The benefits of wool are numerous on the farm and the environment. Learn why the practical fiber has uses worldwide.
There has been a recent rise in attention to fast fashion and microplastics in the clothing industry. It is estimated that 35% of the microplastics in the ocean are linked to the clothing industry. Each year, 11.5 million tons of clothing end up in landfills, with about 60% being made from plastics. Making new clothes with this type of rapid turnover adds to damage to the environment, and often involves low-paying, unsafe working conditions. As we become more aware of the environmental and social impact of what we wear, evidence rises for the benefits of returning to wearing wool.
Environmental Benefits of Wool
Of the available fibers in the textile industry, wool has the least direct environmental impact of any option. Pure wool clothing is 100% biodegradable, resulting in less microplastics in our water and oceans. The wool that does end up being thrown away decomposes in months, as opposed to polyester which can take up to 200 years. In addition, wool clothing lasts longer, resulting in less waste in landfills. While a “fast fashion” polyester shirt is expected to have a lifespan of 35-50 washes, wool can last for decades. With proper care, you may never need to replace a wool top in your lifetime.
Wool is also a naturally renewable and sustainable substance. It doesn’t require additional land or water like linen or cotton. Wool is a byproduct of raising sheep. Wearing it decreases waste since most of these animals are raised for meat but still need shearing every year. Currently, it is estimated that 200,000 tons of raw wool are unused annually – wool that could be transformed into clothing, insulation, rugs, upholstery and other common needs.
Financial Benefits of Wool
While cattle are more common in the United States, worldwide, sheep are a more sustainable resource. Sheep farmers, on average, make more money than cattle farmers. Despite this, sheep are considered less financially viable, and their full potential is rarely exploited. The current popularity of synthetic clothing makes wool an unrealistic resource for many farmers to process or sell. In Europe, this means that sheep ranchers require subsidies from the government to keep their livelihood sustainable.
A mainstream demand for wool would help farmers become self-sustaining. “Waste wool” from meat sheep can not only help farmers directly but also provide new employment in creating value-added products. Increased usage would likely lower prices, making it even more affordable for both farmers and consumers. Even if only used as mulch, this discarded wool can generate financial opportunity, rather than being burned or buried.
Practicality of Using Wool
While wool fabric may have a larger up-front cost than synthetics, its extended life span makes it a comparatively more practical buy. While it may seem expensive to pay $80 for a wool t-shirt, paying twenty to forty dollars for a polyester t-shirt isn’t uncommon. Since the wool t-shirt is likely to last more than four times longer, in the long run, the savings are obvious.
Shoppers might also hesitate at buying wool if they live in warmer climates. There is a tendency to associate wool with cold temperatures and cozy sweaters. However, wool is incredibly versatile, insulating sheep and humans alike against cold and heat. Wool will wick sweat during athletic activities and is the only substance that can keep you warm, even when wet.
Adobe Stock/CJO Photography
Wool & Animal Care
One of the reasons given for not wearing wool is concern about conditions where sheep are raised and possible injuries during shearing. However, fiber producers are likely to be more careful with their sheep, not wanting to risk the health and profit from their animals. Shearing conditions in many countries are improving due to public demand, and this improvement can only continue if wool is seen as marketable, rather than a waste product.
This article on the benefits of wool was written for Hobby Farms magazine. Click here to subscribe.
Trap crops lure pests away from other plants and can have a positive effect on our garden even as their roots decompose. Here’s how companion planting and no-dig cleanup can make your garden healthier and easier to maintain.
How Trap Crops Work
Plants are so much smarter than we give them credit for. They’re communicating amongst themselves via electrical, cellular and chemical means all the time.
Thanks to the release of a wide array of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) certain plants can lure pest insects in (called trap cropping) while others release chemicals that happen to mask our favorite crops. Most companion planting practices attempt to confuse the pest before it either eats the host plant or lays eggs on it. Masking a host plant’s own VOC’s from a pest buzzing around looking for food is a pretty powerful organic gardening tool.
There are long-lasting chemical reactions going on below ground as well.
Soil is ‘ground zero’ for the overall health of your garden. Soil is a living breathing thing, full of microorganisms like fungi, invertebrates, worms, bacteria, algae, nematodes and protozoa… up to 1 billion per teaspoon of soil. When we deeply till our gardens we destroy the existing relationships in the soil. These relationships do best when left undisturbed, which is why ‘no dig’ gardening works so well.
We can nurture these relationships and use naturally existing chemical reactions to our garden’s benefit.
Marigolds
Let’s take a well-known companion planting flower, the marigold. They naturally exude a chemical called alpha-terthienyl. This VOC has been shown to mask host plants above ground while repelling root-knot nematodes below ground. Specifically African and French marigolds have been studied and proven effective (Hethelyi et al. 1986; Soule 1993).
