Life done cheap with Lee

Homesteading for a beginner’s mindset
Phase 1: Mindset & Reality Check (Before You Do Anything)

This part saves the most money and mistakes.
1. Define your “why”
• Lower food costs?
• Self-sufficiency?
• Health?
• Teaching kids?
• Side income?
👉 Your why determines what comes first.
2. Start where you are
• Backyard, small acreage, rental, suburban lot — it all counts.
• Homesteading is a skill set, not a land size.
3. Accept imperfect progress
• Things will die.
• Animals will escape.
• You’ll mess up.
That’s normal. The goal is learning, not perfection.

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Phase 2: Learn to Feed Yourself First (Highest ROI)

Food is the foundation.
4. Garden before animals
• Start small (raised beds or containers).
• Learn:
• Soil
• Watering
• Pests
• Timing
• Even failures teach more than books.
5. Focus on high-value crops
• Things you already buy:
• Tomatoes
• Peppers
• Herbs
• Greens
• Potatoes
• If you won’t eat it, don’t grow it.
6. Learn basic food preservation
• Freezing
• Dehydrating
• Simple canning
• This prevents waste and stretches wins.

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Phase 3: Infrastructure That Pays You Back

Build things that help everything else.
7. Water management
• Rain barrels
• Hoses / drip irrigation
• Mulch to save water
8. Storage
• Shelving
• Buckets
• Feed bins
• Freezer space (huge homestead upgrade)
9. Tools (slowly)
• Buy used when possible.
• Don’t buy gadgets — buy multipurpose tools.

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Phase 4: Start Small Livestock (When You’re Ready)

Animals add responsibility. Don’t rush this.
10. Chickens or rabbits first

• Chickens = eggs, compost, pest control
• Rabbits = meat, manure, quiet, small footprint
• Learn:
• Daily care
• Feed costs
• Processing (if meat animals)

11. Build simple, not pretty

• Function beats aesthetics.
• You’ll rebuild later once you know better.

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Phase 5: Waste Nothing Systems

This is where homesteading really clicks.
12. Composting

• Kitchen scraps
• Garden waste
• Manure
• Turns trash into fertilizer.

13. Reuse & repurpose

• Pallets
• Scrap wood
• Old fencing
• Buckets become feeders, planters, storage.

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Phase 6: Skill Stacking (This Is the Secret Sauce)

Land doesn’t matter if skills are missing.
14. Learn 1–2 skills per year

• Canning
• Animal processing
• Seed saving
• Basic carpentry
• Fencing
• First aid (human & animal)

15. Practice before you need it

• Don’t wait until an emergency.
• Skill confidence comes from repetition.

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Phase 7: Optional – Side Income (Only After Stability)

Homesteads bleed money until systems are solid.
16. Sell extras, not necessities

• Eggs
• Plants
• Breeding stock
• Handmade items
• Knowledge (YouTube, workshops)

17. Track costs

• Feed
• Supplies
• Time
If it doesn’t at least break even, adjust.

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The Biggest Beginner Mistakes (Avoid These)

❌ Doing everything at once
❌ Buying animals before infrastructure
❌ Overbuilding fancy stuff
❌ Comparing yourself to influencers
❌ Not tracking expenses

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Life done cheap with Lee

Best Geese for your homestead

Embden

Best all-around homestead goose

Why they’re great:
• Fast growth & heavy body (excellent meat bird)
• Very cold-hardy (great for Ohio winters)
• Good grass converters → lower feed bills
• Strong natural guards (alert, loud)

Downsides:
• Can be assertive during breeding season

Best for: Meat, grazing, guarding property

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🥈 Toulouse

Best for calm temperament & fat production

Why they’re great:
• Large body size (meat + fat)
• Calm, docile, easy to handle
• Cold-hardy and slow-moving
• Historically used for foie gras (if that’s your interest)

Downsides:
• Eat more than lighter breeds
• Slower growers than Embdens

Best for: Meat, traditional homesteads, calm flocks

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🥉 Pilgrim

Best autosexing goose (easy breeding)

Why they’re great:
• Males & females look different at hatch
• Good egg layers for geese (35–45/year)
• Medium size → cheaper to feed
• Generally friendly

Downsides:
• Smaller meat yield than Embden/Toulouse

Best for: Breeding, beginners, dual-purpose use

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⭐ American Buff

Best dual-purpose + friendly

Why they’re great:
• Good egg layers (30–45/year)
• Calm temperament (great around kids)
• Decent meat bird without massive feed needs
• Attractive golden color

