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RE: 12 Ideas On How I Will Make An Income From Homesteading
If you haven't already I would look into the profitability on some of those endeavours. I'm not saying that you shouldn't do them - I absolutely think you should, but there are ways to improve your margin and it is always good to have a realistic view on things. One of my heroes, as I'm sure you would dub him, is Aust from Homesteady. Check out his shows (podcasts and youtube videos) on the profitability of most of your planned endeavours if you haven't already :)
Best of luck man, I will be here cheering you on with my two cents.
good advice he does have some great info that I'm sure could be utilized all over the globe :)
You are so right, Aust at Homesteady is great. I've been following him, and many, many other YouTubers for the past couple years. My friend Dan from The Grass-fed Homestead is going to be working with Homesteady pretty soon on an interview or something, I look forward to that. Aust has broken down his pig costs very well in the past. His east coast market is very different from Arkansas, but that info was still very useful.
I've also learned a great deal about pig costs from Cog Hill Farm and Pratt Family homesteads. Oh, and John Suscovich, who has been on Homesteady a few times also. Thanks to people like them I've got a pretty good grasp on how much feed pigs need, etc. Lumnah Acres inspired me on having a small main pen and using portable electric fence for paddocks. Just enough info to be dangerous, probably. And the more of their food I can provide from my own land, the lower those feed costs in the future.
Chickens are another matter, hardly anyone on YouTube is doing a breeding program like I want to do. Many do the meat birds, and a few are doing eggs, but I just don't see people doing chicks and pullets for income. I've had to turn to books for my research on that. Harvey Ussery's book, The Small-Scale Poultry Flock, is beyond awesome, along with his articles in Mother Earth News. Very few people on YouTube or wherever make any money from chickens, that is something I've noticed.
Flowers and birdhouses and potted plants etc, are mostly labor with little investment needed, so I'm not too worried about that small investment. Chickens are my biggest worry for not breaking even, and I know they won't for a couple years. It takes 6 months before a chick starts laying eggs, so I know that will be a challenge. I've debated waiting to start with chickens because of that, and just get a few guineas to help with bugs.
I really appreciate the feedback, it helps me flush out these ideas even further. Thank you for the encouragement, I'm gonna try stuff, and fail at it, and that's cool too as long as something works.
Sounds like you have really done your homework sir. Chickens would be my biggest concern too.
I hope you get to sell a ton of those bird houses. That is such a great idea.