First, we should remember there are many kinds of nematodes, some are free-living and feed on many different things in the soil. But, plant-parasitic nematodes cause serious damage, namely the root-knot nematode. They attach themselves to the roots and become part of the plants making them impossible to remove without removing the crop they’ve infested.
By leaving the marigold roots in the soil, the alpha-terthienyl chemical continues to be released as the roots decompose. So, practicing no dig garden clean-up is a win-win. By cutting the plants off at soil level and leaving the roots remaining, you’ll prolong the repelling of the nematodes.
Oat garden bed cover. Photo by Michelle Bruhn
Oats
Oats make a smart choice when cover cropping. As oat plants decompose, they release chemicals that inhibit the germination of seeds by exuding the chemical, Avena fatua. This chemical is one of many that inhibit seed germination in other plants, called allelopathy. You may have heard of alleopathy with Black Walnut trees, as they release juglone, another chemical that inhibits the growth of many other plants. There are many types of allelochemicals, all with their own ways to defend plants against microbial attacks, herbivore predation, and/or competition with other plants. But again, for the oats to keep others out, it’s best if they’re left in the ground.
Building Soil with Companion Planting
Keeping our garden soil covered helps feed the microorganisms, avoids compaction, and decreases evaporation, all ways to build healthy soil. One great way to keep your soil covered is by planting cover crops. My favorite general-purpose cover crop seed mix consists of oats, peas and radishes. This blend gives an all-around nitrogen boost to the soil and creates biomass both above and below the soil surface. And now that we know the oats pack a one-two punch, it makes choosing to cover crop that much smarter.
Scissor beak in chickens is a life-threatening condition occurring in chicks and pullets. Learn more to prevent, treat and help your chicks survive and thrive through this congenital deformity.
What is Scissor Beak in Chickens?
Scissor beak (often referred to as cross beak) is a congenital deformity in which the upper and bottom beaks grow in two directions, giving the appearance of an open pair of scissors.
This deformity makes it difficult for the chicken to pick up food, and in severe cases, if left untreated, it can lead to death. While not all chickens with scissor beaks survive, experts are finding ways to improve their longevity and quality of life.
Causes and Preventions
Several factors can cause scissor beak, including poor nutrition, genetics, inappropriate heating and humidity levels during incubation, and malposition in the egg.
Cause: Poor Nutrition
Poor nutrition can cause scissor beaks to develop. Feeding chicks quality, age-appropriate feed is the best way to prevent poor nutrition.
Prevention: Supplementing chicks’ diet with probiotics and vitamins (added to their water) will help ensure they have everything they need to develop a healthy beak.
Cause: Genetics
Breeding individuals with a scissor beak.
Prevention: Never breed a chicken with a scissor beak, even if the beak is only slightly deformed. Scissor beak is hereditary, so breeding stock with this condition should be culled.
Cause: Inappropriate Heat and Humidity
Inappropriate heat and humidity levels may increase the risk of chicks developing scissor beak.
Prevention: When hatching eggs, ensure the incubator temperature stays steady at 100.5°F and humidity levels are between 50 and 55 percent.
Cause: Malposition in Egg
Sometimes, a chick’s head will not be positioned correctly in the egg, causing a malformed skull.
Prevention: None
What Age Does Scissor Beak in Chickens Occur?
Scissor beaks appear in chicks between one and two weeks of age, but in some cases, the condition may not be seen until four weeks old. If caused by poor genetics, this condition may be visible at hatching.
Symptoms
Curving or bending of the beak. The severity of the condition depends on how severely the beak is curved.
Treatment
If one or more of your chicks have a scissor beak, treatment should begin immediately. Taking your chick to the vet is the best way to start the treatment process, as your veterinarian can evaluate the severity of the condition and prescribe the appropriate treatment.
Vet-Prescribed Chick Care
Euthanasia: Sadly, some chicks with a scissor beak are severely deformed, making it impossible to consume food and water. Without these essential nutrients, chicks quickly become weak and die. By humanely euthanizing severely deformed chicks, you can prevent any unnecessary suffering.
Beak Trimming: One of the best ways to help a chicken with a scissor beak is to trim it. This will not correct the condition. Rather, it will help to keep the bird’s beak trimmed to a manageable length since their beaks do not receive normal wear. Regularly trimming of the beak helps increase the chance of a chick’s ability to eat and drink. Your veterinarian can trim the beak and set up a beak-trimming routine to keep your chick’s beak in working order. Trimming a scissor beak is extremely difficult and should only be trimmed by a qualified vet.
