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...]
Tuberculosis in cattle, goats, and sheep
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...]
Growing an Agrihood
Have you heard about agrihoods? I've seen this term popping up more and more recently. Short for "agriculture neighborhood," essentially, an agrihood is an urban or suburban neighborhood built around farms. Here's a video about one of the largest agrihoods in the country located in Ashburn, Virginia and another agrihood in Detroit. There are thought to be more than 200 … [Read more...]
Livestock Handling to Reduce Stress and Keep You Safe
If you've ever wished you could read your animal's minds, then Temple Grandin is the person who can get you closer to that goal. Before reading her books, I never thought about how being a prey animal affects the personality of livestock. Imagine how nervous you would be if you knew intuitively that you could literally be someone's lunch. Understanding that one fact has helped … [Read more...]
Castrating Goats and Sheep with a Burdizzo
The first year we had goat kids I took them to the vet to be castrated surgically because I read that it was the most humane method. It was the first and last time I ever did that. The vet gave each one a shot of something that made them limp, but they were still capable of screaming weakly as he sliced open each side of the scrotum, pulled out each testicle and tossed it on … [Read more...]
Want to go pro as a sustainable farmer? Meet Joel Salatin
When people think about sustainable or organic agriculture, many simply think that we are trying to replicate what our grandparents or great grandparents did. In fact, I remember visiting an organic farm years ago whose motto was "Grandpa knew best," and at the time I heartily agreed. I also hear conventional farmers say things like, "Why would we want to go backwards when we … [Read more...]
Feeding alfalfa pellets to goats
We started using alfalfa pellets years ago when we had goats that could finish all their grain faster than we could milk them. If goats get too much grain, they'll get diarrhea and a host of other health problems. And some goats are grain hogs. They don't chew. Not kidding here. They just slurp up the grain like a five-year-old eating ice cream. Of course, goats are going to … [Read more...]
Collecting Rainwater on the Homestead
Although I didn't grow up on a farm, I remember visiting my grandparent's farm and my uncle's ranch as a child. I only have a few memories of what I saw there, but one regarded water. They had downspouts that flowed into water troughs. So, when we moved to our homestead in 2002, we immediately put water troughs under two of the downspouts on the barn. I had no idea at the … [Read more...]
Poisonous plants and livestock
A couple of weeks ago I visited a poisonous plant garden. No, it wasn't at Hogwarts. It was at the University of Illinois. Don't go looking for it. You won't find it. It is hidden away behind the school of veterinary medicine. Since the plants are poisonous, they don't want people taking self-guided tours and potentially poisoning themselves. Our tour was coordinated by The … [Read more...]
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