Categories
Animals

Trap, Neuter, Return

When it comes to taking care of feral cats, sometimes it’s best to let them continue living with their colony instead of adopting them into the barn or house. In this case, Candy Lash of Dakin Pioneer Valley Humane Society in Springfield, Mass., recommends the trap-neuter-return (TNR) method of care.

“What we have found is that people often feed feral cats or a colony of feral cats, but do not take the extra step to have them neutered,” she says. “By feeding them, they are given a chance to procreate thus contributing to the overpopulation problem.”

DPVHS loans traps to encourage people who encounter feral cats to trap the cat without killing it. Neutering the feral cats not only ends the breeding cycle, but reduces the amount of fighting between male cats and removes the odor associated with urine marking.

When trapping a feral cat, return the cat to its colony after neutering instead of euthanizing it.

“Removing cats generally creates a vacuum that allows for new cats to come in,” Lash says. “The cats typically live out their lives, and the colony reduces through attrition.”

For more information on TNR, visit the Alley Cat Allies website.

Categories
Crops & Gardening

Enjoying the Sunshine State

Jessica's son next to the tractor
Photo by Jessica Walliser

Sunshine!  Hibiscus!  Palm trees!  Oh my …

I’m feeling super fortunate these days for such an amazing family.  My husband, who stayed home in the cold to manage all the snow and ice melt-off seeping into our house; my son, who is a great traveler and has never been more excited to see green in his whole little life; and my parents, who spend 6 months of the year in sunny Florida and are awesome enough to invite us down every winter just when we need it the most. 

We are here now, enjoying their hospitality and weather that, even on its worst days, kicks the pants off what we’re having at home. 

I had nearly as much fun looking at the beautiful tropical plants at the Naple’s Zoo as I did looking at the animals.  So much lushness nearly sent my son into shock (apparently it’s hard for a four-year-old to understand how two hours in a plane can bring on a whole different season).  I love all the Spanish moss hanging from the trees, all the bromeliads and all the orchids they have there.  Just beautiful.

The bee hives from a distance - no one wanted to go any closer
Photo by Jessica Walliser

We also went to a citrus farm (how could we not?) and got to watch them make the fresh squeezed OJ they sell at the farm store. 

We were not allowed to walk into the citrus groves as there had been some rattlesnakes spotted recently but we did get an up-close and personal look at their bee hives.  There were several stacks of them placed throughout the groves to ensure good pollination.  On this farm they are permanent fixtures, though other farms ‘import’ temporary hives when the trees are in bloom. 

Mom got a bag of Meyer lemons for some cooking later this week, some oranges and grapefruits for fresh eating, and I bought some golden honey from the very bees we had just visited. 

Trips are also planned to the mini-golf course (not sure what kind of flora I’ll find there…), the beach (the mangroves thrill me every time!) and a boat ride to see the manatees.  Oh, and I’d better not forget to thank my lucky stars while I’m here.  Thanks!

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Categories
News

FFA Influences Young Farmers

The final week of every February is National FFA Week
Courtesy Ashley Chenard
Ashley Chenard built self-confidence by showing her lamb at FFA competitions. Now in college and the Air Force, she continues to educate herself in agriculture-related issues.

Each year during the final week in February, the National FFA Organization and its members celebrate National FFA Week to pay tribute to the agricultural programs that have taught youth about the opportunities in agriculture and influenced their future life paths.

With agriculture careers leading the pack in possibilities for young job seekers, FFA has done its part to inspire and educate the nation’s youth about fields from horticulture, natural resources and production to marketing, communications and education. The 50 states plus Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands boast a total of 7,429 FFA chapters, enrolling students ages 12 to 21 in agriculture-related education programs.

But FFA alumni seek more than just agriculture careers—many are dedicated to living a farm-centered lifestyle, as well.

Share your FFA experience!
Log onto the Hobby Farms 
forums to post your story and tell us how your involvement in FFA influenced your farming pursuits.

Ashley Chenard participated in her FFA chapter in northern California during all four years of high school, where she soaked up several of the opportunities the organization offered. Now, as a member of the Air Force and pursuing an animal science degree, she gardens in her front yard and keeps a horse in the stables of the base. She continues to learn as much about agriculture as she can until she can own a small farm of her own.

“Eventually, I would like to buy some acreage and farm like my mother does, growing enough for my family and selling the rest at a local farmers’ market,” Chenard says. “I would love to raise a variety of heirloom plants and heritage breeds of livestock. Cattle and goats are my favorites!”

