sure it is very secure!

Please help spread this news to newbie chicken keepers!

Don’t throw your pumpkin guts! After you carve your Halloween Jack O’ Lantern you will be left with a bowl of guts. Save...
10/27/2022

Don’t throw your pumpkin guts!

After you carve your Halloween Jack O’ Lantern you will be left with a bowl of guts.

Save them for your chickens! They might be a little picky about it at first, but give them time and they will try some.

Pumpkins are rumored to be a natural de-wormer! As of yet there is no scientific evidence to prove this, but what do you have to lose? We feed our chickens the pumpkin guts every year and have never had problems with internal parasites!

Give it a shot and don’t waste cheap and healthy chicken snacks!

Imagine walking out to the coop on an ordinary fall morning, not suspecting anything wrong. But when you open the coop d...
10/17/2022

Imagine walking out to the coop on an ordinary fall morning, not suspecting anything wrong. But when you open the coop door you find feathers scattered everywhere and your hens look hideously disheveled! You frantically start counting heads to make sure every chicken is there.

Suddenly you groan and smack yourself on the head. Fall is molting season, and your hens are shedding their old feathers to make room for the new ones!

This typically happens to chickens a year and a half old, though chicks go through two molts to get their adult feathers and broody hens molt after every batch of chicks.

It looks rough and chilly, but the chickens can handle it! Here are three ways you can help them out:

1. Switch to a higher protein feed. Chicken feathers are made of about 85% protein, and you don’t want the hens to start eating each other’s feathers! I would recommend feeding them a minimum of 18% protein, preferably 20%.

2. Feed them a protein supplement! I like to use things from around home like cooked eggs, canned tuna, and dry cat food. Some people make molt muffins, which is on my to-try list! Mealworms and other insects also have a lot of protein and are a favorite with the hens!

3. Don’t pick up your chickens! Their skin and pin feathers (what we call the feathers when they are just coming out of their bluish shells) will be sensitive, and your hen might be a little more skittish and stressed. Besides this, it is my opinion that they get embarrassed during molting season! 😋

You might be tempted to put a heat lamp in the coop to keep the hens warm until their feathers are in back working order, but don’t! Molting is a natural process of growing new feathers to adapt to the colder weather. If you provide artificial heating during this time, then their new set of feathers might not be as thick and cozy. Trust the process and leave them to their habits.

Your hens will almost always stop laying while they molt to conserve their energy, so don't worry about a drop in egg production. They might start laying again after they finish their molt or they might wait until spring. Either way, do not expect many eggs in the winter. Winter and fall are their seasons of rest and preparation for the spring and summer eggs!

Enjoy your embarrassed hens and happy molting season!

08/20/2022

I spent all of today at my local fair and had some inspiring teaching moments!
But I have to say that my favorite was when a couple walked up to me and asked if one of the birds was "a rooster or a chicken." Here's how our conversation went:

"This is a rooster. But a chicken can be both a male and female chicken. We call the girls 'hens' and the boys 'roosters.' "

The guy says, "Wait, so a rooster is both a boy and a girl?"

The wife replies, "I think I get it. A rooster is a male and a hen is a female, and they are both chickens. Like how human can mean boy or girl."

"Yep," I said. "If you want to know if a chicken here at the fair is a hen or rooster you can check the tag. If it says "c**k" or "c**kerel" it is a male, and if it says "hen" or "pullet" it is a female."

The guy: "Okay, so if the c**ks and c**kerels are the ones who breed, what does the rooster do? Strut around and crow?"

I have to admit, I had a good laugh over this one. But I get it, chicken terminology is confusing! Here's a quick guide:

Rooster = any male chicken
C**k = male chicken over a year old
C**kerel = male chicken under a year old
Pullet = female chicken under a year old
Hen = a female chicken over a year old, though it can also just mean a female chicken.
Chicken = all of the above

08/20/2022

Holland boys just beginning to crow!!!

Quick poultry trivia: How many eyelids does a chicken have? Three per eye! There is the upper lid, the lower lid, and th...
08/09/2022

Quick poultry trivia: How many eyelids does a chicken have? Three per eye!

There is the upper lid, the lower lid, and the nictitating membrane! This third eyelid is transparent slides horizontally across the eye, cleaning it and protecting it from dust, water, and whatever else is around. When you catch it in a picture it makes the eye look hazy, glossy, and sort of creepy!

I've noticed that it always slides across the eye when a rooster is crowing, which makes it nearly impossible to get that perfect farm photo of your handsome c**k! But if you think about it, it's an excellent defense mechanism! It protects the eye, but the chicken can still see fairly well!

Fun fact, the word nictitating comes from a root word in Latin which means "blink" or "wink!" And many other animals have this special third eyelid too, including cats and dogs!

