Recovering Your Stable After a Flood

   There have been all too many news stories recently about flooding in several areas of the country. I don't have to tell you how bad this is for all those affected. But after the waters recede, it is time for people to work together to get their lives back as normal as they can, and generally as quickly and cost effectively as they can. This is certainly true when it comes to your horses and horse farm. These same steps to clean up apply to any ranch and stable, as well as with any other livestock and barns.
   The Horse provides the following:

   "Your arena is not meant to be a water obstacle. Your barn is not a kiddie pool. And your fences should be high enough to keep your horses contained, not lost under quickly rising water. But Mother Nature doesn’t always play by the rules, especially when it comes to flooding.

   You’ve survived a flood and have surveyed the damage, and now it’s time to clean up. The home is where many people begin. But horse farm owners have another task at hand: getting their facilities back to normal so horses have a safe and comfortable place to, once again, call home.

   After the waters subside, you’ll likely be stunned by the extent of damage—it’s not just water rising and falling around stationary objects. Flooding presents a unique set of problems. Flood water is laden with mud and debris that ranges in size from small, relatively harmless items to large, heavy objects such as vehicles. The water can carry debris for some distance throughout the affected area."

   Read the full article: After The Flood: Cleaning Your Horse Farm

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Should I Raise Ducks or Geese?

   In addition to raising chickens for eggs, both ducks and geese can be great alternatives or to just add to your flock as well. Both of these types of birds have specific differences as well as definite benefits in addition to the eggs, such as their ability to get rid of garden pests, weeds and even sound the alarm when unwanted visitors arrive! Goose eggs can actually be a bit more valuable too. Their differences in personailities are worth considering as well. So which one is right for your flock?
   Mother Earth News takes a look at ducks and geese:

  "I’ve kept poultry for most of my life and waterfowl have always been an important inclusion.  Our farm currently has both ducks and geese, and both species are serving the farm in their own unique ways with their own special attributes.

Eggs

Ducks are year round layers and are much more regular producers than chickens.  Their large eggs are prized for high nutritional content and are the equivalent to about two chicken eggs.  Creamy, rich, and delicious, duck eggs are great for baking.  A female duck will lay consistently throughout the winter months when hens typically slow production, and they average around 180 eggs in a year.

Goose eggs are more unusual than duck eggs, and unlike ducks geese are very much seasonal layers.  They typically lay from May through September, but if you have a goose go broody during this time egg production will sometimes stop early.  Their eggs are huge, equal to three chicken eggs, and like the eggs from ducks they have higher nutritional value than chicken eggs and create a much fluffier mix when baking.  Because goose eggs are so unique, if you have a good supply of them you can often sell a single egg for $2-$5.

Read the entire article: Ducks or Geese as Farm Poultry

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Can You Grow Your Own Fertilizer?

   As most gardeners know, most soils do not naturally have all the nutrients needed for various plants to grow in them. Some nutrients do get depleted easily, and different plants have different needs. Over time, packaged nutrients became available in the way of fertilizers, both synthetic and organic. The key elements on a package of fertilizer are the Nitrogen (for green and growth), Phosphorus (for root development and blooms) and Potash (Potassium - for disease resistance and overall plant health). There are also micronutrients which typically include Calcium, Magnesium, Iron and more, each providing a benefit to the plants that you grow. We all know that you can always buy and add fertilizer - but did you know that you could also Grow It?
   Chiot's Run offers the following"

"There is also a group of plants we can grow that are described as dynamic accumulators. These plants have deep roots that pull up macro and micronutrients from deep within the soil. Oddly enough, many of these have been classified as weeds, so pulling dandelion, dock, and other weeds and adding them to our compost piles is a great way to increase the micronutrient levels in our finished compost. There are a few dynamic accumulators that stand out more than others, comfrey is probably the most widely known and my particular favorite. I use it as a mulch, animal feed, and I plant it under all my fruit trees. Comfrey is a great source of silicon, nitrogen, magnesium, calcium, potassium, and iron. Other high value dynamic accumulators are: dandelion, eastern bracken, kelp, nettles, watercress, and plantain. Next time you see dandelions blooming in your lawn, think about all the copper and iron it is adding to your soil, when you see plantain, think about the calcium it’s adding.”

