Relating to Farm Animals

If you raise sheep, you will most likely need to be able to lead them somewhere at some point. It is possible to lead a sheep by holding its head, but this can be difficult if you are walking a...

Farm gates are an integral part of any farm fence. A good gate securely keeps the livestock in the proper pasture but allows easy access for the farmer and equipment. An economical farm gate...

Many animal owners cringe at the thought of high-tensile wire because they have heard stories or have direct experience with cows pushing through a grounded fence, horses getting cut on wire, or...

Electric fences are economical and effective, but they do require some maintenance. There are two lights on a fence charger--one represents the outgoing current and lets you know the charger is on...

Before you wash and card shorn sheep, alpaca or llama fleece for spinning yarn, you need to skirt them. Skirting removes a lot of the inferior material from fleeces, including short cuts of fiber...

Cattle stanchions are used by stock men to hold a cow in place for milking or medical treatment. Construction of the stanchion is usually of heavy iron or steel, since cattle are large animals and...

Fence posts should be installed to coincide with the purpose and durability desired of the fence. A temporary fence to discourage people from going through a construction site will not need to be...

Being in the hare family, jack rabbits are larger and have longer legs than rabbits. Because of their ears, many people called them jackass rabbits, which was shortened to jack rabbit. There are...

Determining the sex of baby turkeys can be challenging. A young turkey's developing sex organs are difficult to see, and often, males and females look similar. Although some farmers argue that you...

If you've heard the expression, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink it," then you have some idea of how hard it is to make a hen set a nest (keep her eggs warm until they...

Calf warmers provide a warm and dry space for a newborn calf suffering from hypothermia. Hypothermia begins when the calf's core body temperature drops below the normal level of 100 degrees...

It is relatively simple to make a homemade post driver. It is basically a piece of pipe that slides up and down the post, two handles to hold on to, and a heavy steel plate at the top of the pipe...

Raising chickens has been an important part of human society for centuries. Prized for their meat, eggs and feathers, chickens remain a popular commodity for farmers around the world. Chickens are...

Lanolin, the waxy oil that coats sheep wool, has many practical uses. It acts as a waterproofing agent, and it is naturally anti-fungal and antibacterial. Lanolin is similar to the oils secreted...

Compost worms eat most organic material with relish, converting it to worm manure in a process called vermicomposting. The resulting manure, called castings, contains minerals beneficial to plants...

Rust can prove to be a real problem, and it looks terrible on your horse trailer. Removing it is not a difficult task and does not require much effort on your part. Many products and home remedies...

Chickens can be raised in a small amount of space in the backyard for eggs or for eating. A small flock of 20 to 40 chickens can provide a family of five with eggs and an occasional fresh chicken...

All poultry fences need a gate for access to the inside of the poultry run and to prevent carnivorous animals from entering the run. Gate designs are simple and easy to make with some 2-by-4s,...

You can derive a great deal of information from a livestock report, whether it is the national report or the local report from the livestock auction. Deciphering the information is relatively...

Cattle are a good option if you are looking for a legal tax break. Everything from the feed they eat, to equipment necessary to handle them, to vehicle mileage to tend to them can be successfully...

To bring top market price and the best quality of meat, bull calves must have their testicles removed. Banding is the modern way to complete this procedure.

The purpose of an electric fence paddock is to construct a fence that is reasonably durable and one that your animals learn to respect. The heart of every electric fence is the energizer, which...

Urea nitrogen is a natural byproduct of protein consumption. Agriculturalists, physicians, environmentalists and everyday consumers have a vested interest in urea. They produce it, they use it...

Numerous studies have shown that the easier animals are handled, the better quality of meat they produce. This makes sense when you consider how adrenaline and tightened muscles would adversely...

Water for livestock is not a luxury, it's a necessity. Animals must have a readily available source of fresh water. A leaking stock tank can be expensive to ignore and more expensive to replace....

