Last week was full of the usual chaos and busy paced.  I worked at the Project House Tuesday after getting off an 8 hour shift and before going back to work.  Wednesday found me running around and picking up more parts for the rabbitry and chicken coop/run, both of which I should have finished weeks ago.  Thursday, I made time to actually work on the coop/run and rabbitry.  

Wow!!  So much has happened at Arid Acres and I need to catch you all up.
First, I want to wish you all joy and peace  and to wish you all a Merry Christmas (or whichever Holiday you chose to celebrate) from our homestead to yours. 
Yes, that's a lot of stockings- only 4 are for us the other 5 are for our dogs.

In this part of our homage to  International Homesteading Education Month, we are going to explore the possibilities for raising animals which will help reduce our own food bills and allow us to make some money.  

Our views may differ slightly from others in regards to animal husbandry and animal raising and we do not mean that as a slight of any sort or to start any feuds, it is merely our take on things.  We try to offer our animals as natural and comfortable a setting as possible, we treat each animal with respect and compassion, even up to it's last moments alive.  For us, they are more than just meat or eggs or milk, they are living creatures that we have taken responsibility for their well being.  Our way is not better or right, it is simply how we choose to run our homestead.  I guess coming from a large corporation has helped me develop that viewpoint, which I hadn't thought of until just now.  For years I was just a cog or employee number and my well being didn't mean squat to the company so long as I kept producing for them,  I didn't like being treated that way and I won't treat other living things that way. 

Through out the last 2 posts, we have decided that yes homesteading is for us, figured out ways to financially afford the homestead, planning, designing and we even started getting into some of the larger expenses- buildings, barns, fencing and even solar energy, this post is going to focus on ways to make some money from our homestead.

The Plymouth Barred Rock chicks we ordered Wednesday Morning arrived today from Ideal Poultry.

We wanted to share some tips and our what went into our choosing Barred Rocks for our first flock.