Animals Archives - Backwoods Home Magazine

Raising your own beef for your family

By Charles Sanders Issue #57 • May/June, 1999 For most homesteaders, the raising of livestock plays a crucial role in the home based economy. The types of livestock which you choose to include on your own...

Finding, buying, milking, and living with the family milk cow

By Jayn Steidl Thibodeau Issue #36 • November/December, 1995 Have you ever had this happen to you? You've opened the refrigerator door for a cold, refreshing glass of milk only to find an empty jug. You've...

Slaughtering and Butchering

By Dynah Geissal Issue #23 • September/October, 1993 Fall is butchering time, a period of joy in the harvest of the year's work and of sadness that the lives of your beautiful, healthy animals have come...

Beekeeping basics

Issue #88 • July/August, 2004 Bees have been managed for their honey production for about 5000 years or so. Especially for the smallholder, beekeeping can be an interesting and rewarding pursuit. They...

Is that a good pig?

By Kim Dieter Issue #129 • May/June, 2011 Lean ham, roasts, chops, savory sausage, and thick slices of bacon are the reason pigs are raised at home. A typical meat pig weighs 200 to 270 pounds...

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...

Raising quail — A home grown delicacy

By Allen Easterly Issue #101 • September/October, 2006 Raising quail is inexpensive, easy, provides very healthy low-fat white meat, and supplies the fertilizer you need for your home garden. The moderate start-up costs for raising quail...

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,...

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...

Raising your own beef

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson Issue #175 • January/February/March, 2019 Every time I sit down to enjoy a wonderful beef roast or perfectly grilled steak, I am so thankful we began raising our own beef. The flavor of...

Redworm farming

By Charles Sanders Issue #112 • July/August, 2008 If you are looking for a way to earn extra income, a retirement job, or even a new livelihood, then raising earthworms might just be the thing. This...

The homestead cat

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson We have had at least one cat in our home ever since I was a young child. So it’s no wonder we truly value our feline friends. Not only do they provide...

Broody biddies make sense on the homestead

By James Kash Issue #139 • January/February, 2013 Broodiness is an avian behavior that is frowned upon in the world of agriculture. All industrial agriculturalists cull broody birds because the behavior inhibits production. But to frugal...

Brooder in a box

By Sylvia Gist Issue #80 • March/April, 2003 It's spring and the farm store has a tempting variety of baby chicks begging for you to take them home. Or the breed you've always wanted has been...

Build a poultry killing cone

By Allen Easterly Issue #135 • May/June, 2012 You've worked hard and spent many hours raising your pretty flock of meat chickens from eggs or chicks to nice fat fryers, roasters, or stewing birds. They've provided...