Also a current college student, Kelley Portner is studying communications in order to pursue a career as an organizer and promotions specialist for agricultural and equestrian events. She dreams of her future farm—one housing equines of all kinds.

“I’ve got a soft spot for donkeys and mules,” says Portner, who served as treasurer of her FFA chapter in Urbana, Md. “I would love to raise American Mammoth Jackstock, especially because they are an endangered livestock breed, and even teach lessons with them.”

While both girls feel as though FFA helped cultivate their journey in farm life, the activities they participated in during their FFA days taught them general life lessons they’ve held on to, as well.

Activities are offered to FFA members on the national, state and local levels. Each year, FFA students from around the country attend the National FFA Convention and other national conferences as well as take part in leadership activities in their home states. FFA holds competitions and offers classes that span the breadth of agriculture topics, including science and biology, mechanics, economy, livestock, and floral and nursery.

For both Chenard and Portner, FFA yielded lessons in responsibility and confidence.

“When you were in competitions, you were staring down a panel of judges, and you had a lot to remember,” Portner says. “But you had to get through it, make your mistakes, and learn from them so you were even better for the next competition.”

Chenard recalls the specific moment in FFA competitions that she learned the responsibilities and rewards that the organization presented.

“It was the first year I’d shown at fair with FFA, and I was very nervous. We were all tired from our early mornings and overheated with weather in the 90s,” she says. “My lamb was giving me a hard time, and I kept comparing myself to all these people who had done this year after year.”

The feeling of anticipation she felt as she was positioned at the end of the judging line-up quickly dissipated as the judge announced her first-place ribbon.

“I had put my heart into it, given it my all and succeeded. I knew it didn’t matter anymore how I thought I was viewed by others—only what I thought of myself and that I gave 110 percent at everything in life.”

FFA continues to support young people in learning lessons in agriculture and life, but seeks the support of FFA alumni and other agriculture educators. You can learn how to take part in National FFA Week and find tips on promoting agriculture in your community from the National FFA Organization.

Categories
Homesteading

Food Documentary Insomnia

chickens
Photo by Cherie Langlois

Cherie’s free-range broiler chickens roam
happily around the farm.

I really need to be more careful what I watch before bedtime.

Of course, I (usually) know better than to view a terrifying movie like Paranormal Activity right before turning in, but who would have thought a mere documentary about food and farming could make me lay awake at night, simmering with anger and disgust?

Make that two documentaries.

This month I coaxed my husband into watching Food, Inc. (2008), an excellent—if profoundly disturbing—documentary  that explores the hidden world of our industrial food industry, and The Future of Food (2004), another fine (and shocking) documentary that examines genetically engineered foods, seed patenting and the corporization of our food supply.

Watching these films, I kept thinking about one of my favorite science fiction movies, The Matrix, and the scene where Morpheus tells Neo he has a choice between taking the red pill, which will show him the ugly truth about the Matrix, and the blue pill, which will allow him to keep living the lie.

chicken
Photo by Cherie Langlois

Sadly, when it comes to our food, I think most of us here in the U.S. live in a kind of Matrix, believing—or pretending—that the conventional chicken meat we eat comes from happy birds on a bucolic farm rather than from suffering creatures packed like sardines inside huge closed barns (if we realize it comes from a real live chicken at all).

Or that the corn, strawberries and other conventionally-grown crops we devour are wholesome foods nurtured on scenic family homesteads rather than produced in vast, corporate-owned and chemical-inundated monocultures.

As a hobby farmer and farm writer who has read quite a bit about industrial farming, I feel like I’m half in and half out of the Matrix.  Still, witnessing the horribly inhumane conditions within an industrial broiler barn in Food, Inc., and seeing the pain and weariness written on the face of a farmer sued by corporate agri-giant Monsanto for patent infringement in The Future of Food made me feel much like Nero did after he took the red pill and saw the Matrix for what it was.

Sick to my stomach.

By the way, I knew this Matrix metaphor was too apt not to have been used before, and sure enough, I just found and watched a short animated spoof, called The Meatrix (2003), made to educate people about factory farming and motivate change.

So what about you?  Will you take the blue pill or the red pill?

Me, I can’t wait to get my heirloom seeds in the ground, hit my local farmer’s market when it opens, and raise my next flock of contented, free-range chickens.

