Where You Invest Your Love, You Invest Your Life

Young Entrepreneur Pursuing Self-Sufficient Living

[sergle]

hey! ducks are adorable and everybody likes feeding them, but bread causes a number of environmental and health problems that could easily be avoided. instead of bread, consider feeding duckies:

frozen peas or corn that’s been defrosted!

romaine lettuce (torn into small pieces)

bird feed of any kind

rice (cooked or uncooked!)

uncooked oats

grapes cut in half

earthworms

[sergle]

If I gotta explain to one more person that the “rice makes birds explode” thing is a myth I am going to t u r n i n t o a b e e

[the-daily-chicken]

Not chickens, but equally as important!

[hannitamarie]

Best friends root together 🐷❤🐷

[hannitamarie]

If you give a chicken a flower she’ll probably eat it.

[hannitamarie]

Spent some time harvesting pecans on our homestead, this afternoon. The weather was absolutely perfect! Baking some delicious goodies are in the very near future.

[hannitamarie]

Visited a friends farm. Hoping to be as self sufficient as them, one day!

[aquablogsposts]

[hannitamarie]

I love Texas rain. But the continuous rain we have gotten over the past couple of weeks has me feeling groggy and unproductive. Thankfully, my grass has grown immensely (we just spread new seed) and the animals seem to be enjoying it. I’m ready to start building my chicken littles a new coop and fashion a more sturdier fence for our potbelly. Like my mother always said “patience is a virtue” but this rain has got to go.

[pheedesigns]

[hannitamarie]

5 Ways To Save The Bees

1. Plant Bee friendly plants, flowers and foods 2. Avoid the use of chemicals and pesticides in your garden (go organic) 3. Support local sustainable farms 4. Buy local and raw honey 5. Make a bee hotel  http://www.foxleas.com/make-a-bee-hotel.asp

“If the bees disappear from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live.” -Albert Einstein 

[hannitamarie]

Our pecan tree is doing well, this season. Hoping to harvest and store them when they’re ready late September.

[hannitamarie]

Today, I made my first loaf of whole wheat bread and it’s delicious. Wife game strong!

[fyp-psychology]

Free yourself from negative people. Spend time with nice people who are smart, driven and like-minded. Relationships should help you, not hurt you. Surround yourself with people who reflect the person you want to be. Choose friends who you are proud to know, people you admire, who love and respect you – people who make your day a little brighter simply by being in it. Life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you. When you free yourself from negative people, you free yourself to be YOU – and being YOU is the only way to truly live.

Daniel Gilbert, Stumbling on Happiness (via fyp-psychology)

[hannitamarie]

The way to happiness: Keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry. Live simply, expect little, give much. Scatter sunshine, forget self, think of others.

Norman Vincent Peale, The Power of Positive Thinking

[hannitamarie]

"We can’t always choose the cards we have been dealt, but we can learn to play them. Like a flower that grows through a crack in the concrete, sometimes we have to make the best of our situations and bloom where we have been planted."

[hannitamarie]

Fresh eggs are the best eggs.

[hannitamarie]

Something’s Gone Awry

Yesterday morning was a usual morning. Get up, drink a glass of water and go outside to feed and water the animals. As I approached the chickens pen, I noticed something out of the ordinary. One of my little brown Cornish hens’ neck was lying on the floor while her body was still upright. Every possible thought went running through my head. I spoke out loud to ask her (as if she’d answer me back), “Are you okay?”

I quickly fed the rest of the hens, gathered the eggs and sprinted my way inside to diagnose what was wrong with my chicken. Google had all the answers. I typed [Chicken cannot keep head up]. Soon, I found out she has something called Wry Neck, which is caused by Vitamin E deficiency. I was frightened and bewildered because her feed has all the vitamins she needs, including Vitamin E! Google also told me to quickly remove the bird from the coop because the stress from the other hens will make it worse. So, I placed her in a dog kennel, in sight of the rest of the flock, so I can keep a closer eye on her.

I made my way to the feed store to see if they had anything to help. They had never heard of Wry Neck before so I filled them in with what I knew from my pal Google. They pointed me in the direction of electrolytes. Electrolytes are one of the things that you should have in your Poultry First Aid Kit. It’s perfect for heat stress, dehydration, illness, general stress and more. And without it, it’s hard for the body to absorb the vitamins already given. 

So naturally, I mixed the powdery substance in a gallon of water, along with a bowl of food and watched her struggle to get anything down. There wasn’t much I could do but wait it out because force feeding her was impossible! But I did everything I could to make her as comfortable as possible. I checked on her every half hour to see if there was any progress… none. We were about to lose another chicken but this time, due to illness. The day passed and soon night came and it was time to hit the hay.

The next morning (today), I went to check on my little Cornish hen to see if there was any progress. To my surprise, her neck was back to normal and she was in perfectly good health! She was so happy to get back to the flock that she ran her little dinosaur looking self back to the coop to hang with the others. All she needed was a little TLC!

The beginning stages of being self-sufficient are difficult when you’re learning on your own. But I’m thankful for the experience the day has brought me and I look forward to learning more.

Just another day on the homestead. Thank you for your time.

[hannitamarie]

The heat is killer. Stay hydrated 💦💦

[neatt]

Not a model the camera just went off #goats #summer #farmlife #photography

[hannitamarie]

Waiting for the day we can have a goat on our homestead. Chickens and pigs just aren’t enough!

[hannitamarie]

Homestead Tip: As a beginner, myself, I have learned that the beginning stages of becoming self sufficient is all about trial and error. If things go faulty, chill out. Seriously… CHILL!! Things happen! And it’s absolutely essential that you learn how to roll with the punches, lest you suffer a heart attack at least every other day. Because, the reality is, crops will fail. Animals will die. Money will run out. You will become frustrated. Learn to take it and keep pressing forward!