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...
Home Dairying
By Marcella Shaffer
Issue #64 • July/August, 2000
There is a big difference between home dairying to produce food for your family and dairying to sell milk or milk byproducts to others. Since milk and dairy...
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,...
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...
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...
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....
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Raising rabbits for profit
By Carrie Peterson
Issue #106 • July/August, 2007
Whether or not you are fond of rabbit stew, raising rabbits for meat can be a great experience and can even help swell your pocketbook a little. The...
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...
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...
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...
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....