~ Cherie

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Categories
Equipment

Farmer George Washington

With Presidents’ Day just past, I am reminded of a recent visit to Mt. Vernon, the home of George Washington. It was a real eye opener for me. I knew about Washington the soldier and Washington the statesman. I didn’t know about Washington the farmer.

Washington took a personal interest in every aspect of his farm, from which animals to breed to what crops to plant and when to harvest. Early on, Washington realized the importance of crop rotation and spreading manure on his soils. Like many of us, he valued compost and designed a covered composting pit to protect its nutrients from excess rain.

For me, one of his most interesting efforts was a planting plow. He mounted a small barrel on the handles of the walk behind plow. Holes in the barrel would allow seed to sprinkle out as the plow moved through the field. A harrow hooked to the plow would break up clumps and cover the seed. Washington’s goal was for one man to plow and plant a field by himself, a savings in precious labor.

George Washington’s planting plow is long gone. Only descriptions of it remain. What isn’t gone is his heritage. It is carried on by every farmer, no matter what size his or her operation. When you modify a tool or an implement, plant a tree or a garden, or consider which young animal to keep for breeding and which to feed out or sell, you are walking in his footsteps. Washington wanted only to be remembered as a farmer…what a noble ambition for us all.

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Categories
Animals Poultry

How To Handle Broody Chickens

broody chicken
Ward Broughton/Flickr

A hen gone broody is easy to identify: She sits on a nest of eggs (or sometimes doesn’t even sit on anything) and refuses to budge—grumbling, fluffing and perhaps pecking if you try to reach under her. A broody biddy can be a pain in a laying flock because her egg production stops; however, she’s a boon to the farmer who wants to rear chicks naturally, as she can stand (or sit) in for both an artificial incubator and a brooder. If you decide to let a broody do her thing, take note of the following:

  • Brooding instinct has been bred out of many chicken breeds, so some are much broodier than others (including Silkies or heavy and dual-purpose breeds, such as the Cochin and the Orpington). Individual chickens vary in broodiness, too.
  • A broody hen requires a predator-proof brooding pen outfitted with a nest box, food and water that is separated from the rest of the flock so she won’t be disturbed.
  • Move the broody onto her new nest at night and tuck several dummy eggs into the nest. Golf balls or plastic eggs work well as dummies. Check that the hen is still eager to set before introducing the eggs you want her to hatch. She’ll even hatch turkey, pheasant and duck eggs, too.
  • Make sure she can easily cover the entire clutch—too many eggs will reduce hatching success—and give her all of the eggs at once so the chicks hatch around the same time.
  • When the chicks emerge in about 21 days, mother hen will keep her brood cozy warm beneath her, and she’ll show them where to find food and water. Don’t let the family out of their safe, sheltered enclosure for at least two weeks.

 

Categories
Animals

Poultry Glossary

Brown rooster with large, red comb and wattles
Photo by Rachael Brugger

Brooder: a heated enclosure for keeping baby chicks warm during their first several weeks, until they can grow insulating feathers

Broody hen: a hen whose maternal hormones trigger her instinct to stop laying and hatch a clutch of eggs and care for the chicks that hatch out

Capon: neutered/castrated male chicken

Clutch: a group of eggs laid or incubated together

Cockerel: a male chicken under one year of age

Comb: the red-colored flesh on top of a chicken’s head

Coop: a cage or house for chickens

Crop: an expandable portion of the esophagus where food is stored before digestion

Fledge: to grow feathers

Hackles: the long, narrow feathers on the neck; sometimes collectively called a “cape”

Hen: a female chicken of egg-laying age, at least one year old

Incubator: a heat-regulated device for hatching fertile eggs

Litter: the absorbent bedding material, such as wood shavings, on the floor of a chicken house

Molt (also moult): the annual period of time when chickens shed their feathers (can be triggered by hormones or stress

Primaries: the 10 large, stiff flight feathers on each wing

Pullet: an immature female chicken, less than one year old

Roost: a perch for resting and sleeping

Rooster: an adult, intact male chicken

Setting: sitting on eggs to hatch chicks

Sexing: determining gender of newly hatched chicks

Vent: the external opening, through which the chicken eliminates waste and lays eggs

Wattle: the red-colored flesh hanging from a chicken’s chin

Categories
Animals

Urban Roost Restrictions

Before building your chicken coop, make sure you are complying with city ordinances.
Photo by Rachael Brugger
Before building your chicken coop, make sure you are complying with city ordinances.