Read the full article: Grow Your Own Fertilizer

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Which Fence Type Should I Use for Chickens?

   There are many, many types of fencing on the market today, and they generally have a main purpose or use for each type. It might be to protect a garden, or stop deer, or keep your goats contained, but when it comes to chicken keeping, it can be a bit confusing. If you are building a chicken coop, or chicken run, it is critical to use the right type fencing to protect your flock. Chicken wire, poultry netting, hardware cloth, welded wire and more. It gets difficult to decide on what would be the best choice. 
   Fresh Eggs Daily explains the differences in this article:

  "Keeping your flock safe from predators is something important to consider if you are new to chicken keeping, or building or buying a new coop, chicken tractor or run. Keeping your garden veggies safe from marauding bunnies, deer and wild birds is always a struggle. Not all fencing options are created equal - and using the wrong type of fencing can lead to heartbreaking losses.

Chicken Wire

My grandmother, a lifelong chicken keeper, always told me that chicken wire wasn't good for anything except keeping chickens in (or out, as the case may be). And she was right. A dog, fox or raccoon can rip through chicken wire in no time. Another danger is that often baby chicks can squeeze through the holes. Chicken wire is made of galvanized wire and usually comes with 1" or 2"-sized hexagonal holes.

Chicken wire should never be used on coop vents, openings or window. And it shouldn't be used for your run if you leave your chickens in the run all day when no one is home.

About the only thing I might use chicken wire for around the run area is to cover the top to keep aerial predators out during the day. It won't stop a raccoon or weasel that might climb the side of your run or keep it out forever, but it would at least slow one down a bit. So if you're home all day, the run is visible from the house, the chickens only use it during the day and are locked in their coop at night, and you're mainly worried about hawks, then chicken wire is an affordable option to cover the top of your run."

Read the full article: Choosing the Right Fence for Your Chicken Coop, Run or Garden

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How Should You Buy and Store Your Hay?

  Horses and livestock animals depend on having an available source of quality hay. The quality, size and cost of hay bales or rolls can vary tremendously, Once you purchase or harvest your hay, it is important to prevent your hay from getting moldy. It is also crtical to keep your hay from getting too hot, as that can cause a fire hazard. Proper drying of hay is also key to keeping internal temperatures down during storage periods. It becomes critical to know how to buy and store your hay. 

   The Horse provides an in depth look at Hay Storage:

  "In much of the United States hay only grows during temperate months. The best quality is obtained and the best prices achieved by putting up a supply that will last until the next harvest. To keep stored hay as fresh and palatable as possible, focus on preventing mold development, heat buildup and combustion, and nutrient deterioration.

   Proper hay harvesting and drying is important to control "respiration," a naturally occurring process that produces heat and bacterial growth. Michael Collins, PhD, former professor of agronomy at the University of Kentucky, describes some of the science behind hay production: "Hay crops generally contain around 80% moisture at the time of cutting; field curing reduces moisture to levels (at which hay) can be safely stored. Hay cured to less than 16-20% moisture stores well with minimal problems of heating or mold growth. However, if baled with too much moisture (25-35%), microbial activity generates significant amounts of heat. In extreme cases, hay can reach spontaneous combustion temperatures." Hay heated to 150-175°F has the potential to burst into flames, posing great danger to a horse facility.

In the initial weeks following baling, moisture and heat combine to maximize combustion risk. Thus, Kathleen Crandell, PhD, of Kentucky Equine Research, advises horse owners to monitor moisture levels (keeping them below 14%) and heat for two weeks after stacking new hay. They can achieve this by inserting an electronic probe (Delmhorst, for example, to measure moisture) and a temperature probe into bales to ensure temperatures remain below 120°F. If you come across hotter bales, remove them from the stack and spread them out in an area protected from rain to allow drying."

Read the entire article: Horse Feed Storage and Preservation

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Grow Your Family's Needs in a Bucket Garden!

