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Livestock

in Blog, Chickens, Farming, Livestock, Poultry

The Deep Litter Method

December 20, 2012
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399

I’ve found some good material from the first people to research and promote deep litter, Kennard and Chamberlin at the Ohio Experiment Station. The following is an article of theirs from the Golden Age of deep litter, published in 1949. For the impatient, here’s a deep-litter quickstart: Deep litter is not about compost. It’s about healthier chickens. Do your serious composting on a compost pile. More is better. It’s not deep litter unless it’s at least six inches deep. If the top of the litter gets caked over with manure, skim off the caked part and toss it into a…

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in Blog, Farming, Livestock

Rain, rain don't go away

December 15, 2012
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305

I woke up this morning, put the dogs out and thought a water pipe was broken.  That is until I noticed that everything was wet.  Wow, it’s raining!  We don’t get that very often here.  The high desert gets about 6 inches of rain a year, although there’s a huge range of amounts to reach that average.  Most years it seems that we only get 3 inches.  It would be nice if things were greener, but at the same time it’s wonderful to not have to worry about slogging through the mud all winter long.  We don’t have to be…

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in Blog, Farming, Livestock

Rain, rain don’t go away

December 15, 2012
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423

I woke up this morning, put the dogs out and thought a water pipe was broken.  That is until I noticed that everything was wet.  Wow, it’s raining!  We don’t get that very often here.  The high desert gets about 6 inches of rain a year, although there’s a huge range of amounts to reach that average.  Most years it seems that we only get 3 inches.  It would be nice if things were greener, but at the same time it’s wonderful to not have to worry about slogging through the mud all winter long.  We don’t have to be…

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in Blog, Livestock, Pigs

Fascinating fun facts about pigs

September 9, 2012
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619

* Baby pigs appear very greedy when they are competing for food from their mothers. For this reason the words “pig” and “hog” have become associated with greedy behavior. * Pigs have a well developed sense of smell. They can find things underground and have been used to find truffles, a French delicacy, or to sniff out drugs in service to policemen * Soldier pigs have gone to war. On battlefields, they have used their sensitive snouts as mine sniffers. * A mature pig has 44 teeth. The canine teeth, called tusks, grow continuously and are sharpened by the lowers…

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in Blog, Farming, Livestock

Midget White Poults

July 2, 2010
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561

Midget White eggs are HUGE compared to other turkey eggs and the poults (baby turkeys) hatch much bigger than other turkey poults.  However, Midget White turkeys only grow to be maybe half the size of other turkeys.  Hence, the name Midget (and they’re white so that explains the rest).  Midget White turkeys start life with irony and I have a feeling they will continue to live and develop as a breed that is very unique in its personality.  When the Midget Whites started hatching yesterday morning, I knew within a few hours that their personality was different than the Bourbon…

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in Blog, Livestock

Our new goslings

May 31, 2009
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446

Finally got some cotton patch geese.  This is a rare breed known for being gentle and for being good weeders.  They’re super cute.  I taught them to swim today.  Well, I just put them in a kiddy pool and in seconds they were diving and splashing all over the place.   

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