Downsides:
• Slightly less aggressive as guards

Best for: Family homesteads, eggs + meat

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🛡️ African Goose

Best guard goose

Why they’re great:
• Extremely loud & alert
• Good meat size
• Hardy in most climates
• Very territorial

Downsides:
• Can be noisy (neighbors may complain)
• More aggressive than most breeds

Best for: Predator alerts, property protection

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🌾 Chinese (Brown or White)

Best egg-laying goose

Why they’re great:
• Lay the most eggs (40–60/year)
• Lightweight → cheaper feed costs
• Excellent weeders
• Very active & alert

Downsides:
• Smaller meat bird
• Loud personalities

Best for: Eggs, weeding gardens/orchards

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🧭 Sebastopol

Best ornamental (not practical)

Why they’re kept:
• Curly feathers = unique & beautiful
• Calm temperament

Downsides:
• Poor meat yield
• High maintenance
• Not weather-hardy

Best for: Looks only (not practical homesteading)

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🔥 My Top Picks for a Budget Homestead

If I had to recommend just three:
1. Embden – meat + cold hardiness
2. American Buff – family-friendly dual-purpose
3. Chinese – eggs + weed control

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🪿 Quick Homestead Tips
• Geese can get 60–80% of their diet from grass
• 1 gander per 3–5 geese is ideal
• No pond required—just a kiddie pool
• Excellent predator deterrents when paired with chickens

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Life done cheap with Lee

🦆 Top 10 Dual-Purpose Homestead Ducks

1. Pekin

🥇 The classic homestead duck
• Eggs: 200–280/year
• Meat: Excellent (fast growth, large carcass)
• Why they’re great: Cheap, easy to find, calm, cold-hardy
• Downside: Eat a lot

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2. Muscovy

🥇 Best meat-to-feed efficiency
• Eggs: 100–180/year
• Meat: Outstanding (lean, mild, beef-like)
• Why they’re great: Quiet, forage well, broody, predator-aware
• Downside: Not cold-loving below freezing if wet

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3. Rouen

🥩 Heavy bird, traditional look
• Eggs: 150–180/year
• Meat: Very good (slow but big)
• Why they’re great: Hardy, calm, beautiful
• Downside: Slower growth than Pekins

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4. Silver Appleyard

🏆 Homestead favorite
• Eggs: 200–260/year
• Meat: Excellent (meaty but not overly fatty)
• Why they’re great: Cold-hardy, productive, great temperament
• Downside: Harder to find

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5. Saxony

🇩🇪 Balanced and underrated
• Eggs: 190–240/year
• Meat: Very good
• Why they’re great: Calm, cold-hardy, efficient
• Downside: Not as common in feed stores

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6. Buff (Orpington)

🧈 Friendly & reliable
• Eggs: 180–220/year
• Meat: Good
• Why they’re great: Great for families, cold-hardy, calm
• Downside: Slightly smaller carcass

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7. Blue Swedish

❄️ Cold-weather beast
• Eggs: 130–180/year
• Meat: Good
• Why they’re great: Very hardy, good foragers, predator-savvy
• Downside: Lower egg count than others

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8. Cayuga

🖤 Beautiful + useful
• Eggs: 150–200/year (dark eggs early season)
• Meat: Good
• Why they’re great: Cold-hardy, calm, excellent pest control
• Downside: Carcass darker in color

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9. Welsh Harlequin

🥚 Egg machine with decent meat
• Eggs: 220–300/year
• Meat: Fair–Good
• Why they’re great: Efficient layers, smaller feed bill
• Downside: Smaller meat yield

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10. Khaki Campbell

🥚 Best eggs, acceptable meat
• Eggs: 280–320/year
• Meat: Fair
• Why they’re great: Insane egg output, hardy, low feed
• Downside: Not a true meat bird

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🏆 Best Picks by Goal
• Best overall homestead duck: Silver Appleyard
• Best meat: Pekin or Muscovy
• Best eggs + meat balance: Saxony / Buff
• Cold climate best: Pekin, Appleyard, Swedish, Cayuga
• Lowest feed cost: Muscovy, Welsh Harlequin

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Life done cheap with Lee

Top 10 TRUE Dual-Purpose Chickens for a Homestead

These breeds are hardy, forage well, and fit a self-sufficient, done-on-a-dime homestead style.

