Chickens — The most valuable animal on the homestead
By Jackie Clay
Issue #109 • January/February, 2008
When I was a child, I used to read and re-read the chick section in our Sears and Roebuck catalog. Imagine! For only two cents you could buy...
Kinder goats — A small breed for milk and meat
By Kathleen Sanderson
Issue #95 • September/October, 2005
I have had dairy goats for most of the last 20 years or so and have raised almost every standard breed. But when my grandmother, my youngest daughter,...
Get to know your spiders
By Jerry Hourigan
Issue #109 • January/February, 2008
Every landowner and homeowner creates the perfect environment for spiders. Not intentionally, of course, but spiders seem to like all the little nooks and crannies created from how...
Protein — The Cornerstone of a Survival Diet
By Jackie Clay
Issue #111 • May/June, 2008
It goes without saying that preparedness is not for "radicals" or "weirdos" anymore. I picked up a preparedness leaflet at the County Agent's office last week and another...
Hog butchering — Using everything but the squeal
By Charles Sanders
Issue #142 • July/August, 2013
A 450-pound hog will provide a lot of delicious meat.
Hogs are raised throughout our neighboring Amish community for many of the same reasons old American homesteads raised them....
How to butcher a chicken in 20 minutes or less
...while leaving the carcass and feathers intact!
By Dr. Roger W. Grim, D.C.
Issue #79 • January/February, 2003
Figure 1. With a trash bag properly fitted around the chicken, clean up will be easy.
When I was 12...
Dorper sheep — Revolutionizing the meat sheep industry
By Darlene Polachic
Issue #75 • May/June, 2002
If Henry Soderberg's predictions are right, Dorper sheep could revolutionize the meat sheep industry. A South African breed developed in the 1930's from Dorset Horned and Blackheaded Persians,...
Good-bye old friend
By Lucy Shober
Issue #27 • May/June, 1994
Big Poney died today. He was 34 years old and had been going down pretty rapidly over this hot, dry summer. His bones seemed to poke out at...
How to buy your first sheep without getting shorn
By Anita Evangelista
Issue #32 • March/April, 1995
Multimillionaire J. Paul Getty was once asked the secret of becoming rich. He's reported to have said, "I buy when everyone is selling, and sell when everyone is...
Goat birthing and raising kids
By Jackie Clay
Issue #112 • July/August, 2008
Dairy goats form one of the cornerstones of our homestead. Not only do they provide milk, cheese, ice cream, cottage cheese, and meat, but they also give us...
Keeping homestead animals healthy
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson
Issue #169 • January/February, 2018
As a veterinary field technician for more than 20 years, I saw firsthand the frustration and heartbreak when animal owners called the veterinarian (or started treatment) too late...
Cheaper than Store-Bought Eggs
By Kristina Seleshanko
Issue #177 • July/August/September, 2019
Something we heard a lot when we first started raising chickens in the suburbs was, “For the cost of raising those birds, you could buy an awful lot...
Raising cattle on your own place
By Charles Sanders
Issue #85 • January/February, 2004
Winter won't last forever. It won't be long before spring will arrive and pastures will start to green up. This may be the year for you to consider...
Bottle-raise a calf
By Jackie Clay
Issue #120 • November/December, 2009
If you think milk and beef are expensive in the grocery store, then you should think about raising a baby calf or two. Because corn and milk replacer...
Khaki Campbell ducks — The other egg layer
By Amanda J. Kemp
Issue #126 • November/December, 2010
Spring brings the pitter-patter of little feet in the mud, games of tag, and raucous quacks. While traditional advice would have you with a yard full of...
Llamas guarding sheep? — Not such a far-fetched idea
By Karen McGeorge Sanders
Issue #19 • January/February, 1993
It seems that farmers always need an extra pair of hands, but finding the money to pay the extra help is often impossible. You need the help...