   There are many people that want to live a more sustainable lifestyle, but due to physical or other limitations, their options may be more limited than someone lucky enough to have plenty of land to plant. Along these lines, using economical or recycled products to fulfill some of your needs not only saves you money, but it also helps reduce your environmental footprint. So if you are challenged on space, or it is difficult to phsyically tend to a garden, but you want to be more self reliant, then what can you do? Maybe a Bucket Garden is what you have been waiting for!

   Old World Garden Farms  discusses this in detail:

  "The goal was simple.  Design an attractive, inexpensive and functional container garden that anyone of any age could plant. It needed to be simple to create, maintain and harvest – and conserve on space. It also of course had to produce enough that you could grow some serious food!

Last year, we trialed tomato bucket containers.  We built wooden frames with scrap lumber that went over the top of 5 gallon buckets or nursery containers. We then attached a 4’ high x 16” wide wire frame to the inside of the wooden frame for a built-in, heavy-duty trellis. It was a take off of the Stake-A-Cage that we use in our main garden – and it worked incredible – all at a cost of about $2 for the wire trellis. If needed – we could have even made that from scrap lumber for free.

The higher level bucket allowed for easy watering and maintenance.By screwing in the trellis to the box – it provided a perfect support for the tomato that was easy to reach and tie up the plant as it grew. The bucket provided more than enough room to establish a deep and complete root system – and the cover not only made the planter attractive, but helped to insulate the plant’s base from harsh winds and helped to conserve water. It also made harvesting a breeze."

Read the entire article: Creating the Any Age, Anywhere Garden. A Small Space with Big Yields!

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Should You Raise Ducks? In Surburbia?

      Do you love duck eggs? Many people do. Did you know that some breeds of ducks will actually lay several hundred eggs per year? Whether you want more ducks eggs for your family so they can be "farm fresh", or even if you want to sell extra duck eggs to bring money into your homestead, keeping ducks may be the right thing for you. There are some things to know and learn about raising ducks. For example, experts recommend at least 3 square feet of indoor space per duck and at least 50 square feet of total living space per duck, including both inside and outside. But what happens if you do not live in the country, but instead live in a surburban setting? Should you raise ducks - in surburbia?
   Countryside Network gives us an indepth look at this question:

   "Even though I didn’t know this when we started, I’m sort of amazed at how simpatico the duck is to our cul-de-sac residing, SUV-driving lifestyle. For one thing, ducks are more like feathered dogs than you might imagine. They listen, they learn, they let you direct them where they need to go. Even at barely eight-weeks-old, our teenaged ducks figured out how to leave their temporary home in the garage then waddle across the driveway to the backyard play area. We showed them once and the second day, with very little motivation, they managed it on their own, without scattering or hiding. Try that with five cats!

Getting them out of the pen is easy, you might say, and that’s true — breakfast is a great motivator — especially for me! But even though we sometimes have to pick up a straggler, most nights, bedtime is also straightforward. Often our group even put themselves to bed—it’s hard work foraging among the hydrangeas all day and they can’t always wait for me to finish the dishes.

In practical terms, this tractability means you can share waterfowl supervision with others. Even my husband, a life-long cat person, can handle pen-up duty from time to time. Some folks strike deals with their neighbors, swapping duck eggs for duck-sitting. For those longer-term situations, however, i.e. vacation, I prefer to get professional pet-sitters who come twice a day while we’re gone. “Easier than dogs,” one of our regular caregivers pronounced after his initial stint. And dogs can’t give you breakfast!"

Read the full article" A Beginner's Guide to Keeping Ducks in Surburbia

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Arthritis and the Senior Horse

   Just like it is with people, Arthritis can become a problem in senior horses. I suffer from premature arthritis and have for the past 5 years or so, and I can tell you it is not pleasant. It is very important with senior horses, and other pets for that matter, to recognize the signs of arthritis and learn what to do about it. Better nutrition and medicine is helping senior horses to live longer and fuller lives, and treating arthritis will be important for your senior horse in the aging process.

   Horse Nation offers the following:

   "First, let’s talk about arthritis.

