Welcome to the homestead!

Hello there! My name is Brittany. Three years ago my family and I moved into the middle of nowhere and started a homestead.

In this post I am going to introduce you to the many animals we have on the homestead and tell you why we have them. While our family had several of these animals before we started our homestead each serves a purpose. Here goes nothing…

Dogs

We currently have 6 dogs. Yes, you heard me right 6 dogs. While we never would have thought we would end up with so many, dogs provide great security and protection around our homestead.

Ziva is our tenacious 10 year old German shepherd. She definitely oversees the entire property.

While Gus Gus was an unexpected edition, he is a fun loving goofball with a love for all things food. One of my sisters made him an Instagram account! Take a look! https://www.instagram.com/gus_gus188/

This ball of energy is Toby. He is a spunky German Shepherd mix with a lot to learn. It is hard to imagine our life without him.

We also have a pug mix named Pugsly. My husband and I found her on a cold rainy night in December shivering in the middle of the road. We intended to keep her warm for a couple days until we could locate her owner. After posting online, knocking on doors and contacting animal control, we were unable to locate her owner.

My sister’s dogs

The next two came with my sisters when they moved in over three years ago, however, they have been in the family for a long time.

Tootsie is all attitude, she is a 10 year old wiener dog full of sass. She was a gift for my sisters from my mom as a puppy.

Benji the chihuahua poodle mix is our escape artist, for an old dog that only sees light and shapes boy is he clever. This little guy is about 10 years old, he “followed” my sisters to my house 8 years ago and has been in the family ever since. Fun fact: The chicken area was originally intended to be a safe Benji proof play yard.

Cats

I am a dog person, however, we have more cats than we do dogs. Cats play a vital role in controlling snakes, birds, rodents and other vermin around our property. We currently have 9 outdoor cats, which is a bit excessive I have to admit.

However, several of our cats are older and unable to mouse well. The older cats now stay on the porch for the most part. This leaves about an acre of land per cat for the remaining cats.

Emma has been with us since she was a kitten, we got her about 7 years ago, one of my friends cats had kittens. She will go home with anyone with food without a second thought. If you have food you are her new favorite.

Next is Miss Kitty, she came to our home with my sisters and has lived a rough life. Unfortunately, she started out as a stray born underneath my mothers house. Without the proper care, she wound up living in a small bathroom for a lot of her life. The area she lived in got infested with fleas which lead to her chewing herself. Sadly, she went bald on the back half of her body. It has been three years since she has made the transition from a pathetic bald mess in a bathroom to a happy, healthy, and very fluffy cat with several acres to roam on. From the looks of it, she is adapting well to life in the country.

We have also added several orphaned and rescue kittens, that had no where else they could go. Our homestead family was for the challenge. Here are a few of their sweet faces. While 9 cats was not in our plans, we are happy to have made a difference in this small way.

Cat Breakdown

Lets get started!

• 2/9 of the kitten were bottle babies due to their mother passing away (my sister in Texas had them originally and we brought them to our house in California)
• 3/9 were in a dangerous situation and the shelters were full (one of my other sisters kept them safe but couldn’t have animals in her apartment)
• 2/9 are older cats we have had for years and years
• 2/9 were barn cats added to our property to mouse however, this was before we ended up with kittens

Don’t worry, all of the cats that come to our farm get shots and get fixed.

Ducks

We currently have 8 ducks! Including 3 rescue ducks! I love hearing them quack every morning and watching them waddle around. It really does bring life to our home and to the plans I have for the future. Our ducks are currently hard at work fertilizing the garden and getting it prepped for next year!

To learn how much it costs to feed chickens and ducks per month click here

Those interested in how to care for pet ducks check out Rosanna’s post.

Chickens

I currently have 19 chickens. In case you were wondering, the rumor is true. Chickens are addicting! They will absolutely add up!

I got my first group of chicks and was hooked.

We keep chickens for a variety of reasons the primary one being eggs. However they are also great gardeners! We have used them for bug control, for the creation of compost and to loosen up soil.

Rabbits

We also have two rabbits, Cheeto and snickers.

These rabbits in particular were to prepare us for meat rabbits. Cheeto and Snickers will always be pets however they helped us learn more about rabbits and how to design a rabbit proof enclosure. This way, when we are ready to expand to meat rabbits we will be ready.

Cows

We recently added 2 cows to our homestead to become more food independent. We plan to continue to breed our heifer, Tulip. However, we will be using any steers for meat.

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