Poultry

Backyard poultry is getting very popular especially in urban areas. People love to know where thier eggs and meat come from instead of going to the grocery store and buying cartons of eggs and meat from a package. Back yard poultry farmers are able to control thier chickens diet, living conditions and how the animal is being treated. They also lean towards the natural aspect of pest deterrents. Diatomaceous Earth:
*Is a natural pest deterrent safe for you you, your chickens, and house hold pets.
* Keeps your flock healthy by killing ticks, fleas, and digestive worms.
*Naturally keeps cockroaches and other pest from your chicken feed containers
*It can provide your chickens with trace elements when added to feed in small amounts.

The breed of chicken that a farmer selects for his/her flock depends upon the purpose for which the chickens are intended. The three types of chicken categories to choose from are: egg laying stock, meat type birds, and dual purpose birds. No single breed will provide the best characteristics for all three purposes.
The Egg Laying Breeds: They generally have smaller bodies that make them undesirable for meat producing birds. Thier small bodies are benefits because few nutrients are wasted for producing big carcasses. Instead nutrients go towards egg producing.

The Meat Type Breeds: They are genetically developed to produce a variety of meat characteristics or traits. These breeds will grow faster and larger, have higher breast yields, more effecient food conversion, and are more disease resisstant than other breeds.

Dual Purpose Breeds: They are bred to lay an adequate amount of eggs and to have a decent size body for food consumption. These chickens will not lay as well as the egg laying breeds. They also will not have as big of carcasses as the meat type breeds. They are just a good mix if the farmer wants both egg and meat chickens.

The farmer should choose a breed that best fits his/her desire. Some farmers choose to raise both egg and meat producing breeds to accomidate both needs while others believe it is easier to have a dual purpose breed. Back yard chickens are fun and easy to raise. They do not require a lot of land to own and manage properly. When managed properly, fresh eggs and meat are abundant to a normal size family. People also feel great about knowing where their food is coming from rather than buying it out of a grocery store.

Equine Basic Care

On my family farm like many others we have a few horses. Our horses are used for recreational trail riding and for getting the cows from one pasture to the next. Propper horse care is essential to keep them healthy and ready to go when you need them.

First off, horses are grazing animals and they need a large pasture with adequate forages. Fencing should be wooden and very sturdy. Barbed wire fencing is not reccomended.

 

 

Horses need a barn so they can get out of the elements such as hot summer days, thunderstorms, and very windy days. They also need a large supply of fresh clean water. They will drink 5-10 gallons daily depending on weather conditions.

A regular vaccination and de worming scheldule is very important if you want to have healthy horses. Horses should be de wormed every 2-3 months and should rotate the brands of wormer each time. They are constantly eating off the ground and are easily succepable to parasies. A vaccination scheldule should consist of Eastern Western West Nile Virus vaccination, Rhinovirus vaccination, Tetanus, and Rabies vacciantions. Consult your veternarian for your horses vaccination scheldule.

 

 

Basic Bovine Care

Cows are large grazing animals that can weigh anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 pounds. Cattle are ruminant animals meaning that they have one stomach with four chambers and need to consume 2-4 pounds of grass type hay per 1,000lbs of body weight daily. Fresh clean water should always be availabe as cattle can consume 10-20 gallons of water daily depending on weather conditions. Cows should be kept in sturdy fencing with secure gates. Cattle should also be on an yearly vaccination scheldule unless your veternarian says other wise. Cattle should also be de wormed at least three times per year. Keeping your cattle herd healthy will make your farm more efficient and you will save money in the long run.

Hello and welcome to my farm animal care AGvocate blog. Each week I will discuss the importance of propper animal care for different animals on a farm. I hope you will follow and read each week  why animal care is important.