When a horse is younger than two-years-old, tissue growth is greater than tissue breakdown or cell death. It’s called an anabolic state. From two to fifteen, the tissue replacement is roughly equal to tissue breakdown. After fifteen, the general trend is overall tissue breakdown. This is called a catabolic state. It affects all tissue in the musculoskeletal system including joints and is most accelerated by a decrease in the horse’s ability to digest nutrients and thyroid and pituitary gland dysfunction.

The general warning signs are:

• ·         Puffiness around the joint, especially lower legs
• ·         Stiff, choppy gaits, which usually improve after warm-up
• ·         Resistance to perform"

Read the full article: Aging Like A Boss: Arthritis   

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Supply Your Homestead with a Vermiponic Garden!

   Ok, what the heck is a Vermiponic Garden? It is kind of a cross between a hydroponic garden and a traditional garden. It basically involves planting tanks with composted soil, using solar power to drive a pump for water, and use a rain barrel to collect that water. It is great for growing in areas with very poor soil and a lack of water. Depending on where you live, it could become a dependable source for a year round supply of vegetables for your homestead.
   Instructables.com offers the following:

"I'm not able to grow a traditional  garden, as  we have extremely poor soil, water restrictions, low rain fall, and extreme weather events such as week long heat waves of 45C or 113F which will kill any veggie within hours.

  I started this project about a year ago and at the time it was an experiment to try an address the above issues, I had never heard of vermiponics, and there is still not a great deal of info about it. It wasn't until a few weeks ago I found that it had a name and there are some similar systems out there. Stupidly I didn't take a lot of photos and it is now July and the middle of winter so the garden doesn't look that good at the moment. I will up date photos every month for the next year or so.

   At first glance you might think its just a garden in a box, but there is a little more to it than that. The IBC containers have had the liner removed from the cage and cut in half. The bottom half is put back in and the top half is put on top but upside down. Small holes are drilled for drainage and the bottom have become water storage.

   The bottom tanks are joined together with poly pipe and a solar pump, pumps water to the top storage tank. The top storage tank has a siphon inside it and that trips off around every half hour in full sun, which waters the plants. The plants are grown in soil and taste fantastic (no sad watery acid hydroponic tomatoes here)

The soil in this area is very poor and aqua-phobic ( will not absorb water) so  I use a mixture of soil, animal manure, lawn clippings, leaves, food scraps,wood ash and a box of worms to get it started. The worms have gone mad and turned the soil in to rich dark loam and the plants have thrived.

   Below the soil is several layers of shade cloth to keep the soil out of the layer of gravel which is at the bottom of the top tank and to provide drainage and a home for microbes. The water then drains into the bottom tank and the process starts again."

Read the full article: Vermiponic Garden

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What Does It Cost You To Produce 12 Eggs?

   Many people say that the age old question is "Which came first - the chicken or the egg?". When it comes to homesteading and raising chickens, your main question should be 'What does is cost to produce a dozen eggs?" In addition to living a more sustainable lifestyle and taking more control, when you raise chickens for eggs you also need to keep an eye on expenses. In an ideal situation, you would want to produce all the farm fresh eggs that your family and loved ones can use, and do it in a cost effective manner. In addition, you would hopefully be able to sell additional fresh eggs which would help lower your costs to produce eggs of your own. It would be really great if you could sell enough additional eggs, so that you really did cover all your costs and made a profit.
   How do you do that? Let's start by knowing what it costs you to produce 12 eggs!

   From Scratch Magazine offers the following:

  "The entire conversation, however, got me to thinking, how much does it cost to produce a dozen eggs?

   Note: We’re going to do a really basic start up operation for this thought experiment. We’ll use whatever the cheapest feed available at a nearby place involving tractors and the means to supply them, but said retail establishment will go unnamed as I only give free advertising to organizations, companies and groups that I feel deserve it. The methods described in this thought experiment will not be organic and may not be the method you prefer, but h the most common methods I’ve seen that doesn’t require a huge start up cost.

