Finding the best dog for the country life
By Anita Evangelista
Issue #63 • May/June, 2000
When you're looking for a dog to fit into your country life, there are few other topics as liable to get you into a fistfight. People get very...
Forget the dog, chicken is man’s best friend
By Richard Blunt
Issue #49 • January/February, 1998
The domestic chicken, or Gallus domesticus as the Romans called it, has lived with humans for centuries. It is probably the descendent of a wild asian bird, and...
A contrary guide to feeding animals
By Beth Greenwood
Issue #135 • May/June, 2012
The Purinas, Cargills, and Con-Agras of the world would have you believe that they and they alone have the correct recipe for feeding your animals. I find that...
Build a chicken feeder on the cheep cheep cheep
By Linda Slate
Issue #119 • September/October, 2009
While searching for a large quantity (five pounds or more) feeder for my backyard flock, I kept running into the same problemcost. My last trip to the farm...
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...
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...
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...
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....
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...
Switch your family to goat’s milk
By Tanya Kelley
Issue #128 • March/April, 2011
If you milk goats, there's no doubt you've heard it"Eww! Goat's milk! Gross!" To be perfectly honest, goat milk does taste different than cow milk. So? Different doesn't...
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...
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...
Fermenting Chicken Feed
By Melissa Souza
Issue #174 • November/December, 2018
On our homestead, we eat yogurt, kombucha (fermented tea), sauerkraut, and kimchi to add probiotics to our diet. These beneficial bacteria promote good digestive health, strengthen the immune...
Are aliens stealing our honeybees?
By John Silveira
Issue #106 • July/August, 2007
What would happen if all the honeybees disappeared? According to some pundits we'd see a collapse in much of our food base followed by shortages, turmoil, and, depending...
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...
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,...
