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...]
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...]
Hatching & Brooding Your Own Chicks
To continue “Chicken Week” on the blog, I wanted to write about Hatching & Brooding Your Own Chicks by Gail Damerow. I read this book last spring as part of a Pastured Poultry course I took through the UMass Amherst Stockbridge School of Agriculture. For the class, we also read Harvey Ussery's The Small-Scale Poultry Flock and Joel Salatin’s Pastured Poultry Profit$, both … [Read more...]
Farm animal psychology
The children chased the chickens. They couldn't understand why the chickens didn't want to cuddle. Last week was the first week of Nature's Farm Camp on our homestead, and I had to explain farm animal psychology to the children. I often find myself playing the role of psychologist when people are first introduced to chickens, turkeys, goats, sheep, cows, and other farm … [Read more...]
Want eggs? Get ducks!
by Victoria Redhed Miller Ducks are fun and easy to raise. We have raised mainly Khaki Campbell ducks for eight years now, keeping them strictly for eggs. At one point we had some Indian Runner ducks and Blue Swedish also, but we've pared it down to just the Khaki Campbells now, and just love them. If you're looking for a small farm enterprise, duck eggs are a great niche … [Read more...]
Chickens vs. Ducks: What’s the difference when it comes to eggs?
by Victoria Redhed Miller Here at Canyon Creek Farms, we have been raising laying hens since 2007, and laying ducks since 2008. Here's a brief comparison of duck and chicken eggs. Productivity At various times we have raised Blue Swedish and Indian Runner ducks, and now maintain a laying flock of Khaki Campbell ducks. The Khakis have consistently started laying at 5 to … [Read more...]
Cold Ducks: Keeping ducks in winter weather
by Victoria Redhed Miller We have raised laying ducks for nearly six years now, and one of the things we are asked about most frequently is how to care for ducks in the wintertime. We live in the foothills of Washington State's Olympic Mountains, at an elevation of 1000 feet. We get a fair amount of snow each winter, sometimes being snowed in for a week or more at a time. … [Read more...]
