I took the day off from work yesterday.
Technically.
I had a doctor’s appointment, so I figured taking the entire day off would give me a little extra time at home. Maybe I’d get a few things done around the homestead, go to my appointment, and have a somewhat relaxing day away from my normal work schedule.
If you live on a homestead, you already know how this story ends.
There was absolutely nothing relaxing about it.
By the time the day was over, I had cleaned chicken and turkey runs, refreshed dust baths, cleaned coops, checked chicken poop, fed bees, dealt with a dead beehive and wax moths, helped take down two trees, rushed a badly injured chicken to the veterinarian, cleaned up tree debris, and fed everybody again.
It was one heck of a “day off.”
But it was also a perfect reminder of something I sometimes forget:
The life we chose doesn’t offer a lot of rest, but it offers an incredible amount of purpose.
And for us, that’s the important part.
Morning Chores Come First
Like most days on the homestead, everything started with the animals.
Before I could worry about my own plans for the day, everyone needed to be fed and checked. Chickens, turkeys, and the rest of the animals don’t particularly care whether it’s a workday, weekend, holiday, or vacation day.
Breakfast is breakfast.
Once everyone was taken care of, though, I did something for myself.
I got on the elliptical.
With everything that needed to be done, it would have been very easy to skip exercise and immediately start working. But I’ve learned that carving out even a little bit of “me” time matters.
So I exercised, cleared my head, and enjoyed that small window of quiet.
Then it was time to get dirty.
Freshening the Chicken and Turkey Runs
My first big job was giving the chicken and turkey areas a good refresh.
I added First Saturday Lime and fresh straw to the runs, cleaning up areas that needed attention and giving everyone a cleaner environment.
I also refreshed their dust-bathing areas with a mixture of dirt, sand, and diatomaceous earth.
Watching chickens dust bathe is always entertaining, but it serves an important purpose, too. Dust bathing is a natural chicken behavior that helps them maintain their feathers and skin.
Then it was time for the less glamorous part of chicken keeping.
Cleaning the coops.
Yes, I Check Chicken Poop
Cleaning a chicken coop isn’t exactly the kind of homesteading moment that makes it onto a beautiful Instagram reel, but it is one of the most important opportunities I have to check on the flock.
As I cleaned each coop, I took a few extra seconds to look at the droppings.
Yes, chicken poop.
Droppings can provide useful clues about what is happening with a bird’s health. Changes in color, consistency, frequency, or the presence of blood can sometimes be an early indication that something isn’t right.
Chickens are remarkably good at hiding illness and injury. It’s part of their survival instinct. A bird that appears weak can become a target for the rest of the flock, so chickens often hide problems until they simply can’t anymore.
That makes these little daily observations incredibly important.
Is everyone eating?
Is everyone moving normally?
Does anyone seem unusually quiet?
Do the droppings look normal?
Sometimes good animal husbandry is simply knowing what “normal” looks like so you recognize when something changes.
From Chickens to Honey Bees
With the poultry chores finished, I switched gears completely.
It was time to check the bees.
The previous day, I had prepared 1:1 sugar syrup for the colonies. A 1:1 syrup—approximately equal parts sugar and water—is commonly used by beekeepers when supplemental feeding is appropriate because it provides an easily accessible carbohydrate source for the colony.
The syrup had cooled and was ready to go, so I headed out to the apiary.
Most of the hives looked great.
Unfortunately, there was one exception.
Saying Goodbye to a Weak Hive
We had been watching one particular colony for a while.
It had struggled with a weak queen from the beginning, and despite our efforts to help the hive along, we ultimately lost it.
That’s one of the harder realities of beekeeping.
Sometimes you can do everything you know to do and still lose a colony.
Once the hive weakened and died, wax moths took advantage of the unprotected equipment. Wax moths are opportunistic pests that can quickly move into weakened or abandoned colonies because there aren’t enough healthy bees remaining to defend the comb.
So yesterday became cleanup day.
I removed the affected boxes from the apiary and moved them to a separate area where we could clean and deal with the equipment without exposing the healthy colonies to the mess.
And then I discovered one tiny silver lining.
The chickens thought the wax moth larvae were fantastic.
Any larvae we removed were promptly offered to our feathered cleanup crew.
Let’s just say there were zero complaints from the chickens.
One homestead problem had suddenly become a chicken snack.
Sometimes that’s just how things work around here.
