If you are into crafting with wool, you need to attend a fiber festival! You’ll find beautiful exhibits and tons of knowledgeable people all in one place to inspire your creativity. A fiber festival is a gathering of natural fiber enthusiasts including people selling yarn, fleeces. and spinning and/or weaving equipment and hand crafters doing…
You’ve been looking through the hatchery catalogs again, right? And you’ve noticed that every hatchery promises great genetics, beautiful birds and a high level of customer satisfaction. So…how do you know which chicken hatchery to use? Choose a chicken hatchery based upon the specific breed of poultry you want, the time of the year those…
Expenses per head Every year First year Purchasing sheep: ram $600-1200 Purchasing sheep: ewe $300-500 Feeding hay for the winter $50 $50 Health care: deworming 3 times per year $2.82 $2.82 Health care: shearing $5.00 $5.00 One time purchases including gates, feeders, fencing, waterers, etc. ??? ??? Income per head Every year First year Selling…
Lamb and sheep are confusing terms when applied to sheep for eating. What is the difference between the two? People eat both lamb meat and sheep meat. The meat from a lamb is from an animal 4-12 months old, is called lamb and is more tender. Meat from a sheep over 12 months old has…
It can be a little confusing to understand the differences between sheep and lambs, since most people use the terms interchangeably! We’ll go over the key differences between sheep and lambs, so you can easily tell which is which. The main difference between sheep and lambs is age. Lambs are sheep up to one year…
Wondering about the best time to shear your sheep? Actually, sheep can be shorn any time of year, so we want to time shearing to do what is best for the sheep. The best time to shear sheep is in the spring before lambing for most sheep, however, breeds with extra long wool growth per…
Interested in learning how to hand milk a cow? I’ve got you covered! With some basic instruction and a bit of practice you’ll be good to go! Hand milking a cow requires that you have a bucket and a place to sit or kneel beside the cow. Have place to tie the cow, clean the…
At first glance, a cattle market report is a confusing jumble of numbers! No need to worry! Once you understand the way it’s written, it makes sense and provides you with quite a bit of information. A market report categorizes cattle by weight, condition and/or purpose and lists the prices that the cattle in each…
Considering getting a few head of cattle for your acreage? Great idea! Cattle are livestock that can work for you and feed you at the same time. Plus if you get breeding stock you will have extra animals to sell to neighbors or just the local auction to help you new hobby pay for itself….
Ever wonder what you cattle need that salt block for anyway? Sometimes they are all over it, other times they seem to ignore the thing. What’s going on here? Cattle need salt to balance changing potassium and magnesium levels in the forages they are eating and to help prevent bloat. In the spring, the grass…