More and more people are discovering the satisfaction that comes from having a backyard flock of chickens, whether for meat or eggs or both, but they also discover that parasites can sweep through...

Humans and animals can share a variety of diseases but one increasingly common infection is caused by Staphylococcus Aureus (S. Aureus, often called staph), a potentially dangerous condition...

You will work very hard raising your chickens, and you cannot afford to have them escaping your property, getting stolen or eaten by predators. A chicken fence must enclose the entire boundary...

While it's true that some guinea fowl breeders seem to possess a magical ability to tell the difference between males and females practically before the shells crack, most of us aren't so...

Red wiggler worms and a compost bin are a marriage made in heaven. Red wigglers in the wild live in leaf litter and manure, so unlike burrowing worms such as nightcrawlers, they can adapt to...

If you want a guarantee of only pullets (female chicks) in your hatchery order, it's best to stick to a chicken breed with a genetic coding to make sexing easy. Though hatcheries employ sexers for...

Polytape fencing with fiberglass poles provide an affordable, temporary fencing option that will contain many species of livestock. Polytape fences provide a psychological barrier rather than a...

Red worms, more commonly known as red wigglers, adapt well to indoor worm bins. Unlike nightcrawlers, which make deep burrows in the earth, red wigglers in the wild nestle in leaf litter, manure...

Guernsey cattle are one of the principle breeds used in the dairy industry of Europe and North America. While not as common as the Holstein, they are often added to herds to improve the efficiency...

After about 4 months as a worm farmer, with any luck you'll have a bin of happy red wigglers who have been doing their job: converting your kitchen scraps into vermicompost for your houseplants,...

Livestock scales are an invaluable tool for farmers and ranchers across the globe. The worth of most market animals is based off their weight and how much they will sell for on the meat market, so...

Worm compost typically contains castings, the "poop" of compost worms, residual bits of their bedding and food, and helpful microbes. Botanists have studied the compost to see how it compares to...

As word spreads of growers obtaining solid results by adding worm castings to garden plots, vegetable beds and even golf courses, worm "poop" becomes a natural sell. Worm castings contain more...

Cattle panels are among the most versatile pieces of equipment today's rancher can own. They are extremely useful, easy to move, simple to store, and a cinch to assemble. Cattle panels can be used...

The American Tilapia Association ranks tilapia as the fifth most consumed seafood in the United States. This lean, white, high-protein fish appeals to the American consumer due to its mild, light...

Worm farms serve a variety of purposes---they decompose food and waste for your compost file, provide fertilizer for gardens, and supply bait for fishing. Worm farms are easy to set up on both...

Red and white clover are two types of clover commonly used to plant or replant pastures, and are very useful in improving the quality of the pasture already in existence by providing nitrogen. For...

Of the 4,000 species of earthworms, one stands out as best for home composting. The natural habitat of the little red wiggler, Eisenia fetida, includes rotting organic matter lying near the soil...

A livestock water tank that has turned green with algae and other aquatic plants is both unattractive and unhealthy for the animals using it. Fortunately there are substances, including bleach,...

The main difference between a rooster and a hen is that the former is male and the latter is female. Their appearance differs in several ways.

Humans have been keeping chickens for hundreds of years. Popular for their meat, eggs and feathers, chickens are generally low-maintenance. Laying hens are particular about where they lay their...

Raise your own laying hens to ensure the freshest possible eggs. You should follow some basic procedures when undertaking the hobby of raising laying hens in order to allow for the best outcome...

Cloning is the process of creating an organism that is genetically identical to another organism. Scientists have been cloning animals since 1952, when they cloned a tadpole. In 1996, scientists...

There are millions of different animals on this planet, and billions of microorganisms. All life forms--no matter how small or large--have a digestive system, many of which are very different from...

Animal reproduction always involves some type of cell division. Whether the cells are fertilized or unfertilized depends on the species, anatomy and physiology of the individual animal.