Beak Therapy: Beak therapy is a common veterinarian-prescribed scissor beak treatment. It involves gently aligning the top beak with the bottom and holding it in place for ten minutes two to three times a day. While this treatment plan will not likely cure the deformity, it usually helps prevent it from becoming more deformed and making the condition less severe. Continue beak therapy daily until your vet instructs otherwise.
Weight Check: Chicks with a scissor beak need routine weight checks throughout their lives to ensure they get enough food to maintain a healthy weight.
Vet-Prescribed Lifelong Care
A chicken with a scissor beak needs lifelong care. Routine beak trims, regular weight checks and tube feeding to ensure the chicken has enough nutrients.
Tube feeding should be done by a qualified veterinarian or a member of the vet office staff, as it can become deadly if the tube is not placed correctly down the chicken’s throat. If you desire to tube feed your chicken, ask your vet to show you how to do it correctly.
Feeding Tube Alternatives
Another option is to moisten the feed to form a mash. The mash is often easier for a chicken with a scissor beak to pick up than dry crumble or pellets. Mix the mash right before feeding chickens, as it becomes rancid quickly. Be sure to allow plenty of feeding time, as scissored-beaked chickens eat slower than other flock members. Treats must also be cut into small, easy-to-pick-up pieces for them to enjoy.
Whatever feeding option you choose, chickens with scissor beaks need their weight monitored by a qualified veterinarian.
Keep Them Clean
A chicken with a scissor beak needs routine bathing to keep its feathers free of parasites and help feathers stay clean and shiny. To do this, use a couple of drops of mild, unscented baby shampoo in a pan of warm water and gently splash the water over the hen’s body, carefully avoiding getting water on her head or in her eyes or nostrils. Gently towel dry the chicken before using a blow dryer on her. Keep the blow dryer on a cool setting to avoid burning the chicken’s skin.
Move bathtime into the basement or garage during the colder months to avoid chilling the hen.
A scissor beak in chickens requires daily cleaning with a Q-tip moistened with water. Gently clean out any dirt or feed with the Q-tip.
Separate Housing
Some flock members may bully a chicken with a scissor beak, while others behave more kindly. Not all chickens with a scissor beak are bullied, so keep a close eye on your flock to ensure no one is bullied. Remove the chicken from the flock and give her a separate living space if you notice any bullying.
Breeds to Avoid
While all breeds can have a scissor beak, Ameraucanas, Easter Eggers, and Orpingtons are more prone to this deformity.
Caring for scissor beak in chickens may not be for the faint of heart, but the rewards of watching your handicapped hen enjoying a happy chicken life make the efforts worthwhile.
This article about scissor beak in chickens was written for Chickens magazine. Click here to subscribe.
Aggressive chicken behavior might sound funny, but a mean chicken is no joke. To reduce the tyranny these birds can impose upon us well-meaning humans and the overall flock, we need to take some defensive steps.
On a personal note, when we were young, my little sister rescued a bantam chick from certain demise. She named the bird Miss Peep and loved her immensely. But before long, it became apparent that Miss Peep was actually Mr. Peep, and beyond that, he was one mean rooster. He would watch for one of us to leave the house and come barreling out of the fencerow, head lowered, spurred legs at the ready. We had no idea why he was such a pill when all we’d ever done was take care of him. This was our first experience with aggressive chicken behavior.
Defense # 1: Understand Meanness
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To begin with, “mean” is a bit of a misnomer. In the chicken’s tiny brain, there is no room for meanness as we understand it. Aggressive chickens, however, might adopt behaviors that humans perceive as mean: pecking the hand that feeds; beating at its opponent or keeper with its wings (called “flogging”); spurring people, animals or other chickens; and basically terrorizing anything that moves. So defense Number One is to recognize that it’s nothing personal.
While aggression is irritating, concerning, and at times, scary, it can be comforting to realize that chickens put no planning or malice into their actions. When we understand that, we’re less likely to personify aggressive chickens, assigning them ulterior emotion-based motives they are incapable of and viewing them as enemies.
Aggressiveness in chickens can be hormonal, genetic, instinctive or behaviorally reinforced. Some breeds are naturally more aggressive, just as some are better foragers, layers or mothers. (See “Read Your Breed” below.) Within a breed itself, there will be variations. Bantams tend to be gentle, but Mr. Peep was obviously not a good representative of his tiny breed. Roosters can also perceive people as threats to the flock and react protectively.
Defense # 2: Be Top Bird
Think like an alpha chicken. Chickens use pecking and aggressiveness to establish their social hierarchy. In her University of Kentucky Extension article, “Normal Behaviors of Chickens in Small and Backyard Poultry Flocks,” project extension manager Jacquie Jacob writes: “By 16 days of age, fighting to determine the pecking order begins.”
