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Bird flu is hitting backyard flocks in 2026's largest-ever outbreak. The biosecurity routine that keeps your chickens safe this spring, step by step.
Read More →If your homestead is located anywhere near water, particularly the flowing variety, chances are you’ve wet a line or two, and made yourself better acquainted with several varieties of aquatic wildlife. In doing so, you may have stumbled across some strange critters lurking along the bottom, particularly under rocks–critters that look a heckuva lot like…
So you’ve got hens, a rooster, and not enough chickens. Should you order more chicks in the mail? Sure, that’s one solution. But if you’ve got all three of the above, its turns out nature has a free solution for you. Read on for a how-to on hatching your own chicks. Step 1: Feed The…
Much like snakes, spiders and everything else that creeps and crawls around at night, bats have quite a few humans spooked. Whether due to an association with Transylvania, or getting dive-bombed during a late-night swim in the pond, anti-bat prejudice tends to run deep. As it turns out however, while there are certainly some negatives,…
Owning goats is all well and good, but how do you keep the critters fed? Sure they’re browsers, but there’s more to keeping them alive and nourished than simply turning them loose in scrub brush. What happens when the forage runs low? Or if a cold winter dumps feet of snow on top of it?…
No, this isn’t the introductory paragraph to a turn-of-the-century, “snakehandling” cult brochure. Nor will it teach you how to go into the outback and become Crocodile Dundee. If you encounter a snake on your homestead you need to relocate, however, here are a few ideas on how to wrangle the slithery little bugger. ENSURE THE…
While it may be a few months from opening day of deer season, experienced hunters know it’s already high time to begin prep. From sighting in one’s bow or rifle to scouting game trails, work in the offseason equates directly to in-season success. For those who hunt on their very own homestead, this is doubly…
Just as you build a house before you move onto land, before you consider getting goats, you need a solid plan for how to house them. Lucky for you, goats are a lot less picky than your last roommate. In fact, they’re about as low-maintenance a tenant as you can get. Read on for a…
Happy Friday folks! Last week, we left off our goat series with an overview of these hard-headed critters. Far from a unified species, goats range from shaggy mountain breeds to short-haired plains dwellers, each with their own varying characteristics and temperaments. Read on for five popular dairy variants, and some key traits associated with each….
Opossums. Some folks love them and some hate them, but should you really allow them to hang around your homestead? As it turns out, these oft-derided marsupials have some great benefits, alongside a few drawbacks. Read on for some facts about the common North American opossum, otherwise known as the Virginia opossum. Natural Scavengers and…
As we kick off what I can only imagine will be a fairly long-running series on the rearing of our cantankerous caprine friends, as well as their broader usages, I feel compelled to present a disclaimer–I am far from impartial. I grew up caring for a small flock of goats, and they are far and…
Cow’s milk has been a staple on the American continent since the Spanish brought the first cattle to Mexico in 1525, and it’s not too hard to see why. Milk has a plethora of uses–from cereal, to cheese, to pancakes and more, milk can be utilized in just about anything. It is, however, not the…
Few things make one feel more like a farmer, and provide as much return, as a small flock of chickens. From the cock’s crow in the morning, to the contented chatter the hens provide throughout the day, to the obvious benefit of eggs and meat, raising poultry can be a very rewarding experience. However, as…
