Homesteaders

[Beekissed]

I accidentally left my seed potatoes outside over night. It froze. Are they still OK to plant? Or did I just kill them?

The only way to find out is to plant them and see. Unless they were frozen solid, I don't see why they wouldn't be okay to plant.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

I accidentally left my seed potatoes outside over night. It froze. Are they still OK to plant? Or did I just kill them?

The only way to find out is to plant them and see.  Unless they were frozen solid, I don't see why they wouldn't be okay to plant. 

It got to low twenties, but they were in a paper bag. I will give them a shot, maybe use them for those potatoes in bucket ideas you guys were talking about this winter.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

It all sounds very lovely....can't wait to see the pics of all your livestock out on pasture!     Have you made decisions about what and how many you are going to keep?  And about what kind of hay you'll be planting....going to stick with native grasses? 

I'll have to live vicariously through you, as it's not likely I'll ever get to live on a farm again this side of Heaven. 

I know I want a bull and a heifer to be able to be sustainable on beef and milk. As for small livestock no idea yet. Any suggestions? They must taste good and reproduce well.

 

[Loc20chick]

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@Chicken girl 15 Have you considered rabbits? They do taste good and reproduce very quickly..

 

[Loc20chick]

Wanted to get those brandy wine tomato seeds but high mowing organic is out if seeds or this year. Will see if the local farmers have any seedlings in one of the stores in town later in the season.

 

[Beekissed]

I know I want a bull and a heifer to be able to be sustainable on beef and milk. As for small livestock no idea yet. Any suggestions? They must taste good and reproduce well.

Quote:

I agree....pound for pound, rabbits will out produce chickens any ol' day for meat and they do it on relatively little feed compared to, especially if one incorporates a pasture feeding system for the rabbits and stays away from pelleted feeds. They take up less space, produce more young, are quiet and their manure is a cool manure...can be applied directly to pasture, orchard or garden.

You might find keeping a bull very challenging on small acreage....bulls have to be penned separately most of the time and they are costly to keep, dangerous to be around~especially for children, and not so good for cost efficiency. Much easier to either borrow breeding with a neighbor's bull or do AI....with AI you can get some really good stock online, just watch for the sales. MUCH much cheaper and you can learn how to do AI pretty easily....usually your local vet will help you with storage of the semen until you can use it.

If you choose to do hair sheep(my favorite is Katahdin), one way of getting your ewes bred is to buy a young ram lamb from a good breeder, keep him long enough to breed your girls and then sell him ~still as a lamb~ at the local stock auctions or even sell him to an individual....that way you won't have to have separate penning for your rams. Many, many people do that.

I recommend hair sheep for first time stock owners simply because they are easy to transport, can be bred easily and lamb easily and you can double or triple your herd in a very short matter of time. They also stay fat on grass and hay and eat less than cows, grow out quicker, are naturally hardy...their meat also brings more per pound than beef at auction. And they taste incredible!

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

Rabbit is delicious. I am afraid it is too cute for me to raise and eat though :/
I agree I wouldn't have a bull on a homestead. If you do not keep them seperate you cannot control when your calf will be born and it is good for a cow to have a little recovery time after birth. AI makes much more sense, is probably less expensive than keeping a bull. You can also more quickly get the genetics you want for grassfed.

 

[Beekissed]

I used to raise meat rabbits once upon a time and I had trouble killing them also....one of the few animals I've had trouble killing. But, more recently I was gifted a rabbit and had no trouble at all killing it. I think my method of killing back then was the culprit and I was just following some poor advice, but I killed this recent one much like I kill my chickens and it was quick, efficient and I had no qualms whatsoever like I used to have.

Excellent meat and cans up quite well.

 

[Andrei]

I'm just now starting build my setup for a rabbitry, what method did you use to kill your rabbit? From videos I like the ringer option because it seems fool proof.

 

[Beekissed]

I'm just now starting build my setup for a rabbitry, what method did you use to kill your rabbit? From videos I like the ringer option because it seems fool proof.

I really like that rabbit wringer too....would be really neat to have one if I were doing rabbits again. I just hung it by its feet and slit the throat, easy and done. Over with very quickly and no mistakes to be made.

Back in the day, I was thunking them over the head to stun them first and that didn't always work well....that's the method my sister had been using and had advised me to use also. I hated it, especially when it had to be thunked several times to get it knocked out. Much like when we used to use a chopping block and axe to kill chickens and that first blow didn't always strike true or when the bird moved at the last moment...too many mistakes and emotional trauma ensued because of them. When a person is killing by themselves, it's not always easy to get an animal to hold still for a stunning blow or axe cut.

I found the hanging and slitting to work much like when I use my bleach jug killing cone on the chickens...hands free, sure and steady, no mistakes to be made.