   Well, first you have to get chickens. Most people i know buy chickens as chicks, and raise them to laying age. Let’s start with about three chicks.

   So, we’ll have to start with a brooder for an enclosure.

   If you’re a little bit handy, you can make a brooder all on your own with ease. If not, you’ll have to buy a brooder, a heat lamp, bulb and some wood chips (pine works fine). It’s probably a good idea to buy a waterer and a little feeder, but, to save some cash you can use a pair of shallow dishes.

   Wood chips will be a surprising expense. A bag of wood chips from a big box store costs about $3. That bag will have about 1200 cubic inches. You’ll need at least 2 inches of wood chips in your brooder, and it will have to be changed out at least every 7 days (I prefer four inches of wood chips and changing it out more often, but we’re trying to save money here).

   So that means you’ll use two bags of wood chips every 7 days, as the brooder we’re using is about 3 feet across, which means at 2 inches deep, we’ll need about 2000 cubic inches of wood chips.

Luckily, you’ll only have to keep them in the brooder for about six weeks. That means you’ll have to have about 12 bags of wood chips, for a cost of $36.

   After we have all that, we can buy our chicks. I tell everyone to get their brooder set up before buying chicks. It makes life a lot easier for chicken keepers if their chickens have a home before they arrive from the store."

Read the entire article: How Much Does It Cost To Produce a Dozen Eggs?

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What Shouldn't You Buy at a Thrift Store?

   As part of a sustainable lifestyle on your homestead, it certainly makes sense to recycle and reuse things wherever possible. This helps minimize your environmental footprint, but it also helps reduce your dependency on many other sources to provide for your needs. Many people find that thrift stores are a nice way to both raise some extra money by selling things their family no longer needs, but also to provide a low cost, local alternative for goods that you do need. 
   Unfortunately, there are specific products or items that simply are not worth buying at a thrift store. It may involve the increased likelyhood of wasting your money, or potential health or other problems, or even just putting your family members at risk! Before you purchase that "good deal", see if it is on the list of things that you should not buy at a thrift store.

   SixDollarFamily offers the following:

   "I don’t know about you, but I love thrift stores. Second hand shopping is one of my favorite ways to save and while I don’t want to toot my own horn? I’m quite good at those thrift store shopping marathons you sometimes hear about. (Heh) Finding a great deal at the thrift stores is always awesome and any good bargain hunter knows the value of a good second hand store. Not every deal that you find used is a good one though. In fact, there are quite a few that you wouldn’t want to grab. There’s nothing worse than getting a bad deal. We’ve all been there but knowing which items that should be bought used and which items that you should never buy used can go a long way to protecting you and your money as a buyer.

   Please don’t misunderstand the meaning behind this post. I’m not by any means telling you not to go thrift store shopping. Quite the opposite actually as I think there are also items you should never buy new. Thrift store shopping is one of my favorite things to do both offline and online. I’m constantly cruising my favorite online consignment stores and I hit the local second hand shops at least twice a month. I find amazing deals like the cast iron skillet that I picked up a few weeks ago for $6.00. It only needed to be cleaned and re-seasoned. I’m quite familiar with how to season a cast iron skillet so I grabbed it and brought it home.

   The reason you shouldn’t buy these items used vary. I’ll explain each one but they all fall under the category of unsafe, unwise or too risky. Saving money is great, but not when it comes with a risk like these items all have. If you buy used and end up having to replace it quicker or worse, you’re only spending more money in the long run. This means that for some items, it’s much better to buy new than to grab that “deal” that you saw when you were thrift store shopping at the second hand stores last week."

Read the complete list of items Second Hand Shopping Tip - 25 Things You Should Never Buy Used at Thrift Stores

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How To Reseed a Pasture

   Depending on where you are located, and after this hot and dry summer weather that so many of us have had, you may be thinking about reseeding your pastures. Fall is a good time to reseed, as it is a reverse of spring when it comes to planting. In fall, the ground is warmer and the air gets cooler, which is actually a better germination environment for pasture seed. There are several things to consider before you reseed your patures. Take a few soil samples and determine the pH of your soil. The ideal range would be bewteen 6.5 and 7. It is always easier to amend soil lime (if needed) or fetilizers before planting, so the new seed shave the best chance of germinating and rooting.

