The #1 Most Important Homesteading Skill
What homestead skill makes it possible for you to become the best homesteader you can be? What homestead skill allows you to access generations of knowledge, learning, life experience, and wisdom? What homestead skill is applicable to literally every aspect of homesteading from backyard chicken care, gardening, home improvement projects, and more?
That skill is literacy.
The ability to read gives you access to a world of knowledge beyond the internet. Why not just rely entirely on online resources for your backyard chicken journey and homestead skills? Because inevitably, you will encounter an issue with complexities, and the internet will provide you with conflicting information. Some sources will suggest one solution, others will suggest something else. Literacy allows you to access information in books in order to make an informed and final decision when you encounter conflicting information on the internet. Literacy also gives you access to the generations of knowledge that existed before the internet. This ancestral knowledge, much of it still relevant today, can inform your homestead journey.
How can you enjoy reading if you don’t like it or have trouble concentrating?
You’re not alone. Many people have had negative experiences with reading from misguided peers, educators, parents or relatives, and other individuals who made reading an unpleasant experience somehow. You may have been forced to read things you didn’t enjoy or found boring. The modern pervasiveness of screens in both our workplaces and homes and the prevalence of short form content has further strained our ability to concentrate for long periods of time in order to read something. The good news is your ability to concentrate hasn’t been taken away from you, it only needs to be practiced. Concentration is like a muscle and with time and consistency, you can train and improve your concentration. Two tips to form your own reading habit are: pick a subject matter you love and start small. For me, that was backyard chickens. And my goal to begin was just 2 pages per day. That’s it. 2 pages. I found a time in my schedule where I consistently had a few minutes and dedicated time to reading daily. You can increase your reading habit overtime, or not. Reading only 2 pages a day by the end of the month you will have read 60 pages. Slow, consistent progress beats quitting every single time.
There is no rule you have to finish a book you started but have stopped enjoying. Put it down and find another one. You can bookmark reference books like those about backyard chickens at the sections that are most relevant and helpful to you. There’s no rule that you have to read anything cover to cover. Pick a topic. Pick a book. Pick a page. And just start.
If you are raising your first backyard chickens, or even if you are a seasoned expert flock member, I hope you will acquire at least one beginner chicken care guidebook.
The internet and content creators like me offer a wealth of knowledge but no one source can provide you will all of the information you need. In order to be most informed homesteader and backyard chicken keeper you can be, getting information from multiple sources will benefit you beyond measure. Chicken care guidebooks are available at your local farm box store, your local library, your local bookseller, and online. These guidebooks include important information not just about basic chicken care but also first aid tips, coop and run plans, breed recommendations, and so much more.
What if you could use help with your reading skills?
The vast majority of states and regions have free literacy programs. A quick online search will let you know where these programs are and what their requirements are. These programs welcome students of all ages to improve their skills in a welcoming environment. It can be intimidating choosing to improve your skills later in life, or at any stage of life. There is bravery in choosing to pursue self-improvement. Whatever challenges literacy may hold for you, the rewards that await you are even greater. What if people judge you for attending a literacy program? So what if they do? There are few greater tragedies than living below your potential to appease the perceived opinions of others.
Below are some of my favorite reads about backyard chickens. *I’m not affiliated with these books, authors, or publishers in any official way whatsoever. These are just resources I have used and enjoyed. I consider them wonderful beginner poultry care books.
Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens, 4th Edition: Breed Selection, Facilities, Feeding, Health Care, Managing Layers & Meat Birds Hardcover, December 27, 2017, by Gail Damerow (Author)
The Beginner’s Guide to Raising Chickens: How to Raise a Happy Backyard Flock (Raising Chickens Guide), Jun 4, 2019, by Anne Kuo (Author)
I hope this was a helpful post about the essential homesteading skill, literacy. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out Chuck’s other social media for more backyard chicken and homesteading content.
Chuck and the Chicks 