We've thought of building an up north place on the back 40. My brother's farm has a lake back there on his. Mine has a view. We would each get nearly all the benefits of an up north place without fighting any traffic or dealing with upkeep from a distance. Or needing to find someone to do the...
Be aware that you may have taught the dog to avoid that hen in that location. Maybe, if you have taught a lot of similar things in many locations, he can generalize but most likely, you have not taught the dog to leave any/all your chickens alone wherever and whenever they are.
For what it is...
Wool hens are good alternatives to heat lamps.
A wool hen is basically an insulated box on its side (so there is a roof and an open side) with strips of fabric hanging down from the ceiling. I used strips from an old wool shawl. It took a bit of experimenting to get a width/thickness of strips...
Fresh lean beef is 70 to 80 percent moisture.
Sometimes chicken feed has beef or pork. When it does, it is dried to about 15% moisture - then it is about 60 percent protein.
Soybean oil meal at about the same moisture level as the dried beef, as it is in chicken feed, is about 45 to 50 percent...
Urban/suburban foxes are so used to dogs that dog scent alone won't deter them and they can often tell how much threat a given dog is to them. A good guard dog would deter them, many sorts of pet dogs wouldn't. Rural foxes are likely to be more cautious about dogs.
What would you do with a fox...
Mine free ranged unsupervised quite often. I saw hawks in the distance all the time.
Then one attacked. I happened to be out near the chickens at the time. I was shocked at how fast (and loud) it was. The chickens were in the woods at the time. The hawk missed. I think only because it went for...
Punky wood burns like peat or buffalo pies burn... it burns if it is dry to start with or if it is put in a fire that is kept hot enough to evaporate the moisture fast enough that the fire doesn't go out. It burns cleanly if the fire is kept hot enough to fully combust the fuel. Then all that is...
If you still want to burn it if you could do it cleanly - a rocket stove would probably do it without petroleum to help. I built one with a dozen or so cement blocks lined with fire bricks to make maple syrup. The fire bricks are expensive and not necessary for short term use. In the long term...
nope, not for long anyway.
I worked pretty darn hard to discourage mine from going past the house. Or, at the very least, not into the road. I had great success for a while. Then moderate success. Then it was nearly a constant job. This despite a big garden, a huge compost pile, a different...
The University of Toronto’s Rochman Lab found that using a Lint LUV-R filter in a washing machine reduces the amount of microplastic fibers released in the washing machine by about 87%. It can be added to existing washing machines as well as built into new models.
Polyester is the main source...
What is the mash? Do you mean a commercial mix like local feed mills make which is essentially like crumble except it didn't get pelletized and then broken? Then it can be better than crumble due to local crops ground closer to when you pick it up. Or it may not be better if your crumble source...
My first attempt at dill pickle relish is in progress.
Will I know what it tastes like at the end of the cooking process - before water bath canning? Or will the taste develope more with the water bath and/or over time?
This is a test batch. I'm trying to avoid making a year's worth before...
"Oh, and by the way, Mark, what medications are you taking? I want to see the effects of your crop but maybe not the effects of everything you are taking,"