1. Rhode Island Red
• 🥚 250–300 brown eggs/year
• 🍗 Solid meat bird
• Very hardy, great for beginners

2. Plymouth Rock (Barred Rock)
• 🥚 200–280 eggs/year
• 🍗 Good carcass size
• Cold-hardy, calm, excellent homestead bird

3. Buff Orpington
• 🥚 200–250 eggs/year
• 🍗 Big, meaty bird
• Gentle, broody (good for hatching your own)

4. Australorp
• 🥚 250–300 eggs/year
• 🍗 Respectable meat yield
• Extremely efficient layers while still usable for meat

5. Wyandotte
• 🥚 200–240 eggs/year
• 🍗 Well-rounded meat bird
• Cold-hardy, handles confinement or free-range

6. Sussex (Light or Speckled)
• 🥚 240–260 eggs/year
• 🍗 Excellent table bird
• Fantastic foragers — saves feed

7. New Hampshire Red
• 🥚 200–250 eggs/year
• 🍗 Faster growing than RIR
• Great balance of eggs and meat

8. Delaware
• 🥚 230–250 eggs/year
• 🍗 Broad-breasted, good processing bird
• Old-school homestead favorite

9. Dominique
• 🥚 200–230 eggs/year
• 🍗 Smaller carcass but efficient
• Very hardy, excellent free-ranger

10. Jersey Giant
• 🥚 150–200 eggs/year
• 🍗 Large meat bird
• Slower growing, but impressive freezer bird

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🪵 Best Picks by Homestead Goal
• Best overall balance: Plymouth Rock, Rhode Island Red
• Best meat + eggs: Sussex, Delaware, Jersey Giant
• Best for cold climates: Wyandotte, Plymouth Rock
• Best for hatching your own chicks: Orpington, Sussex

🚫 What’s NOT on this list (on purpose)
• Cornish Cross (meat only)
• ISA Browns / Red Stars (egg only)
• Leghorns (egg only)

These are heritage-style birds that let you:
✔ Hatch your own
✔ Cull roosters for meat
✔ Keep hens for years
✔ Stay self-sufficient

1 week ago | [YT] | 1

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🐇 Top 10 Meat Rabbit Breeds
1. New Zealand White (NZ) – The industry standard meat rabbit with fast growth, excellent feed-to-meat ratio, big litters, and easy handling.
2. Californian – Very efficient meat producer and one of the most common commercial breeds; excellent carcass quality.
3. Champagne d’Argent – Classic French breed with good meat size and efficient growth.
4. American Chinchilla – A heritage breed prized for both meat and quality pelt; solid size and calm temperament.
5. Silver Fox – Dual-purpose breed with good meat yield and soft coat, well suited to homestead use.
6. Satin – Moderate-to-good meat breed with a distinct shiny coat; good mothers.
7. Rex – Known for plush fur but also respectable meat characteristics; useful in mixed systems.
8. Palomino – Steady growers with good carcass quality and nice temperament.
9. Florida White – A smaller but efficient meat rabbit; earlier market age with quality meat, ideal if space or feed are limited.
10. American Blue / American – Heritage breed similar in size to other meat rabbits (about 9–12 lbs), valued for both meat and fur; classic choice on mixed homesteads.

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🧠 Notes for Choosing
• Fastest growth & best feed conversion: New Zealand White and Californian remain hard to beat for pure meat production.
• Dual-purpose + heritage value: American Chinchilla and Silver Fox offer good meat plus valuable fur or pelt traits.
• Smaller space & quicker finish: Florida White is lighter but reaches harvest weight quickly — great for smaller cages/quick turnover.
• Mixed-breed or crossbreeding: Many homesteaders use crosses among these breeds to balance growth, meatiness, and temperament.

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Hi everyone, welcome to my new YouTube Community! Now you can post on my channel, too. To get started, tell me in a post what you'd like to see next on my channel.
Visit my Community: youtube.com/@LifedonecheapwithLee/community

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Life done cheap with Lee

Happy new year everyone hope everybody has a wonderful time tonight please drink responsible and have fun celebrating the welcoming of 2026!!!

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Happy holidays to you and yours from me and mine!!

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Life done cheap with Lee

New post is up!!!
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Life done cheap with Lee

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