Homesteading Transformation: In the beginning...

Homesteading is not the term we used when we first started our journey. Actually, it didn't start off as a journey at all, it was more of an adventure; a throw it at the wall and maybe it will stick sort of idea.

I was homeschooling our then 7yr old daughter, and wanted to do a fun science project. That's how it started....I was doing research for a 1st grade science project. I wanted to have her hatch some eggs. So the research started: how much is an incubator? What happens if the eggs don't hatch? What do we do with the chickens after they hatch? How's the kiddo gonna feel if we have to give the chickens away? What happens if one dies?!?

Since I was sort of a slacker when it came to homeschool teaching, the questions mostly just mulled around in my mind. I wasn't serious enough to actually find the ANSWERS to any of those questions. Heaven forbid I google "how to hatch chickens." So the whole chicken idea was just an idea until I invited a friend from high school to my son's 2nd birthday party. She happened to live on a farm and had chickens! (You can learn more about her and her farm at http://www.facebook.com/gettoknowyourfarmer?fref=ts) Soooooo, I did what ANY friend would do in that situation: I asked her 10,000 questions and sucked her dry of information! What I discovered was that I should start with chicks, I could buy just females, and the town I lived in allowed a small number of hens in backyards. The next day,I went to the library, checked out Chickens for Dummies (yup, that's a REAL book), and by 5:00 that evening, I was a chicken EXPERT! I even called my friend and told her everything I learned. I think by that point, I knew more than she did, LOL! By 6:00pm, I had convinced my husband to order some Jersey Giant chicks, and the idea became a reality 3 days later when they arrived.