Like a Chihuahua fronting up to a pit bull, aggressive chickens have no inkling that attacking people to show them who’s the boss is not going to put them on top—unless, of course, you back down. Backing down from a chicken is not a good thing to do any more than letting a dog, horse or other animal establish dominance over you. You, or some other less suspecting person or child, could get hurt.
Jacob says that while male and female chickens can attack, roosters tend to be more violent, and by use of spurs, as well as the beak, they can draw blood on unprotected skin. They can be bullies. Hens can also adopt unpleasant behaviors. Sometimes, in a roosterless flock, a hen might adopt a rooster’s protective role, becoming aggressive to people though docile with the other hens.
In my last bunch of backyard hens, I had an escape artist, a homebody and a hen named Kristy, which you had to look at continuously or she would attack with beak, wings and claws every single time. A fox ate her for dinner one night, and we didn’t mourn her. In retrospect, I wondered whether Kristy had appointed herself the token rooster in the group and was just doing her job, protecting her flock.
Defense # 3: Be On Guard
Know the signs: If a chicken lowers its head and sidles toward you, watch out! Being attacked by a chicken might sound hilarious to some—unless it happens to you. Jacob says that raised neck feathers and wings pointed toward the ground and away from the body are classic attack signals in aggressive chickens. If not turned away, a chicken will flog its opponent and stand very tall before kicking out to engage leg spurs, pecking, jumping at and spurring as they go.
There doesn’t seem to be one foolproof way to deal with aggressive chickens. Some advocate bringing food as a distraction. This has never worked for me, nor has kindness and sweet-talking: Experiences with Mr. Peep and Kristy are evidence of this. Others suggest defending yourself with your boot or a stick, which did cause Mr. Peep to leave me alone, but it didn’t faze Kristy in the least. In fact, some research indicates such methods can make the bird more aggressive because they view it as a challenge or threat.
Defense # 4: Go On The Offensive
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Regardless of the method, establishing yourself at the top of the pecking order seems to be the best way to deal with aggressive chickens. Perhaps the most humane way to do this is to show dominance similarly to how you’d train a dog.
For chicken domination, at first sign of attack, reach down, grab the bird by the feet, turn it upside down—ignore the squawking—and tuck it under your arm like a football. If it’s clear that you’ll have this type of showdown, you can wear gloves and clothing you don’t mind bringing in contact with chicken feet and feathers. Then go about your business, holding it until it acknowledges your dominance by ceasing to struggle and holler, which typically takes less than a minute.
Once it does, release it, but watch out. At first, it might come right back at you. Every time it attacks, give it more of the same. Ultimately, the aggressive bird might learn to leave you alone, though some just never give up.
Defense # 5: Remove The Threat
Finally, Jacob cites a doctoral thesis about the social structures of birds, written by Norwegian scientist Thorleif Schjelderup-Ebbe, a zoology student at the University of Oslo in 1921, who coined the phrase “pecking order.”
Schjelderup-Ebbe indicated that pecking order relies on recognition, and chickens can recognize as many as 30 individuals. This means that even if your attack chicken learns to give you a wide berth, don’t count on other people receiving the same level of respect. If you’ve got a very aggressive bird, consider removing it from the flock. Options include gifting a friend who’s up to the challenge of dealing with aggressive chicken behavior or sending it to the stewpot.
Living in fear of attack from aggressive chicken behavior is not a good option. If you have an aggressive chicken, don’t send your kids out to gather eggs or feed until they’re old enough to be the dominant force. Show them how to do it, or get rid of the threat. Children have been blinded in chicken attacks.
If you must deal with an aggressive chicken, don’t expect it to appreciate your position as a caretaker human or be moved by your kind acts. Be on your guard at all times, establish humane dominance if possible, and if not, send that bird on its way.
Aggressive Chicken Behavior: Read Your Breed
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Sometimes, we inherit our flocks and take the good with the bad. But if you have the leisure to choose, peruse breed descriptions to minimize the possibility that you end up with an attack chicken in your flock. In “Choosing the Best Poultry Breed for Your Small Farm,” The University of Maryland Extension advises deciding on your goal for raising chickens as a first step in finding a breed that is best for you, and nonaggressiveness is a factor to consider. Here are 12 common breeds and their basic temperaments:
Ameraucana: calm and nonaggressive
Australorp: docile and adaptable
Barred Plymouth Rock: calm and docile, easily handled
Buff Orpington: very docile and make good pets; can be bullied by other breeds
Cochin: very friendly and tame; tend to make good pets
Delaware: calm and inquisitive, but can be cranky, which can be an awful lot like being aggressive
Jersey Giant: calm, gentle, and easily handled
Leghorn: friendly, but often nervous, noisy; can be aggressive
Rhode Island Red: fairly docile but can be aggressive, especially the roosters
Silkie: usually docile and easily handled
Welsummer: intelligent, active, friendly, but not very docile/tame
Wyandotte: docile, good mothers
This article about aggressive chicken behavior originally appeared in the May/June 2017 issue of Chickens magazine. Click here to subscribe.