Depending on where you live, your city or township could restrict the size or location of your coop—or not let you keep chickens at all.

For instance, Ben Ortiz, city planner for Longmont, Colo., says elected officials in his city are considering whether to let residents keep chickens. Ortiz says many residents have cited financial sustainability as a major reason for raising roosts. “There may be some pent-up demand for this kind of thing,” he says.

New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle and Portland, Ore., all permit urban chickens, Ortiz says. A review of their laws shows such cities generally limit residents to five or fewer hens, with no roosters.

Municipalities like these commonly dictate how many chickens you may keep, as well as the logistics and planning for your chickens’ home. For instance, they may tell you the distance your coop should be from the property’s lot lines, from existing structures and from the road. They may also restrict the size of your structure and tell you the type of foundation it needs.

So before you begin construction, contact your local building department. Let the official know that you’re planning a structure to house animals, as different rules may apply for animal housing than for other types of structures. Obtain the proper permits, and display them as required while you’re building. If you try to take shortcuts—or fail to obey your city’s ordinances—you may be stuck with a costly fine.

 

Categories
Animals

Using Agricultural Journals for Chicken Info

English Game rooster crows
Photo by Rachael Brugger

Thanks in large part to the wealth of out-of-print resources now available online, it is easier to read 19th-century agricultural journals today than at any time since the first American Farmer was published in 1819. Originally a response to the 19th-century mania for “improvement,” the agricultural press soon achieved widespread popularity as a source of news, practical information and entertainment. For today’s small farmer and backyard poultry-keeper, much of the advice in these old periodicals is still relevant, particularly given our renewed interest in traditional concepts such as local production and long-term sustainability.

Many journals came and went over the course of the 19th century; relatively few achieved the longevity of American Agriculturist, which is still published today. However, many of the older editions of the regionally specific publications can still be found on websites such as Google Books or on the Library of Congress’ website, Chronicling America. Periodicals include the (Albany) Cultivator, The New England Farmer, The Florida Agriculturist and The Prairie Farmer, to name a few.

Typically digitized as indexed, annual volumes, these periodicals are readily accessible within each site by searching for the title or for generic terms such as “farmer,” “cultivator” or “agriculture.” Once you have successfully pulled up a list of journals by title, click on “more editions” to see how many volumes are available in “full view” format.

Within each journal’s index, you’ll discover that topics are organized in a variety of ways. For instance, information on raising chickens can be found under “egg,” “hen,” “fowls” or “poultry.” Although individual index entries might be highlighted to indicate that one click will take you directly to that page, more often than not, you’ll land on a different, unrelated page and won’t be able to return easily to the index.

It is easier to jot down the page numbers of articles you are interested in and access them one at a time using the convenient page-search box, located at the top of the screen. Of course, you can also read each journal page-by-page in its entirety, but be prepared for distraction; you’ll discover a multitude of intriguing articles on everything from preserving food and saving seeds to selecting the ideal carriage horse!

 

Categories
Animals

Mooving Music

Sue is looking for songs about cows, much to Martok's displeasure
Photo by Sue Weaver

My mom is writing a book about cows and she’s driving us crazy singing cattle songs! (If you’d ever heard mom sing, you’d know why.) She can find lots of cowboy songs but not so many about just plain cows. So, she asked me to ask you to help. Do you know any folksongs or other simple songs about cows?

Mom’s favorite, it pains me to say, is “The Cow Kicked Nelly in the Belly in the Barn.” Sing it to the tune of “The Turkey in the Straw”; the words go like this:

“Oh, the cow kicked Nelly in the belly in the barn,
Oh, the cow kicked Nelly in the belly in the barn,
Oh, the cow kicked Nelly in the belly in the barn,
And the doctor said it would do no harm.
Second verse, same as the first
A little bit louder and a little bit worse…”

And it’s a lot worse when Mom sings it—believe me! Especially when she sings nine or ten verses.

She also found a cow song she didn’t know, a Pennsylvania fiddle tune called “The Old Bell Cow.” Click on the link and hear it played! While you’re there, click on Bill Grogan’s Goat (that was a smart goat!) and The Big Sheep.

Mom says the tune called “The Big Sheep” is also called “The Darby Ram” and it traces back hundreds of years in Great Britain. Who’d have guessed?

Do you know more songs like these? About cows? If you do, please post them in the Comments box. Maybe Mom will like yours better and stop warbling about Nelly’s belly in the barn (oh, please please please!).

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