   UMassAmherst offer the following about choosing the best pasture mixture:

"The most productive and highest quality pastures are those that contain a mixture of grass species with one or more legume species. When selecting species for pasture, it is important to understand both grass and legume growths habits and match them to the soil characteristics and climate. Fields have differing soil types, thus planting the same mixture in each field is not advised.

The following factors will influence your choice in forage species:

• The type and age of livestock to be grazed
• The time of year desired for pasture availability
• The seasonal distribution of pasture growth
• Soil type, drainage, water holding capacity, fertility, and pH

Legumes- provide much protein and compliment grasses improving the quality of the pasture. Legumes also add nitrogen to the soil nitrogen fixing bacteria making it indirectly available to grasses. Clover can add 90-140 lbs N/ac/yr, while alfalfa is capable of adding considerably more. In order for N fixation to occur, the legume seed must be inoculated with the correct bacteria, or it must be seeded into a previously inoculated field. Legumes may cause bloat in ruminants, so they should not be seeded alone for grazing.

Grasses- provide roughage for the animals, increasing their fiber intake. Adequate fiber is needed by grazing animals, however, if grasses are permitted to grow for long periods especially in spring they may become fibrous resulting in reduced animal intake and growth. Grasses, are either sod forming or bunch types. Sod forming and those that form many tillers compete better with weeds."

Read the entire article: Guidelines for Reseeding Pastures

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How To Collect and Store Seeds from Your Garden

   In an effort to save money on your homestead and to live a more sustainable lifestyle, it just makes sense to learn how to properly collect and store seeds from your garden. In addition, you can certainly grow many flowers from seeds that you can harvest and sell as cut flowers for additional income. Harvesting herb seeds to reuse next year can provide you with many benefits, but why not also plant some extra seeds in small pots and sell herb plants in the spring too? Planted herbs are very popular with many people these days.

   When it comes to vegetables, collecting and storing seeds from your garden may be a bit more difficult than flowers, but well worth doing! Mother Earth News offers the following on collecting and storing vegetable seeds:

"Seed Saving Techniques: When To Collect, How To Collect

For fleshy vegetables such as tomatoes, squash and melons, pick them when they are fully ripe. Scoop out their seeds and spread them to dry in a well-ventilated place. Beans and peas need to be left on the vine until the pods are dry and crackly. Corn should also be left to dry on the stalk until the kernels dent. Other types of seed may be gathered when the fruit or vegetables are fully formed, hard and “meaty.” Remember to collect seeds only from the most vigorous plants in you garden, and not just from the first few ripe specimens you happen to encounter. By selecting seeds from just the healthiest plants, you will – over time – select for and create a special sub-variety of these crops that are especially adapted to your backyard’s climate and soil.

Seed Storage

Also remember to label and store your free bonanza as soon as possible after harvesting. You may think you'll be able to recall the name of each kin of seed, but believe me — it's easy to get confused. Some (broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower seeds) resemble one another quite closely.

Envelopes make good containers for storing small quantities of most kinds of seed since they can be sealed and labeled conveniently. For larger quantities, I use glass jars (they take up more space than envelopes and are breakable, but you can see inside them).

I label my seed containers with the following: Each kind of vegetable, variety of vegetable, where and when I originally bought the seed, and the month and year of the harvest."

Read the entire article: Save Vegetable Seeds In Your Backyard

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How To Build a Wood Pallet Hay Feeder

   If you price out buying hay feeders, you will find that they can cost a bit more money than you might think. If you keep animals, it is always a good thing when you can save some money by building things for their needs out of items that you currently have or could obtain at minimum cost. Of course, recycling old products into something new and usable is an important part of a sustainable lifestyle as well. You probably have seen many ideas to reuse old pallets, so here is one more useful one!

   Ohio Thoughts offers the following about how to build a wood pallet Hay Feeder:

"What I learned researching hay feeders is that there are hundreds of kinds, models and styles, made out of numerous different things.  And that it's OK if you want to purchase one, and OK to build one, whatever works at your farm and for your animals.