In this episode of Hobby Farms Presents: Growing Good, listen to Jenny’s story of her love of farming rooted in childhood. You might identify with her vivid childhood memories of digging potatoes, setting off with the family dogs through the woods and fields, and living a life outdoors. She talks about being in the Peace Corps in Gabon as her first experience with environmental education and the start to her work in sharing the outdoors with others. During her time in Gabon, she learned about gardening in the tropics and started teaching the concepts of ecology through school gardens.
Hear about how, when Jenny left Kentucky after college, she had no interest in living in her home state again but has since come back to Kentucky and built a farm. Being flexible is the lesson here. Jenny talks about the time she spent as a market farmer when her son was young and how she’s transitioned their 8 acres to more of a homesteading space for the time being.
Jenny tells us about her work as a farmer educator with the Organic Association of Kentucky, a nonprofit promoting and supporting organic farmers in the state. An annual conference, regular farmer field days, assistance for farmers transitioning to organic certification, and consumer education are all part of OAK programming. Additionally, the organization hosts the Kentucky Farm Share Coalition, which arranges employer-sponsored CSA programs with local farmers.
Finally, Jenny offers advice for getting started on your own land, sharing what she wished she knew when she and her husband were setting up their farm 10 years ago. And we hear about why this work is important to Jenny.
How to get rid of poison ivy is top of mind in summer and throughout the year, especially if you’re allergic to it. Even in winter, bare vines can still cause a skin reaction so it’s important to get this plant under control. But it’s also important to consider natural options for the safety of your farm’s wild inhabitants.
How to Get Rid of Poison Ivy: A Personal Story
My father recently asked me whether I plan to use the land where he and my mother live for business at some point. My husband and I already keep some bees with them, and because their land is so different than ours—we have wide-open farmland while theirs is thoroughly wooded—we’ve considered using their space for some plants we want to use in our farm products. I knew my dad asked the question from more than passing curiosity. Mom and Dad haven’t lived on their land very long, and as dad is working to create green spaces and manage the trees. He has become increasingly frustrated with one particular plant that is fighting back: poison ivy.
Poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) has taken over most of the wooded space. He has been sorely tempted to use glyphosate to kill off the plant but knew that if I wanted to use the land, it would be a big problem for me because we grow without such chemicals. He challenged me to find a replacement or he would have to resort to the chemical solution. Of course, he reasons, that he could use it and then make the land available three years from now when organic standards would deem it safe to use again, but I would disagree. Glyphosate damages soil bacteria, and we can’t stop there and not discuss the debated health ramifications.
Why further damage the soil with a chemical when it’s imbalanced enough to allow poison ivy to take over in the first place? Those who choose the chemical route are chasing a symptom rather than solving the problem. In addition, many report that using glyphosate on this particular weed slows it down but doesn’t kill it off completely.
Here are some alternate ways to get rid of poison ivy and get it under control without damaging the soil in the process.
1. Use Boiling Water
Some folks suggest that pouring boiling water on the plants and the nearby roots will kill off growth. You must be willing to kill everything in the area, though, as this is a non-specific solution. For my purpose, this isn’t practical, as the area in question is rather large. Boiling water may be a good solution for a few isolated plants, though.
2. Manually Pull the Poison Ivy
Pulling out the vines and root of the plant (suitably covered up while doing so, of course) is one of the time-tested ways of discouraging poison ivy. You have to keep at it, though and don’t burn the weeds afterward if you value your lungs or your relationship with your neighbors.
3. Mow It
Repeatedly trimming or mowing off the vines at the soil surface will absolutely end your poison ivy problem, but you have to be diligent about keeping it trimmed every time the plant pokes its head above ground.
4. Use Sheet Mulch
Any kind of heavy mulch piled thick above a poison ivy plant will kill it off. This is a nice solution to use in combination with mowing or trimming.
5. Enlist the Help of Goats
Seriously, Dad, get a goat already. They’re cute and would provide hours of aggrav… I mean entertainment. Goats love to eat poison ivy, but you’ll need to be able to fence them or stake them in a specific area for a while. They aren’t single-minded eaters and will mow up quite a few of your other plants, but if you keep them in the same area long enough they will eat down all the poison ivy.
