Before we moved to our farm, I always knew that we’d collect rainwater for our livestock. When visiting my grandparent’s farm and my uncle’s ranch as a child, I recalled they had downspouts that flowed into water troughs. So, when … Read More
If you raise goats, you will need to learn how to wether a goat kid, which is what goat castration is called. Why? It is a simple fact that you don’t need very many bucks for a herd, whether you … Read More
When I got started with goats I barely knew the difference between hay and straw. Although I quickly learned that hay is food and straw is bedding, I just assumed that all hay was the same. That is definitely not … Read More
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 … Read More
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Did you know that the top five causes of mortality in chickens can be mostly prevented by management? That’s good news for those of us with chickens. At the Livestock Conservancy … Read More
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 … Read More
Why a Newborn Check? Shortly after each kid is born you should do an initial newborn check to make sure that each kid has all its pieces in the right places. In addition to checking for obvious things, such as … Read More
The decision to dam raise or to bottle raise kids needs to be made before the kids are born. There has been a bias towards bottle raising baby dairy animals for the past few decades as factory farms took over … Read More
One of the advantages that goats have over cattle, sheep, and pigs is that the equipment and infrastructure required for them is not nearly as costly. Goats were the first livestock we bought after chickens, and we had to buy … Read More
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 … Read More
Thrifty Homesteader was created in 2012 after the publication of my second book, Ecothrifty. The name was coined by one of my followers because I said that I didn’t want anyone to think that they had to be rich to homestead or live a greener life....
