Blog Archives: Animal HusbandryWe have created this blog categorization system as a way to organize and preserve the daily blogs written about our farming life. We hope you find this categorization system helpful.The following blog entries are all related in some way to the topic of animal husbandry. They may cover any one or more of the following topics: livestock nutrition animal welfare pasture rotations holistic and alternative health care options livestock breeding management Or they may simply be essays about some other aspect of animal husbandry. We hope you find something useful here, or at least some pleasant reading. If there is some way we can improve our archiving system, please Contact Us and we'll take your recommendations into consideration. Enjoy! A Visit With Animal Control April 16, 2011 Preview for this blog entry: "...When I got home, I found an official notice on the farm gate. Someone had called Animal Control the day before (during my time at the hospital), and had complained about our farm. My first thought was that the noise had annoyed someone, and I could sure understand how that would be the case. But instead of complaining about barking and mooing and neighing, the complaint had been that our animals were subject to cruelty, neglect and deplorable living conditions. I stood there at the gate, dumbfounded, staring at the formal notice. Cruelty and neglect? Deplorable living conditions? Us?" Click here to read the rest of this blog entry. Land Clearing February 22, 2011 Preview for this blog entry: "...The year we got goats was the year everything changed. Goats are not grazers like horses, cows and sheep. They are browsers, which means they prefer shrubby and leafy growth rather than grass. They will definitely eat grass, but if given a choice they will snarf down brush like it’s going out of style. And they absolutely adore blackberries. Our first two goats could clear a 50’x50’ area in a few days. It took me longer to build the fence to contain them than it did for them to eat the entire contents of the yard I’d just fenced. We figured we’d found our answer to clearing our land..." Click here to read the rest of this blog entry. It's What's for Doggie and Kitty Dinners February 12, 2011 Preview for this blog entry: "We have five dogs, four of which are actively engaged in providing protection against predators. Our fifth dog is retired and currently guards the couch, but her years of service to our farm and household has paid for that retirement a hundred times over. Given that these animals are a crucial part of our operation, we need to be as careful with their daily management needs as we are with any other livestock on the farm. But let's face it - several hundreds collective pounds worth of canine will go through its share of the grocery bill in a hurry..." Click here to read the rest of this blog entry. Kick the Feed Bag Habit February 3, 2011 Preview for this blog entry: "...With the announcement of deregulated GE alfalfa spreading around the various livestock communities, many folks are wondering for the first time how they can go about raising their own feed. After all, the vast majority of small scale livestock owners have been working out of a feed bag for the past 50 years if not more. Yet that is not the norm for the bulk of small family farming history. It used to be very commonplace for folks to either raise their own feed on their own place, or partner with neighbors to raise feed in exchange for meat, dairy, eggs and other livestock products. If there is a silver lining to this whole GE nonsense, it would be that small scale producers are once again looking at how to provide their own feed..." Click here to read the rest of this blog entry. |
Weblog Archives
We are still building out this new blog archiving system, so please be patient with us as we do so. We think you'll be pleased with the results.
In the meantime, feel free to look through our current and past blog entries while they're still on monthly pages. Check back soon and we'll hopefully have them all sorted quickly. Thank you for your patience.
Archives in Chronological Order
Current Entries:
Current Month's Entries
Previous Month's Entries:
October 2011 Weblog Entries
Sept 2011 Weblog Entries
Aug 2011 Weblog Entries
July 2011 Weblog Entries
June 2011 Weblog Entries
May 2011 Weblog Entries
April 2011 Weblog Entries
March 2011 Weblog Entries
February 2011 Weblog Entries
January 2011 Weblog Entries
Archives By Category
This section is still under construction. We hope to have it finished soon. Please feel free to explore the following categories, and check back often for additional categories. Thank you for your patience!
CATEGORIES:
Animal Husbandry
Cows
Ethics, Policies and Politics
Farm Lifestyle
Farm Planning
Farm Marketing
Horticulture
Hogs
Livestock Guardian Dogs
On-Farm Resource Management
Veterinary Services
Weather Issues