I am and have always been a re-user, a recycler, a savager and re-claimer, so this was what works best for me in the end. 

The cost was next to nothing, the pallet was free, I salvaged the old piece of 2 x 4, the only cost was a handful of drywall screws and my time:  Less than 2 hours.

It is winter here so this feeder is perfect for now.  Come spring and warmer weather, I may redo this with straigher lines and  "perfect" cuts,  but maybe not."

Read the full article with step by step photos: Easy Hay Feeder

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Chicken Keeper Personality Test

   There are many different types of chicken keepers out there. They range from Homesteading Chicken Keepers to Crazy Lady Chicken Keepers, and everything in between. there are generally tell-tale signs as to what category of chicken keeper that you fall into. This can vary by the type chickens that you keep in your flock, whether or not you keep roosters, what your rules about chickens around your home are, and even how often you call a vet.
   To sort it all out, and to help you see what type chicken keeper that you are, Fresh Eggs Daily takes a great "tongue in cheek" look at the chicken keeper personality test! We'll start with the Homestead Chicken Keeper personality:

"Homesteading Chicken Keepers largely raise a flock to complete the permaculture or ecological circle. They grow massive gardens, using the chicken manure to fertilize those gardens, and likely haul around the chickens in movable tractors to rotate their flock to various parts of their property to control weeds, bugs and contribute to the nitrogen levels in the soil. Or their flock will be a free-range flock which is guarded by an alpaca, geese, sheep or goats who also have their 'jobs' on the farm. The chickens are put to work in the garden in the off-season and rewarded with as much bug-eaten, imperfect produce as they can eat. They likely sleep in a coop made from upcycled pallets and sheet metal.

The Homesteading Chicken Keeper keeps chickens because they want to know where their food comes from, what foods their food eats - and might have a bit of a prepper mentality, if the truth be told. They likely have researched how to preserve eggs indefinitely and they can and ferment all their extra garden produce. They usually raise chickens both for meat and eggs. Oh, and they make their own apple cider vinegar to dose their chickens' water with.

Typical Breeds in their Flock: no-nonsense dual-purpose breeds like Rhode Island Reds, Australorps, Buff Orpingtons, Brahmas, Delawares and Wyandottes

Any roosters? For sure, they need to hatch new chicks each spring to keep the flock going and their family fed

Chickens in the house rule: Never

Vet on speed dial: Nope, all first aid is administered at home with the chopping block as Plan B

Telltale sign: Fresh Free Range Pasture Eggs sign at the end of the driveway"

Read the entire article: What Kind of Chicken Keeper Are You?

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Holistic Horsecare

   You love your horse. You want the best for her, and just like yourself, you have growing concerns about all the chemical, non-natural, and downright artificial things that we put in our bodies, as well as our animals. Too often, things that are considered safe today turn out to be not-so-safe tomorrow. When you consider all the potential ailments that horses can have, and all the supplements and medicinal items in the marketplace, it makes sense to look for more natural and down to earth options. 
   And when you add the cost of all of these on top of the potential risks, then Holistic Healthcare is certainly worth learning more about!

   HorseNation offers the following on their top ten choices for horse owners interested in learning more about holistic horsecare and medicine:

"Did you know that herbs can be powerful aids to assist during healing for humans and animals alike? If you’ve been eager to learn more about holistic medicine, but not sure where to start, here’s a quick look at the top ten herbs to cut your teeth on.

These herbs offer good historical data and current research and can be easy to incorporate into every day practice:

1. Milk thistle/Silybum marianum

This herb has an excellent place in modern veterinary medicine for its ability to help the liver cells function and regenerate. Many animals are exposed to frequent use of drugs, leaving the liver in less than perfect shape.

2. Ginger root/Zingiber officinale

Ginger is in most kitchens and can be used to nausea from many causes, including motion sickness. It often helps with horses who do not eat while trailering, as this author believes these horses have motion sickness which does occur in all other species. If the horse loads onto the trailer well (not upset by trailering itself), but does not eat while moving (he may sweat or not) ginger will generally help settle the symptoms. Ginger can be given in cases of colic, especially when caused by cold weather or other exposure to cold.

