🐣 Your Week-by-Week Chick Plan + Words Every Homemaker Needs Today 🧡

NOTICE: Formerly known as The Steady Homestead, we’ve rebranded to The Homestead Movement! Same great content, just a fresh new name. 😊 

IN TODAY'S EDITION

1. Homestead Tip 🌱

2. Poll Results From Last Thursday 📊

3. All Things Homestead: A Week-by-Week Guide to Raising Happy, Healthy Chicks 🐣

4. Personal Development: 20 Reminders Homemakers and Homesteaders Deserve to Hear More Often 🧡

5. Today's Top Picks 🛍️

6. Let’s Keep It Reel 🤣

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

When My Child Got Sick… I Froze.

Not because I didn’t care, but because I didn’t know what to do naturally.

I wanted something more than Tylenol, but I didn’t have the time (or clarity) to scroll through blogs, second-guess tincture dosages, or wonder which herb was “safe.”

I just wanted to open a kit and say, “Here’s what helps. Here’s what’s safe. Here’s what works.”

If that’s you too? Then you’ll love The Medicinal Kit.
It’s a beautifully designed herbal medicine cabinet for everyday moms who want to treat their families naturally.

Inside the kit, you’ll get:
🌿 The 15 most essential remedies
📖 A quick-start guide written in plain language
💡 Real support so you don’t second-guess yourself

Because the worst time to figure out your family’s health plan is when someone’s already sick.

👉 [Get the Medicinal Kit Here]

POLL RESULTS FROM LAST THURSDAY

What's a homestead skill you wish you'd learned sooner?

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ Canning & preserving

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Building soil properly

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Animal care

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Seed starting

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Others

via @beehiiv polls

Feel free to participate in fun polls in our next newsletters! 😉

Also, follow us on our social media accounts for daily homesteading inspiration and updates.

ALL THINGS HOMESTEAD

A Week-by-Week Guide to Raising Happy, Healthy Chicks 🐣

If you’ve ever raised baby chicks, you know how fast things can go sideways. One day they’re fluffy and chirping. The next, they’re trying to fly out of the brooder. But here’s the thing most folks don’t tell you, chicks don’t just grow; they outgrow their environment. And when they do, temperature makes all the difference.

Let’s get you through those 8 weeks with fewer worries and stronger hens.

Week-by-Week Brooder Temps You Can Trust

Use this chart as a weekly roadmap. Adjust their heat. Read their behavior. And above all, keep your setup safe and simple.

• 0–7 Days | 95°F
  Your chicks are brand new and can’t regulate their body heat. Keep the brooder at 95°F and draft-free. If they huddle under the lamp, they’re cold. If they run from it, it’s too hot. A heat lamp with a guard works well here. Just double check it’s secure.

• Week 2 | 90°F
  Lower the temp by about 5 degrees. You’ll start to see more movement and playfulness. Make sure they have room to explore. Keep bedding dry and clean to avoid respiratory issues.

• Week 3 | 85°F
  Start giving them little "field trips" outside if the weather is mild, at least 70°F and sunny. Keep these short, and stay close. This is more about getting used to natural sounds and light than playtime.

• Week 4 | 80°F
  Chicks should be more alert, feathering out, and eating well. Keep their heat source steady and offer brief outings when the weather allows. If they come back chilled, you’ve stayed out too long.

• Week 5 | 75°F
  If your brooder room holds at 75°F on its own, you can cut the heat lamp. If not, drop the lamp height or reduce wattage. Keep watching for crowding or chilling behaviors.

• Week 6 | 70°F
  Now’s the time to toughen them up a bit. They can spend full days outside if temps are over 50°F. Just make sure they’re dry, shaded, and protected from wind and predators.

• Week 7 | 65°F
  You’re in the home stretch. They should be almost fully feathered and ready to handle mild outdoor temps. Let them explore your coop and run setup during the day to get familiar with it.

• Week 8+ | Move Outside
  Time to transition! As long as they’re fully feathered, healthy, and it’s not freezing or pouring rain, your chicks are ready for full-time coop living. Still, check on them often while they settle in.

Important: Never leave chicks out in the rain until they’re at least 8 weeks old. Wet feathers + cool wind = sick babies.

Tips for Brooder Success That Most Folks Overlook

• Use a thermometer inside the brooder to make sure you're not guessing. The center and corners can feel very different.

• Watch your chicks’ behavior. If they’re evenly spaced and chirping softly, the temp is probably right. Loud chirping or crowding under the lamp is a red flag.

