This section is for the buzz on the animals – bees, goats, poultry. How to care for them on many levels and why they’re so important to the success of your homesteading efforts.
Losing an animal is one of the hardest parts about this homesteading lifestyle. But what do you do when a mother passes and leaves you an orphaned alpaca? Here are some basic cria care tips – from changing a diaper to bottle feeding – for your orphaned alpaca.
You can enjoy home-canned meats any time of year by learning how to preserve them properly. Canning meat is a great way to make use of special coupons and deals, as well as to save space in your freezer. Canning your own chicken is also healthier, especially if you raise your own broiler chickens on the homestead. Join us as we go through the steps of canning fresh chicken. Plus, for you chicken lovers, a review of The Frugal Chicken’s Feeding Your Hens Right e-course. Continue reading “Canned Meat: Homestead Chicken”
Do you remember our popular, if controversial article, “Why Ducks Might Not Be Right For You”? Well, here is its sister post, “Why Ducks Might Be Right For You”! Come learn all about the useful and remarkable duck, and decide if some just might be right for your homestead. Continue reading “Why Ducks Might Be Right For You”
Are you interested in producing your own dairy – cow or goat milk, yogurt, cheese and more? A dairy animal can be a great investment, but which one should you choose? Will a cow be better for volume; will a goat be better for your smaller, city lot? Join me and a few of your favorite dairy-keeping homesteaders as we chat about backyard dairy. Continue reading “Goat Milk or Cow Milk: Which Should You Produce?”
Losing your livestock to predators is expensive, frustrating, and flat out heartbreaking — and protecting them isn’t always the easiest of tasks. While you may be tempted to break out your shotgun, there are numerous non-lethal steps you can take to keep your animals safe. Join us for this guest post! Continue reading “3 Non-Lethal Ways to Protect Your Livestock from Predators”
Have you wondered about having your own quality dairy in your backyard? Thinking about goats? Worried about the expense and wondering if this backyard dairy adventure will really save you money? Here’s a guest post from our archives with Elise from The Frugal Farm Wife to answer the question – are dairy goats cost effective? Continue reading “Dairy Goats: Cost Effective?”
You can’t help yourself anymore – the signs are everywhere! You keep checking out chicken books from the library and reading them instead of sleeping at night. Instead of picking out curtain colors, you’re dreaming of feather colors and deciding on backyard chicken breeds. Your spouse keeps trying to engage you in conversation but your eyes wander to the shed as you wonder if it could be converted to a chicken coop. You set out for the grocery store, but end up at the feed store, standing helplessly in front of the chick cages, paralyzed by their cuteness. What are you going to do? How can you be sure you’re ready. Fear not, grasshopper, if you keep seeing signs that say, “Chickens for Sale”, we’re here to help you be prepared for the inevitable. You WILL end up with a shipment of chicks in your backyard and we’re here to help you be ready. Continue reading “Chickens for Sale – Help!”
Have you ever heard of Diatomaceous Earth, or D.E.? If you have baby chicks, ducks, turkeys or even kittens, you may want to check out this completely natural pest control. Continue reading “Diatomaceous Earth: A Must for Chick Care”
Here’s an oldie but a goodie from our archives, re-released in celebration of “30 Ways of Homesteading” – see below for more information.
In all honesty, I should have entitled this “How to totally lose track of time, neglect your birthing kit, forget to calendar your kidding dates and, consequently, NOT prepare for baby goats”. Somehow not as catchy, right?
So, here are a few things to think about as you consider how to prepare for baby goats!
Ever heard of “vermicompost,” or composting with worms? We asked our friend Jo at Homestead Chronicles to help us out with a Q & A session on the topic of making compost with worms. Here are some vermicompost points to ponder. Continue reading “Vermicompost Q&A”
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