This fall the second edition of Raising Goats Naturally will be released, and I'm planning a speaking tour to give talks to goat groups, as well as other groups interested in sustainable living. Last fall, the second edition of Homegrown and Handmade was published, so I'd love to talk about the topics in that book also, which includes gardening, chickens, and other … [Read more...]
Feeding alfalfa pellets to pigs
In modern agriculture, pigs are fed a diet of mainly grains, but heritage pigs love grass, and our American Guinea Hogs are no exception. In winter, we used to feed them hay, but they wasted it terribly! If you think goats are wasteful, try pigs! You can't use a hay feeder with pigs. You have to put it on the ground because their mouths are below their snouts, and they leave … [Read more...]
BioWorma: A New Weapon Against Roundworms in Livestock
Later this month, there will be a new product on the market in the US and New Zealand that farmers and ranchers can feed to their livestock to reduce their burden of roundworms. In goats and sheep, that includes the infamous barber pole worm, as well as bankrupt worm and brown stomach worm. The good news is that BioWorma is not just another chemical dewormer, which worms can … [Read more...]
Kelp: Friend or Foe
Opinions on kelp for livestock vary about as much as they do on politics and religion. While one person says it's a savior, others say it's dangerous. The truth is somewhere in the middle. And as always, keep in mind that conditions vary from farm to farm, so what works great for one farm may not work as well on another farm. Before we dive into the nutritional analysis of … [Read more...]
Diarrhea in Goats
It's not unusual to see someone asking for advice on social media, simply saying that their goat has diarrhea. Unfortunately, that's not an easy question to answer because there are a couple dozen possible causes. In the fourth edition of Diseases of the Goat, author John Matthews has a 28-page chapter entitled "Diarrhea," which should give you an idea that this is not exactly … [Read more...]
Cooking Oil: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
After growing all of your wonderful meat and vegetables, you don't want to make it unhealthy by using the wrong kind of cooking oil. It wasn't that long ago that they were telling us that all fats were the enemy, and we should all be consuming as little of it as possible. In fact, a few people are still saying that. However, we now know that not all fats are created equal. Some … [Read more...]
Sow True Seed Heirloom Victory Garden Collection
We've reached our final seed giveaway for this Spring, but that means the gardening season will soon be in full swing! Thanks to everyone who has entered the giveaways and supported the seed companies that we have featured this year. Based in Asheville, North Carolina, Sow True Seed offers over 500 open-pollinated, heirloom, GMO-free, and/or organic vegetable, herb, and … [Read more...]
Planning the Sustainable Garden: How Much Will You Grow?
After choosing what to grow, the question is, how much do you want to grow? Do you simply want to grow enough to eat fresh throughout the growing season? Do you plan to can or freeze any for winter meals? Most tomato plants can easily produce twenty pounds of fruit. If you want to make a pasta sauce once a week throughout the year and your recipe calls for a pound of … [Read more...]
Brooding Chicks
When you pick up your first chicks, they will need to stay in a brooder for several weeks. If a mother hen had hatched them, they would spend most of their time under her wings, being kept warm by her body heat. Because they were hatched in an incubator, you need to duplicate that warm environment by creating a brooder. “Brooder” is a fancy word for what could simply be a … [Read more...]
Hog Fencing
Although many people say that goats are the most challenging animals to keep fenced in, I find pigs much more challenging. It only took us a couple of years to figure out how to keep goats in their pastures. However, we’ve had pigs now for thirteen years, and we still have problems with them escaping. They are ridiculously smart and seem to continuously come up with new ways to … [Read more...]
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