• Clean bedding every few days. Damp pine shavings can lead to respiratory problems or frostbite in cooler temps.

• Introduce grit and treats slowly. If you’re giving anything beyond starter feed, offer chick grit first.

• Don’t overheat “just in case.” Overheating is just as dangerous as being too cold.

🌾 A Note to the Tired Chicken Mamas

If you’re worried you’re not doing this perfectly, take a breath. Even the most seasoned homesteaders have lost chicks and learned from it. But with the right heat, clean space, and watchful eye, you’re giving them a strong start.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

20 Reminders Homemakers and Homesteaders Deserve to Hear More Often 🧡

Most days, life feels like survival, not growth. But the truth is you don’t need big change. You just need real words that stick.

Below are 20 reminders I wish I’d known years ago, especially when I was deep in burnout, chasing productivity, or waiting for permission to slow down.

💬 Life Lessons That Actually Work in the Real World

• Action calms anxiety. Waiting usually makes worry worse. Even folding towels or taking a walk clears your head better than overthinking.

• You only get about 4,000 weeks on this earth. That’s it. Use this one wisely. Don’t put off rest, love, or the dream sitting in your back pocket.

• Surround yourself with people who make you feel like yourself. The right ones don’t drain you. They bring out your light even on your worst days.

• You teach others how to treat you by what you allow. If you keep saying yes to things that don’t sit right, people will keep asking. Change the pattern.

• Growth doesn’t always feel graceful. It often feels awkward. Do the hard thing before you feel “ready.”

• The thing you fear usually hides the breakthrough. That big step you’re scared to take? There’s gold on the other side of it.

• If you don’t guard your priorities, others will fill your day for you. Say no more often. Protect your time like you protect your flock.

• Approval is a tempting trap. Needing everyone’s thumbs-up will drain you dry. Choose peace over praise.

• Don’t treat rest like a reward. It’s not earned. It’s needed. Your body wasn’t made to run like a machine.

• You’ll never regret investing in your health or learning something new. Put money into good food, solid shoes, and books that stretch your thinking.

• You don’t have to have an opinion on everything. Especially online. It’s okay to say, “I don’t know enough about that.”

• No one is coming to rescue you. But here’s the good news, you’re more capable than you think.

• Habits quietly shape your life. What you do every day becomes who you are. Make those daily choices count.

• Discipline means doing what matters most, not what feels easy. Whether it’s your health, a clean kitchen, or teaching your kids, pick what matters long-term.

• The people who love you won’t flinch when you set boundaries. If they do, they might not be your people.

• Your value has nothing to do with how much you get done. You are not your to-do list. Resting doesn’t make you lazy.

• If someone pops into your mind, reach out. That text might be exactly what they needed. Don’t overthink it.

• Silence is a valid response. Not every rude comment, disagreement, or online post deserves your energy.

• Action sparks motivation. Not the other way around. Get moving then the fire will come.

• You can choose a new life today. You don’t need a new year. Just decide what’s not working and take one honest step toward change.

What This Means for Your Everyday

You don’t have to hustle for worth. You don’t need another self-help book. You need truth, permission, and one tiny action step… today.

Pick one of these truths that hit home. Write it on a sticky note. Stick it on your kitchen cabinet or your coop door. Let it ground you when the day spins sideways.

THE STEADY HOME’S GIGGLE CHAMBER

Why did the cow stop chewing in mid-May? Because it realized it had literally eaten the lawn.

TODAY'S TOP PICKS

Food Prices Are Up. Waste Is Too. Let’s Fix That.

Ever tossed moldy berries or wilted greens and thought, “I meant to use that…”? Same here. I used to feel guilty watching food (and money) go straight into the trash simply because no one ever taught me how to preserve it.

This June, that changes.

Inside the Homestead Challenge, we’re tackling Food Preservation… easy, practical skills to help you stretch your groceries and stock your pantry.

You’ll learn:
Quick pickling
Fruit leather & jam
Dehydrating without fancy tools
How long food really lasts

And yes, you’ll still get instant access to January–May’s challenges, too.

LET’S KEEP IT REEL!

I've put together some fantastic farm videos that are sure to make you laugh. Take a look and enjoy the fun!

1. When it comes to buying chicks, we do not take no for an answer 😂

2. The new batch of grandkids, homestead edition! 😂

3. Just a chicken having the cutest little tantrum! 😆🐔

ENGAGE WITH US

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