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BioWorma: A New Weapon Against Roundworms in Livestock

04.16.2018 by thriftyhomesteader // 24 Comments

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...]

Categories // cattle, cows, goats, llamas, parasites, sheep, Uncategorized

Kelp: Friend or Foe

04.12.2018 by thriftyhomesteader // 17 Comments

kelp

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...]

Categories // cattle, goats, livestock health, sheep

Hog Fencing

03.15.2018 by thriftyhomesteader // 3 Comments

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...]

Categories // Homegrown and Handmade excerpt, pigs Tags // fence, hogs

Milking Shorthorns: Dual-Purpose Cattle for Grass-Based Production

02.08.2018 by Janie Hynson // 1 Comment

At The Livestock Conservancy conference in November, mother-daughter duo Winifred and Martha Hoffman (BestYet A.I. Sires) gave an excellent presentation about Dutch Belted Cattle, which I wrote about in this post: 5 Reasons to Add Dutch Belted Cattle to your Homestead. Well, it turns out that there is another breed of milk cow that the Hoffman's recommend even more for people … [Read more...]

Categories // cattle, cows, home dairy, Uncategorized

Goats and Sheep and Cobalt

01.25.2018 by thriftyhomesteader // 16 Comments

Goats Cobalt

You may have seen a cobalt block at your local feed store, or if you're on social media, you may have seen goat or sheep owners talking about them. People have stated that it helps goats utilize their feed better or that their particular breed requires more cobalt than other breeds. Even though my goats and sheep seem to utilize their feed just fine, I started to wonder if my … [Read more...]

Categories // goats, sheep Tags // cobalt, goat health, sheep health

Heat Lamps, Safety, and Livestock

01.15.2018 by thriftyhomesteader // 152 Comments

heat lamp safety

Every winter I see articles like this about a barn fire or other structure that burns down because of a heat lamp. In fact, we almost had two fires here because of heat lamps. Yeah, not just one, but two! Many years ago we had a heat lamp hanging on a nail, and the goats knocked it down. That was definitely a rookie mistake made by someone who had no clue how curious goats … [Read more...]

Categories // chickens, goats, pigs, sheep

5 reasons to add Dutch Belted Cattle to your homestead

01.04.2018 by Janie Hynson // 3 Comments

After reading Keeping a Family Cow, I've been considering adding a cow or two to our homestead. So I was easily hooked when I learned about a beautiful heritage breed of milk cow - Dutch Belteds. At The Livestock Conservancy conference in November, mother-daughter duo Winifred and Martha Hoffman (BestYet A.I. Sires) gave an excellent presentation about this breed. Three … [Read more...]

Categories // cattle, conferences, home dairy

Tips for Protecting Your Livestock from Predators

12.18.2017 by thriftyhomesteader // 6 Comments

protecting livestock

One of the biggest challenges for anyone raising livestock is preventing predator attacks. This is true whether you have 300 head of sheep in Wyoming or 3 hens in Chicago. Predators are not simply big scary animals like lions and tigers and bears. They can also be your neighbor's dog or cat. All carnivores have an instinct to kill animals. I'll never forget how surprised I … [Read more...]

Categories // alpacas, camelids, chickens, dogs, donkeys, ducks, goats, llamas, peafowl, pigs, poultry, sheep

Stall cleaning: A necessary part of homesteading

12.07.2017 by thriftyhomesteader // 72 Comments

stall cleaning

It's not fun or sexy or exciting, but it is necessary -- cleaning or mucking out stalls. If you asked ten people how they do this, you'd probably get ten different answers, and our answer has changed over the years. The answer may also vary based upon the animals occupying the stalls. When my daughter had a horse years ago, it was easy to simply scoop out the poop each day … [Read more...]

Categories // chickens, cows, goats, sheep

Tuberculosis in cattle, goats, and sheep

12.04.2017 by thriftyhomesteader // 5 Comments

tuberculosis in goats

If you are raising any type of animal for dairy, it's a good idea to know their tuberculosis status. TB is a zoonotic disease, which means animals can transmit it to humans. Although most states are TB-free, the disease does still pop up sometimes in random slaughterhouse testing or in routine herd testing, mostly in cattle, and it is spreading. When I got my first goats in … [Read more...]

Categories // cattle, goats, sheep

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