We will spend Day 1 on Emily's farm in Interlochen.
Agenda for the day:
- Visit the farm
- Open Q/A, get a feel for the group
- Learn how to milk and feed a goat
- Learn the differences in some breeds of goats and their uses
- Learn how feed chickens and collect eggs
- Learn how to process raw goat's milk
- Learn how to care for farm fresh eggs
Learning some basics of farm raised animals can be incredibly beneficial when thinking about how to maintain a self-sufficient lifestyle. On the farm, we will learn more specifically about raising goats and chickens, breeds, varieties, uses, qualities, purposes, and why they are important to those learning how to survive.
Goats are wonderful animals to have on a farm! There are several different breeds of goats that all have many useful purposes. Some breeds provide beautiful fibers that can be used in making textiles. Some breeds are known for their excellent milk qualities. Other breeds make good meat goats. And then there are some goats that are just too cute and make fun pets. Goats:
Productive life of a dairy or fiber goat: 7 years Breeding age: females - 8 to 10 months Gestation period: 150 days Number of kids per gestation: 1 - 2 Wether (neutered male): If all you want is a pet and do not care about getting milk, you want a wether. Wethers also never develop a smell or get aggressive. They will stay "kid like" their whole lives. They will learn their names and come when called. They will be very loving and affectionate. The nice thing about wethers, is that they are cheaper than does or bucks, so buying two wethers is still less expensive than buying just one doe. Also, wethers eat less grain than does or bucks. Doe (female): If you want milk as well as companionship, you should get a doe. They will learn their names and may come when called. Buck (intact male): If you are a first time goat buyer, You DO NOT want a buck under any circumstances.You do not need a buck unless you already have at least 6 does and you can provide the buck with separate living quarters and a companion (wether or another buck- not a doe). Fiber goats - If you're a home spinner or want to get your own supply of fiber, consider raising fiber goats. Angoras produce the fiber called mohair, which is a silky fiber used in many products. Cashmere, produced by the cashmere goat, is an even more exotic fiber and is in high demand. It comes from the undercoat of these goats. Read here to learn more about Angora, Cashmere, Pygora, and Nigora goats.
Dairy goats - On a worldwide basis, more people drink the milk of goats than any other single animal. A dairy doe should be milked in the same manner as a dairy cow, using good dairy hygiene. Does may be milked by hand or machine. The milk requires the same careful attention to cleanliness and cooling as any other milk.
Goat milk has a more easily digestible fat and protein content than cow milk. The increased digestibility of protein is of importance to infant diets (both human and animal), as well as to invalid and convalescent diets. Furthermore, glycerol ethers are much higher in goat than in cow milk which appears to be important for the nutrition of the nursing newborn. Read here to learn more about Sannen, Alpine, Nubian, Toggenburg, Oberhalsis, LaManchas, Nigerian, and Gurnseys. Meat goats - Many people also use goats for their excellent meat qualities. Some goats are bred specifically for their meat, known as chevre. Raising goats for meet is no different than farms who raise their own cows, pigs, chickens, or other animals for human consumption. Read here to learn more about Kiko, Boer, Tennessee, and Spanish meat goats.
Pet goats - Some goats make adorable pets. Nigerian Dwarf goats, Fainting goats, Pygmy, and Kinder goats all make lovely miniature pets!
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Chickens are easy to raise, have many excellent uses, and can make wonderful egg layers, meat birds, and pets! Egg shells can be many different colors, but all farm fresh eggs have one thing in common: they are amazing and incredibly healthy for you!
There’s a lot to like about raising your own chickens.The eggs are a real temptation—tastier and fresher than any store eggs and better for baking, too.The shells, along with the chicken poop, can be tossed right into the compost pile. Much of the day, the birds entertain themselves, picking at grass, worms, beetles, and all of the good things that go into making those yummy farm eggs.
Raising chickens is wonderful! Remember, though: Nothing good comes easy.
Finding the right breed of chicken to raise is important. When it comes to choosing your chickens, there are more breeds than you can shake an eggbeater at. One of the delights of this step is learning some of the breed names: Silkie, Showgirl, Silver-Laced Wyandotte, Rosecomb, Redcap, and Russian Orloff, to name a few.
Some things that you’ll want to consider include the number and color of eggs produced, the breed’s temperament, its noise level, and its adaptability to confinement. If you can’t let your chickens range free, the confinement factor is important for a happy, healthy flock. Noise level really matters if you do not reside in the country. Read here to learn more about different chicken breeds, characteristics, qualities, and personalities. Why raise chickens? Chickens are sociable, intelligent animals. Studies have shown that they are able to solve problems and, unlike young children, grasp the permanence of objects (they understand that objects taken from view continue to exist). Their natural behavior includes living in stable groups of 30 or so that employ a social hierarchy (the origin of the term pecking order). The chickens in a given flock all know and recognize each other. Their communal activities include scratching and pecking for food, running around, taking dust baths, and resting. They crow and chirp in a range of some 30 meaningful vocalizations. Chickens also have a strong urge to nest, and, like most animal mothers, they nurture their young attentively and affectionately. A hen carefully tends her eggs in the nest, turning them up to five times an hour and clucking to them; remarkably, the unborn chicks chirp back to her and to one another. People who have had opportunities to become acquainted with chickens—for example, while growing up on farms or visiting farm-animal sanctuaries—often remark on how affectionate chickens can be and how they seem to have their own personalities.
Through the 1950s, even chickens raised for eventual slaughter were kept in traditional small coops of no more than 60 or so birds, with free access to the outdoors; they could nest, roost, and share space according to their natural behavior. But modern large-scale farming practices (“factory farming”) give chickens no opportunity to behave according to their nature. Quite the contrary—the reality of the life and death of factory-farmed chickens, both those raised for meat and those used to lay eggs, is shocking. So shocking, frankly, that we won't go into detail here. But suffice to say, the conditions of which your store bought eggs are produced are something you wouldn't easily forget. Eggs contain several important nutrients
Compared to conventional store eggs, pastured, free range eggs have:
This is great. Our demand of good nourishing food is being met. However, many standards are truly not what you may expect. In order for eggs to be labeled “free-range” a chicken needs to have access to the outdoors. This usually means hundreds of chicken confined to an industrial chicken house with a small slab of concrete to walk outdoors if they’d like. Your “free-range egg” chickens are really spending their lives indoors in a ventilated area and will not have the nutrient levels as described above. If you’re buying “vegetarian-fed eggs”, this is a sure sign that they do not have access to pasture as real chickens are not vegetarians. Chickens live and thrive on a variety of worms and bugs outdoors which only a pasture can provide. As you can see, it is critically important to buy local eggs. If you need to find a source for local, pastured free-range eggs, visit your farmer’s market or visit www.localharvest.org, a great website to find family farmers in your surrounding area. Or, if you’re like me, raise your own. |
Homework: Read the article here on the debate on consuming raw milk and the laws regulating the sale of raw milk in the US. Post a response below in your homework assignment entry blog. Bear in mind that all articles are written from a point of view. Try to read the article objectively and think about the message in the article. Do you see arguments for the other side? Do you support the movement? What questions does this article raise for you?
- Wisconsin Aims to Jail Amish Farmer
- Selling Goat Milk Legally
- Wisconsin Aims to Jail Amish Farmer
- Selling Goat Milk Legally