6. Try Soil Remediation
Here is where my real focus is in fixing just about any weed issue. Why is the poison ivy there in the first place? What is “wrong” with the soil?
Fixing the Calcium Deficit
Poison ivy appears to like soils that are deficient in calcium, phosphorus and selenium. A good compost tea that includes comfrey, horsetail and even seaweed and is applied on a routine basis could bring the nutrient level up in the soil and create an environment where poison ivy can’t survive.
Neutralizing Soil pH
To take another route, in most cases, poison ivy likes an acid soil. Test the soil in the area to be sure and then add lime to counteract the acidity.
I have a few plants here on my property where I’m going to be trying out my soil remediation ideas. If my Dad lets me, I’ll give a few other options a try in larger areas. Perhaps I’ll have something interesting to report later.
Do you have any natural options for how to get rid of poison ivy?
This post about how to get rid of poison ivy was written for Hobby Farms magazine. Click here to subscribe.
Hand-raising baby farm animals, especially goat kids or lambs, pygmy and miniature breeds, can have its own challenges. The average goat kid weighs between five and eight pounds, and the average lamb weighs eight to twelve pounds. However, pygmy goats, and tiny sheep breeds, like the Soay, are two to five pounds at birth. This necessitates different equipment for their needs than the standard-sized kid or lamb.
Baby Farm Animals: Feeding Time
Bottle Brainteasers
When caring for these small-breed ruminants, the most immediate concern is feeding. The artificial nipples available for “bottle babies” are often too big for the tiniest of mouths. The “one size fits all” nipples that can be purchased to fit a soda bottle are likely to dispense milk too quickly for these babies and can choke them or result in overfeeding. With some breeds, this can be overcome by using a needle in the tip, rather than cutting it. However, some newborns are unable to suckle strongly enough for this to be helpful. This is especially true if the animal is being hand-raised because of birthing difficulties. Colostrum is also often too thick for this to be helpful, especially if sheep breeds.
Think Outside the Species
Milk bottles designed for puppies can be an option. They hold about two ounces of milk, making them a good size for newborn ruminants. These too can have some issues with newborns having enough suckle strength but can be an inexpensive option.
Another choice can be to simply get human infant bottles. Sterile bottles are just as important for lambs and kids as they are for human young, and newborns need to be fed every 2-3 hours, so having several available is a wise idea. Inexpensive options can be found at most dollar stores, so bottles can be rotated, for little cost. Our local dollar store, for instance, has a pack of three infant bottles for $3.50, while livestock nipples are $7.99 each at the livestock big box store.
Baby Farm Animals: Indoor Living
Kids or lambs may have attentive mothers who just require help with feeding time. However, in other cases, they may need to be brought inside. This can be complicated for a family with pets or children, but a basic Pack-N-Play can keep them separated from curious noses or tiny hands. Also, keeping it next to your bed makes midnight feeding a lot easier!
Photo by Sherri Talbot
A playpen with a liquid-proof bottom can also help you keep an eye on babies during the day.
If you prefer free-range kids in the house, human baby diapers can be useful for ewe lambs and doelings. The sizes will not work the same – with the difference in body shapes, a smaller size will often be needed. If you have a seven-pound lamb, for instance, you will likely need to continue using preemie-size diapers, even though they are only rated to six pounds.
For males, human diapers don’t come forward far enough to catch urine but can be used for feces. Small dog breed belly bands are often available online, however, and can do the trick. Just remember though, goats will be goats – at any age – and excel at making a mess!
Hand-Raising Baby Farm Animals: Final Touches
For those interested in eventually showing your bottle baby, using them for pulling, or even just halter training, the younger they start, the easier it will be. However, small goat or sheep halters are often too wide across the nose for some tiny breeds. Heritage breeds, especially, tend to have much narrower faces. However, alpacas have equally narrow faces. For all their tall size, small and extra small halters will often work better for miniature breed goats and sheep.
This article about hand-raising baby farm animals was written for Hobby Farms magazine. Click here to subscribe.
Homemade lemon puddings with lemon zest and juice dusted with icing sugar. Adobe Stock/Olga Gorchichko
Lemon recipes hit the ticket any time of year with the lemons themselves offering a bright, refreshing flavor. Here are some vintage lemon recipes from the 1970s that do not disappoint.
Lemon Pudding – 1976 Recipe Book
Ingredients
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp. flour, heaping spoonfuls
¼ tsp. baking powder
1 lemon rind
3 eggs, yolks and whites separated
½ tsp. salt
1 cup milk
Juice of 1 lemon
Directions
Place the dry ingredients in a bowl, add the rind of lemon, and mix well.
