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Livestock and hot weather

07.05.2013 by thriftyhomesteader // 3 Comments

With record breaking temperatures hitting many parts of the U.S. this week, anyone with livestock has probably been anxiously watching them to make sure they are surviving the heat. So, here are a few tips: WATER! Keep cool water available at all times!  Dehydration is the main killer in hot weather. If you find an animal unable to stand, pinch its skin, and if it is not … [Read more...]

Categories // cattle, chickens, cows, goats, pigs, sheep, turkeys, Uncategorized

You can’t grow that organically!

06.25.2013 by thriftyhomesteader // 2 Comments

It is always a bit of a shock when someone asks me if something -- apples, pigs, turkeys, you-name-it -- can be grown organically. I've heard the questions so many times over the years that it really should not be a surprise to me, but optimist that I am, I always think that I will never hear the question again. Why? Because every type of food can be grown organically. Prior … [Read more...]

Categories // chickens, food, gardening, health, pigs, turkeys, Uncategorized

Mother Earth News Fair:
Natural Home Dairy presentation

09.27.2012 by thriftyhomesteader // 1 Comment

Last weekend I was in Pennsylvania at the third Mother Earth News Fair to be held at Seven Springs. On Sunday morning, when temperatures were in the 40s, a brave group of souls came out to listen to my talk on the Natural Home Dairy. This is the PowerPoint that accompanied that talk, and it includes a recipe for queso blanco cheese and milk soap. … [Read more...]

Categories // cheese, cows, goats, home dairy, sheep, soap making, Uncategorized

Quarantining new animals

04.29.2012 by thriftyhomesteader // 17 Comments

It's spring, which means babies on the farm, and often, buying babies from other farms! A couple of months ago a fairly new farmer was telling me about a boar he bought that brought a whole lot of health issues to his whole herd, and he said the vet told him, "All of your health problems are bought and sold," meaning that you buy new animals and bring health problems onto your … [Read more...]

Categories // goats, I wish I'd known, livestock health, pigs, sheep, Uncategorized

Growing your own meat

02.29.2012 by thriftyhomesteader // 13 Comments

growing your own meat

We became vegetarians in February 1989 when our first child was a toddler. Up until that point, I assumed (like most Americans) that meat came from animals who had spent happy lives wandering around in grassy pastures. But then I read an article about factory farmed chickens, and I wanted nothing to do with that industry. I began reading about eating a vegetarian diet and … [Read more...]

Categories // cattle, chickens, meat, sheep, turkeys, why homegrown and handmade

Choosing livestock for your homestead

01.14.2012 by thriftyhomesteader // 13 Comments

It is that time of year when many of us are curled up with a cup of something warm and a hatchery catalog or we're on the Internet looking at classified ads for other livestock. Whether you will be bringing home your first livestock this spring or just adding to your herds and flocks, there are some important things to keep in mind. Last night I arrived home from the Illinois … [Read more...]

Categories // cattle, chickens, goats, health, pigs, sheep, Uncategorized

What to do with dark turkey meat?

11.25.2011 by thriftyhomesteader // 4 Comments

leftover turkey

If you are like most Americans, you are not crazy about dark turkey meat. In fact, you don't like it at all, which is why Big Ag figured out how to grow turkeys with breasts so big that they can't fly or mate naturally. (Yes, that means supermarket turkeys are the result of artificial insemination.) And I was right there with the majority, only eating white turkey meat for so … [Read more...]

Categories // recipes, turkeys

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