3. Dandelion/Taraxaum officinale

Dandelion is a laxative and a diuretic and can be good for chronic colitis, as an immune stimulant and to increase the effects of insulin. It’s also well-known for its liver and kidney tonification and clearing. Horses crave the plants in the spring and will dig deep into the dirt at times to eat the roots at any time during the year if they really want the plant. Dandelion is well-known as a blood cleanser.

4. Tumeric/Curcuma longa

This herb is gaining in popularity as well as research. It has shown effects in inhibiting carcinogenesis, is a lypoxygenase inhibitor, protects the liver and has antioxidant effects. It is used frequently to support liver and cancer patients and is extremely safe to use."

Read the entire list: Entry Level Herbs: The Top 10 Picks for Intergrated Holistic Horsecare

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What Do You Need for Your Pasture?

   What do you need today for your Pasture? Time to reseed? Need new equipment? How about a fence, gates or fence controller? 

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How To Render Beeswax and Make a Profit

   For Beekeepers, the money is in the honey! But the second most important "bee harvest" that you can get is beeswax. It can be sold at a profit, but it can also be used for purposes in and around your homestead. It helps to have a good method to both clean and render beeswax, to reduce your time involved and increase your efficiency in rendering.

   The Homestead Survival offers the following:

"For every beekeeper, honey is the most profitable thing derived or harvested, but it isn’t the only one. The second most important thing, is beeswax, of which we have three sources namely cappings from honey extraction, old combs and scrapings from a hive.

   Beeswax can be rendered into candle. It is ideal for this purpose because it burns clean. It is arguably one of the most obstinate substances ever known to man. Beeswax candles are preferable because clean air is produced from them which can efficiently reduce allergies and/or asthma as opposed to paraffin candles that unleash harmful toxins in your home.

   An easy to carry out do it yourself beeswax wood treatment can restore and preserve the beauty of wooden furniture, toys and bowls and as well as other items."

Read the entire article: How To Render Beeswax in a Slow Cooker Crockpot

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Introduction to Canning

   Now that it is harvest time for many, what should you do with all your extra treasures from your garden? Why not try your hand at Canning and Preserving? A small investment and a few simple steps and you will be well on your way to serving and enjoying fresh vegetables and fruits from your yard for many months to come!

   FreshPreserving.com offers the following helpful info about canning:

   "Canning is really one step beyond cooking. It is a method that applies heat to food in a closed glass home canning jar to stop the natural spoilage that would otherwise take place, and removes air from the jar to create a seal. There are two home canning methods - Waterbath Canning and Pressure Canning.
   The type of food you want to preserve will determine which method you will use for safe and great tasting results. We will walk you through the 3 simple steps for Waterbath Canning, which is the best place to start for beginners. It’s as easy as boiling water!"

    Read the entire article here Intro to Canning

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Growing Vegetables in a Compost Pile

   We all know the benefits of creating and maintaining compost piles. Even under the best of intentions, it is easy to start a compost pile and then not turn it often enough. Instead of maintaining compost mounds in your garden, to ultimately be spread around to enrich your soil, what if you could actually just plant directly in your compost heaps?
   Chiotsrun.com takes a closer look at Compost Pile Gardening:

   "Early this summer, I seeded a zucchini in the pile. It quickly germinated and grew nicely ( I thought about growing pumpkins, but the pile was small and I didn’t want pumpkin vines taking over the garlic patch). We’ve had quite a drought here in Maine this summer, but I refrained from watering this plant. I wanted to see if the compost retained more or less water than the surrounding soil areas. Much to my surprise, the plant is doing amazingly well, producing loads of zucchini and has shown no signs of stress from the dryness.
  My idea for this process of compost is to reduce the amount of time spent in some areas to give myself time to focus on other things. If I don’t have to turn a compost pile I can use that time to maintain a larger garden space"

   Read the entire article Compost Pile Gardening

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