Beat in egg yolks and gradually add milk. Add lemon juice.
Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry, and fold into other ingredients.
When baking the lemon pudding, place the cake pan in another pan containing water. Bake in a square cake pan for 30 minutes at 350°F. It should be a little brown on top when finished baking.
Once baked, don’t remove from the pan until it is ready to serve. A cake layer will form on the top and sauce will form under the cake layer on the bottom.
Serve hot or cold with whipped cream or powdered sugar.
Lemon pudding recipe submitted by Leona Frickman. Shared from the 1976 copy of Dodge Center St. John Baptist DeLaSalle Catholic Women’s Cookbook. Iowa.
Adobe Stock/Davizro Photography
Lemon Fluff Dessert – 1978 Cookbook
Here is another recipe from one of my 1970s cookbooks. It includes Vanilla Wafers, Jello and Cool Whip – how very 70’s, wouldn’t you agree? It’s almost comical how many recipes include Jello from this time period.
Ingredients
Crust Ingredients:
1 lb. box vanilla wafers, crushed
¼ cup chopped nuts of choice
1/3 cup melted butter
Remaining Ingredients:
6 egg yolks
1 cup white granulated sugar
½ cup lemon juice
2 boxes of lemon Jello
1 cup milk
4 egg whites
1 cup whipping cream or Cool Whip
Crust Directions
Mix together the crushed wafers, chopped nuts and melted butter for the crust and firmly press into a 9×13 pan, reserving 1/3 cup of the mixture for the topping.
Filling Directions
In a double boiler, heat the egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice, Jello, and milk. Cook until it starts to thicken.
Once thickened, allow to cool.
Beat the egg whites and add it to the whipping cream. Add the cooled lemon mixture to the whites and whipping cream mixture. Mix together until smooth.
Once smooth, spread the mixture over the crust and sprinkle the remaining topping over the filling.
Refrigerate and allow the Lemon Fluff Dessert to set at least 4 hours, or overnight. Keeps very well.
This Lemon Fluff Dessert recipe was shared by Mrs. Francis McFadden. Shared from the 75 Years of Good Cooking cookbook, compiled by the Rosary Society Immaculate Conception Parish in Lonsdale, MN.
Salad Dressing With Lemon Juice
I’ve included a really short recipe for a basic salad dressing that features lemon juice, as many do. It has a star written in pencil by it from the previous owner, so that made it stand out to me.
Ingredients
1 cup salad oil
6 tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 tbsp. lemon juice
4 tbsp. white granulated sugar
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. grated onion
Directions
Pour all ingredients into a jar, shake well and keep refrigerated.
This recipe was contributed by Mona Bean. This recipe was found in the “Our Daily Bread” cookbook, compiled by the First Baptist Church of Benton, Illinois. Updated third edition, 1980. The first edition was written in 1907!
This article about vintage lemon recipes was written for Hobby Farms magazine. Click here to subscribe.
Level One: This chicken got in an argument with this duck over ownership of the nest. She is showing no bare skin, but has a patch of feathers missing at the base of her tail. Photo by Sherri Talbot
Chicken feathers serve a number of purposes for both birds and humans. For hens, their feathers provide camouflage and protection from the weather. For the roosters, they are a way to win mates. For scientists, farmers and show judges, feathers provide a measure of poultry health. While annual molting is a normal part of a chicken’s lifecycle, other feather loss can be a sign of something wrong in your flock.
Chicken Feathers: Causes for Concern
There are many reasons chickens may lose their feathers that suggest health issues in the bird. Parasites, illnesses, stress and other culprits are all possible issues.
Parasites
Poultry mites can infest chickens and burrow into the skin next to the feathers. This causes the birds to pull out their feathers in an attempt to rid themselves of the irritation. Other mites and lice can cause similar reactions. Signs of these parasites on birds are often a signal that the entire flock is infested and likely the coop and run as well.
It is important to verify that parasites are the issue before treatment. Bacteria or fungal infections can also cause feather loss in a flock and often require medication.
Physical Causes
Feathers are made up primarily of protein and birds may consume a flock mate’s feathers to make up for a protein deficit. Other micronutrient deficiencies can cause cannibalizing behaviors as well. Keep in mind that nutritional needs will vary depending on the breed, time of year, age of the birds and other factors.
Bald chickens can also be a symptom of exposure to toxins or overheating. While it can easily be attributed to a stress problem, feather picking because of extreme temperatures, lack of fresh water or high ammonia levels can be symptom of much more severe issues. In fact, feather picking and levels of loss are often used by animal welfare experts to determine the safety and health of a flock.