Then We Decided to Take Down Two Trees
Because apparently the day wasn’t busy enough yet.
We had two trees we’d been watching for quite some time. Both had become concerning enough that we didn’t want to head into the winter months with them still standing.
Wind, snow, ice, and winter storms can turn a questionable tree into a serious hazard very quickly.
So we decided it was time.
Of course, as is practically a rule of homesteading:
Nothing is ever as easy as you think it will be.
The job took considerably longer than expected.
There was cutting, moving, clearing, more cutting, more moving—and repeatedly looking at the time because we had somewhere very important to be.
We finished just in time.
Because our next stop was the veterinarian.
An Injured Chicken We Almost Didn’t Find in Time
A few days earlier, we discovered that one of our chickens had been severely pecked by other members of her flock.
This is exactly why I constantly emphasize the importance of physically checking your chickens.
The injury was underneath and near one of her wings. Between her feathers and the position of the wing itself, the wound was almost completely hidden.
We were incredibly lucky that we spotted it when we did.
When we found her Saturday night, the wound was horrifying.
There was a large, open hole, and we could see muscle underneath.
I’ll admit it: we didn’t have a lot of hope.
But chickens continually amaze me with how resilient they can be.
We immediately separated her from the flock so the other chickens couldn’t continue pecking at the injury. We cleaned and treated the area with an antimicrobial spray and kept her isolated where she could rest safely.
On Monday, I called our farm veterinarian and made an appointment.
Fortunately, they are wonderful about getting our animals in quickly when something happens.
And yesterday afternoon, after our tree-removal marathon, it was finally time for her appointment.
The News We Didn’t Expect
When the veterinarian examined her, we received some wonderful news.
The hole was gone.
In just a few days, the wound had already begun healing over.
Considering what it looked like Saturday night, I could hardly believe it.
The veterinarian was able to prescribe medication to treat an infection as well as pain medication to keep her comfortable while she continues healing.
Because of the medications she’s receiving, we’ll also be observing the veterinarian-directed egg withdrawal period before any eggs from her are used for food.
Most importantly, though, her outlook is very encouraging.
This little chicken who had a gaping wound just a few days earlier now has a very real chance of making a full recovery.
That’s a pretty great way to end a stressful few days.
Except the Day Still Wasn’t Over
Eventually, we made it home.
At that point, I would have happily collapsed on the couch.
Instead, we still had tree debris waiting for us.
So we cleaned up more of the mess from the trees, checked on everyone again, and completed the evening feeding.
Because animals don’t care how tired you are, either.
Morning chores become evening chores, and tomorrow morning you start all over again.
Homesteading Doesn’t Really Have “Days Off”
By the end of the day, I couldn’t help but laugh.
I had taken a day off from my full-time job because I had a doctor’s appointment.
Somehow that turned into poultry maintenance, coop cleaning, bee feeding, wax moth cleanup, tree removal, an emergency chicken vet visit, more tree cleanup, and two rounds of animal chores.
It certainly wasn’t a day of rest.
But maybe that’s the point.
When we chose this lifestyle, we also chose the responsibility that comes with it.
The chickens need us.
The turkeys need us.
The bees need us.
The property needs to be maintained.
The garden needs tending.
Something will inevitably break.
An animal will inevitably need extra attention.
And occasionally a job you thought would take 30 minutes will consume half your afternoon.
There aren’t many true “off” days on a homestead.
But there is purpose.
A Life We Continue to Choose
There are certainly mornings when I’m tired.
There are evenings when another chore is the last thing I want to do.
There are days when balancing a full-time career, the homestead, our farmstand, exercise, animals, and everyday life feels like an impossible puzzle.
But then there are moments like yesterday.
A struggling hive reminds me that not everything can be saved.
A chicken enthusiastically devouring a wax moth larva reminds me that nature has a funny way of recycling things.
Two dangerous trees finally coming down reminds me that the work we’re doing today helps prepare the homestead for tomorrow.
And a little injured chicken whose wound looked devastating on Saturday suddenly has a sunny outlook.
Those moments are the reason we keep doing it.
Homesteading isn’t about escaping work.
If anything, we may have accidentally signed ourselves up for more of it.
It’s about choosing work that means something to us.
Yesterday was exhausting, dirty, stressful, productive, and rewarding all at the same time.
In other words, it was a pretty normal day on the homestead.
And today?
Today I get to go back to my regular job.
Maybe I can finally take it easy. 😂
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