Looking into getting a new fleece to spin or felt? Maybe you’ve just seen a fleece that catches your eye and you’re wondering what you could craft with it? You’ve come to the right place! The uses of a fleece depend upon micron count, staple length, crimp, felting ability, ease of handling, ease of dyeing…
Raising your own turkeys is a fun and easy way to get a lot of flavorful meat for your family. I love how much more meat you get per bird when you raise a turkey! Now the big question-what breed to choose? Broad Breasted White Turkeys (the standard commercial turkey) reach butchering weight in 16 weeks. Heritage breeds will take 24 weeks or more and…
Will ducks take over as the classic backyard bird? Ducks have a lot to offer the small scale producer wanting to raise meat and eggs and, in some instances, will perform better than a chicken! Ducks can be raised for eggs, meat or both. Choose the breed based on your primary purpose for raising the…
Goats are becoming more popular in America for people looking to raise fun, smaller sized livestock that will comfortably fit in a backyard. It’s no wonder goat numbers are on the rise! What are the common breeds that aspiring goat owners can choose from? There are 14 common goat breeds in America: Alpine, LaMancha, Nubian, Oberhasli, Saanen, Sable, Toggenburg, Nigerian…
Interested in raising eggs yourself for your family and maybe having a few extra dozen a week for friends? Or maybe you just want to know where your food comes from? Consider raising some poultry for eggs! The most adaptable and easiest birds to raise as backyard egg producers are chickens and ducks. Chickens and…
A dairy cow is a part of the workforce for the farm. The farmer or farm manager makes sure she is well taken care of and she provides milk. Let’s take a look at her normal day. The life of a dairy cow is centered around eating and chewing her cud, which will give her the nutrition be healthy and produce milk efficiently. Family Cow Milk…
If you have livestock, you’ll need to have some hay. You could buy it or, if you’ve got extra forage, make it yourself. How is hay made and what are the key points to making hay that your animals will love? Hay is made by cutting high quality grass or other forages, letting it dry in the sun, then baling…
Wondering what the cheapest meat animal is to raise? I’ve got you covered. We will go over costs per animal and per pound of meat. Let’s get started! The cheapest meat animal to raise is the broiler at $0.97 per pound. Grass feed beef is second at $1.64 per pound. Additionally, eggs can be raised for $0.33 per pound. Farm Animals That Can Be Raised Together will show you combinations that work and ones that don’t! Meat Animal Cost To Raise $ Per Pound…
We love having cattle around our farm and nothing does a better job of turning your grass and other forages into meat than a bovine. As a beginner, what breed of cattle should you choose for your farm? Let’s check it out! The more docile beef breeds are Blonde d’Aquitaine, Beefmaster, British White, Devon, Galloway,…
Heritage pork and heritage pig breeds are hot topics! Everyone is talking about heritage pork, but everyone seems to have their own definitions. The information is confusing, at best! Now to the big question, what exactly is heritage breed pork? Heritage breed pork is pork from a traditional breed of pigs. Actually, that definition looks pretty straight forward to me. A heritage breed is a…