Summer is the most stressful season for chickens and their owners! Chicken feathers do great in the cold, but they tend ...
07/06/2022

Summer is the most stressful season for chickens and their owners! Chicken feathers do great in the cold, but they tend to be a bit too cozy in summer. Here are a few tips I’ve learned over the summers!


1. You probably hear this all the time, but it is well worth repeating. Fresh, clean water is the best thing your chickens can have in the heat! My chicken water is automated in summer, but I still check daily to make sure it is working. I aim to clean the waterers every one or two weeks.

2. Shade. I like trees because I feel that they make a “green shade,” which just seems cooler than man made shade. The ground is often moister under them too, which is helpful in dry climates. But boards and tarps work for shade too.

3. Give them “cooling” snacks like greens and garden produce. Many people like to freeze half of a watermelon for their chickens. Mine have to make do with the rinds 😆

4. You can freeze their snacks into small blocks of ice and let them peck at it. Our rabbits like these too! I typically use fresh greens or herbs. I love mint, because it is abundant and also lowers their body temperature!

5. Avoid corn! Corn warms them up as they digest it, which is great in winter but not-so-much in summer. Of course, most chicken feeds have small amounts of corn in them, so I ferment their feed and give it to them in the evenings. That way they aren’t creating extra body heat in the warmest part of the day.

Keep those chickens cool!

Contrary to popular belief, chickens don’t always get along. And your hens will not accept random chicks you place in th...
07/01/2022

Contrary to popular belief, chickens don’t always get along. And your hens will not accept random chicks you place in their coop! Chickens can be vicious and will sometimes seriously hurt or even kill new birds! But there are ways to minimize pecking order issues.

Whenever I am integrating chicks or combining flocks, I always use the see-but-don’t-touch method. You keep the two groups of chickens near each other but put a barrier in between so they can literally “see but not touch.” This allows them to get familiar with each other and maybe even have a few fights through the barrier before they interact side by side.

Keep them separate for a few weeks. How long you keep this up varies by the chicken keeper; I recommend around 2-3 weeks. For the first couple times I let them out I try to time it in the evenings and when I am around so they aren’t together too long and I can observe the flock.

Pecking orders are complicated and vary by the flock, but in my experience most chickens will have a few fights to establish who is in charge. But please, never interfere unless there is blood! These squabbles are normal, and unless one hen appears to be in serious danger, let them fight!

For the next couple months you can expect lots of pecking and squabbles, but eventually things should settle down. If you have a bully who is intent on causing trouble, try separating her for a week or two away from your other chickens. Hopefully by the time you put her back the pecking order will have shifted and she will have to squabble to claim her own place.

How old do chicks have to be before you put them in with the hens? Again, this depends on the chicken keeper. When my broodies raise babies they usually let the chicks go off on their own when they are about 6-8 weeks old, so I try to follow their example. Others do it earlier, with a certain set-up. Try reading the BackYardChickens article "Integrating new birds at 4 weeks old."

Whenever possible, avoid integrating a lone chicken! I recommend two at least, but preferable more. Imagine how scary it would be to find a whole flock teaming up on you! This is why they need buddies, especially if they are chicks.

The more room they have, the better! This will give the picked on chickens room to run and escape. And the more room your chickens have, the healthier and happier they will be!

Just in case you were wondering, the see-but-don’t-touch method does NOT count as quarantine! If you take in new birds from a source off of your property it is recommended that you keep them far away from your other chickens for at least two weeks. This is especially important right now because of the highly infectious Avian Flu going around!

Many pecking order problems are unique to your own flock! Advice from others is always helpful, but there are times when you will have to use your own judgment and instincts to make decisions concerning your flock. I believe in you!

And practice does make a difference. Though it is always difficult for me to watch the big hens pecking chicks, it has become easier as I have learned more about pecking orders and chicken societies!

We’ve all heard the plea from our families, “please, get those smelly chicks out of the garage!” 😆It’s a common question...
06/21/2022

We’ve all heard the plea from our families, “please, get those smelly chicks out of the garage!” 😆

It’s a common question. When are chicks old enough to go outside?

The answer is surprising. As soon as the chickens have enough feathers, they are ready. Typically, this is around 6-8 weeks, depending on the nightly temperatures of your area. Many people do it earlier, at 4-5 weeks. Chickens are very hardy once their feathers grow in.

You can also raise your chicks outside from day one with a heat source in their coop. Just make sure the coop is chick-proof!

Of course, you shouldn’t take chicks who are used to the cozy, 70-degree house and take them out on a night it goes down to the 40s. You have to harden them off. Take it slowly and monitor the chicks for the first couple nights.

I know it’s tempting to baby them. But I can promise you that getting them out of the cramped brooder and house will be a relief to both you and the chicks!

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