Stressors
Some stress-induced feather pulling may exist in even a healthy flock since pecking order clashes can involve physical altercations. However, if the behavior persists or birds are found with severe feather loss, this is often more than normal, competitive behavior. Feather loss can be caused by higher-status hens bullying flock mates. Boredom, cramped quarters, predators and other stressors can result in chickens plucking out each other’s feathers.
If birds appear to be stressed, widening runs and providing enrichment activities can help to reduce issues with overcrowding or lack of stimulation. Roosters can help with the regulation of a flock, though if there are too few hens for an amorous male, over-mating may also cause feather loss in the hens. In this case, it is caused by him repeatedly mounting them and pulling their feathers out.
Measuring Chicken Feather Loss
Feather scoring is a measure of feather loss in a flock. Measuring about 50% of the birds in a flock is suggested to best determine the over-all flock health, and a single bird missing large numbers of feathers is not likely to be seen as a sign of concern. Scoring is done on a scale of 0-2 and should not be done when birds are molting.
Birds with a score of zero are missing no feathers or may be missing a single feather here and there at most. There should be no skin showing. Checking the area around the vent is important.
Level 0: This handsome rooster is missing no feathers, shows no bare patches and everything is lying smoothly. However, as his male chicks begin to grow up sparring matches will likely change this until they are separated out. Photo by Sherri Talbot
Birds with a score of one may have small amounts of skin showing and will have noticeable missing or broken feathers. The bird may look slightly ruffled.
Birds with a score of two have large swaths of skin showing, major feathers may be broken, and the bird will look quite ragged. Flocks with a high number of level 2 scores have also been correlated with high levels of illness in the birds, underweight flocks and poorer production in laying hens.
Level 2: This bird is borderline, but was overbred by a rooster who liked her a LOT! She is missing feathers on her head and body and, while it isn’t visible in this shot, there is a bare patch on her back where she has been mounted repeatedly. Photo by Sherri Talbot
Since chickens are prey animals, they will often hide issues and can be difficult to diagnose. Knowing the possible signs and symptoms associated with feather loss can help identify issues in a flock more quickly.
This story about chicken feathers and scoring was written for Chickens magazine. Click here to subscribe.
Why do you need a multi-bit screwdriver? Wouldn’t a regular set of screwdrivers—or better yet, an electric drill with a full set of bits—handle your farming needs just as well or better?
Actually, a multi-bit screwdriver serves a useful and versatile purpose in the toolkit of any farmer. Here are three reasons why you need one…
1. They Can Drive & Remove Many Different Types of Screws
A regular screwdriver is sized to fit a particular style and size of screw; perhaps a small Phillips-head screw, or a large flat-head screw. To drive or remove screws of different sizes and types, you need to have multiple screwdrivers on hand.
In contrast, a multi-bit screwdriver features a single handle with interchangeable bits, which can usually be stored on or within the screwdriver for convenience. Depending on the number of bits it comes with, you can tackle a wide variety of screw shapes and sizes just by switching bits. Perhaps it’s a 6-in-1 screwdriver, or an 8-in-1, or an 18-in-1. Whatever the number of options, a multi-bit screwdriver offers a lot of versatility in a small package.
2. They’re Lightweight, Portable & Inexpensive
While larger and bulkier than a regular screwdriver, multi-bit screwdrivers are still lightweight and portable. They’re also relatively inexpensive, so it’s not unreasonable to have multiple around. You can toss one into the toolbox of your tractor and forget about it until you need it, keep one in your garage for odd jobs around the house and farmyard, and put one in the barn for similar purposes.
A lot of times you’re going about your day, working on farm projects, and you don’t know what types of screws you’ll need to drive or remove. You might be mowing around a pasture fence when you notice some mild fence damage; to fix it, you need to remove a Phillips-head screw and drive it into a different location. Guess what? That multi-bit screwdriver in your tractor toolbox probably has the right bit for the job and you can repair the damage right then and there.
3. The Bits May Be Compatible With Your Electric Drill
While this isn’t guaranteed to be the case every time, there’s a good chance the bits that come with your multi-bit screwdriver can also be used by a typical electric drill. When paired with an electric drill, a multi-bit screwdriver becomes a convenient carrying case for extra bits and backup if the drill battery runs dry.
It’s worth noting that the inverse probably isn’t true; electric drill bits probably won’t be compatible with your multi-bit screwdriver, since a typical multi-bit screwdriver requires bits of a specific diameter and attachment style while an electric drill can accommodate multiple diameters and styles. But that’s okay since the main point of a multi-bit screwdriver is that it comes with lots of compatible bits.
If these three reasons haven’t convinced you why you need a multi-bit screwdriver… perhaps you should purchase one anyway and give it a try yourself. You might be surprised by how handy they can be.
