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...]
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...]
Milking Shorthorns: Dual-Purpose Cattle for Grass-Based Production
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...]
Goats and Sheep and 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...]
Heat Lamps, Safety, and Livestock
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...]
5 reasons to add Dutch Belted Cattle to your homestead
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...]
Tips for Protecting Your Livestock from Predators
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...]
Stall cleaning: A necessary part of homesteading
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...]
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