Animals Archives - Backwoods Home Magazine

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Once a day milking

By Patrice Lewis Issue #99 • May/June, 2006 It sounds bucolic, doesn't it? The simple joys of milking your own cow. Fresh milk, fresh cream, homemade cheese, butter, yogurt. What can get better than that? But when...

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...

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...

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...

Shearing, carding, spinning, weaving and creating with Margaret Boos

By Annie Duffy Issue #52 • July/August, 1998 "If you're going to make something that you want to last, why not start with good quality material," says Margaret Boos who raises and spins her own wool....

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 Rabbits

By Linda Gabris Issue #133 • January/February, 2012 If you take pride and pleasure in growing your own organic garden foods and raising your own chemical-free meats, then consider rabbits. Domestic rabbits are an easy-to-raise, reliable meat...

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...

This St. Bernard backwoods hero saved old Grandma’s life

By Margaret Wright Issue #35 • September/October, 1995 When we think of a backwoods dog we generally think of a Pyrenees, German Shepherd, or other breed of working dog. In our case, our family chose the...