Farm Animals

Caring for your adult emu is a daily process. A natural environment for your emu farm is the best way to have healthy emus that become good breeders. You must make every effort to create a proper...

Providing a comfortable environment for your emus is essential to properly raising and breeding them. In addition to building a pen that allows your emus to run and exercise, you must build a...

Trying to move a 6-foot emu into a trailer is possible, believe it or not. It can be a dangerous endeavor because of the size, strength and speed of the bird, but you can control your emu and get...

Starting an emu farm is a big decision that requires planning and preparation. Once you have created a budget and committed to farming emus, you are ready to prepare your land and buy your...

A cattle drive is the way ranchers get cattle from one place to another when there are too many cattle to load into stock trailers. Cattle are rounded up and driven to the new destination by...

People looking to thin their herds, get rid of an animal they don't want or wanting to get out of the livestock business bring their livestock to auction. You can find great deals at a livestock...

The Guernsey cow is named for the Isle of Guernsey, a small island in the English Channel off the coast of France. Monks developed the cow breed in the 10th century by inter-breeding the best...

Originating from the British Isle of Jersey in the English Channel off the French coast, the Jersey cow has been purebred since 1763. Settlers brought to breed to the United States in the 1850s....

Donkeys are usually mistaken for being an ill-tempered animal although its temperament is determined by the owner's treatment. A lot of care, foresight and knowledge are required in grooming this...

Raising grass-fed chickens is a wonderful hobby for those who choose to raise their own animals for food. The chickens can be for laying eggs only, or as a source of meat for the family. Letting...

A rhea is a large bird, similar to an ostrich or emu. Poultry farmers breed Rheas for their feathers, oil and meat. If you want start farming rheas, you should know how to hatch them in an...

A goat farm is a daily business—you won't get holidays or weekends off. But you will get the opportunity to be outdoors and enjoy working with animals. If you're prepared to put in the hard work,...

Mother Nature bestows instinct upon animals, enabling them to birth babies without human assistance—most of the time. Occasionally, even Mother Nature can use an extra hand. Cattle, for example,...

Compared to other animals sheep are relatively easy to raise if you choose the right breed. You will still have to devote some time each day to tend your sheep. However, that small amount of time...

Whether you want to build a chicken fence for chickens or another animal, you need to build one that is sturdy and well made. It is fairly easy to build a chicken fence, if you know what to buy...

When a pig's hooves become overgrown they can cripple him over time. A pig should have his hooves trimmed from an early age so he gets used to it and it isn't a battle. The foot of a pig consists...

When you own sheep, you have to make sure to trim their hooves on a regular basis. If a sheep's hooves become overgrown they collect dirt and manure, which can cause abnormalities, hoof rot and...

Most farmers raise guinea fowl for the purpose of insect control. They also make really good watch dogs by sounding an alarm whenever they are disturbed. Guinea fowl are useful for snake and...

Vaccines help reduce and prevent disease. Some diseases attack many kinds of poultry, others are more breed specific. Maintaining good sanitation facilities and procedures reduces the chance of...

Vaccines protect the sheep against bacteria and virus infections or diseases. They help the body's immune system develop antibodies to reduce the occurrence of certain types of illness. Vaccinate...

Raising emus is a fairly low maintenance type of farming. Emus don't require as much care as other livestock, but, like domesticated animals of all kinds, veterinarian care is important for...

You can breed chickens for consumption, shows, producing eggs or just as a hobby. But first you must learn the things to look for in each chicken before adding it to the breeding pen. The...

Though most people don't bother with grooming a donkey, the process is much like grooming a horse. Grooming a donkey not only allows you to clean him but to check him over for any abnormalities or...

Donkeys are working farm animals and need routine veterinary care just as horses do. Donkeys must be vaccinated regularly to stay healthy and prevent diseases. Learn how to vaccinate a donkey by...

Many people raise and breed donkeys with good confirmation and bloodlines so that they sell the animals for working or showing. You can learn how to breed donkeys by following these steps.

If you want to own a donkey, you are going to need a pen to house the animal. Your pen should include a fence strong enough to contain the donkey and to keep out predators. You'll also want a barn...

Buying any kind of livestock involves taking a risk to some extent, but you can cut those risks when buying donkeys by learning what to look for and how to deal with problems. Follow these steps...

Whether being purchased as regular family pets or as livestock for eggs or meat, chickens require special feed and housing and buying the right kind of chickens is important. If you've never owned...

Raising dairy goats is an enjoyable way to start a small farm. Depending on the number of animals, a good deal of milk can be supplied for sale or perhaps making into cheese. With simple farming...

Branding cattle is a practical and cost effective way to identify your cattle. A recognizable, registered brand keeps cattle thieves at bay and is instrumental in proving ownership. Here are...

Donkeys have a friendly nature and usually get along with other animals and humans. They also can be good for riding, as is evident in places like Santorini. If you've ever wanted to ride a...

Muskrats are prized for their dense fur. They were so named because of the musk gland near the base of the tail, and live in wetlands, where they play a very important role of balancing the food...

A good breeding program is essential to any dairy farm for the simple reason that milk production is dependent on how many cows you have lactating at one time. Remember, too, that although people...

Pork is a worldwide commodity, and you can find people on every continent who eat it, even though some major religions restrict its consumption. Swine operations vary from very large producers to...

Pheasants are a game bird present in most of North America. They are a popular game bird in the United States and are not currently an endangered species. They dwell at ground level but are able...

The term "peacock" refers to the male of one of two species of peafowl widely known for its lavish tail plumage. The female, or peahen, is brown and doesn't display the courtship feathers like her...

Pheasants are game birds that are often bred to be hunted on preserves or for wholesale or retail sale to restaurants and consumers. You can buy eggs for hatching from pheasant farmers and...

If you want to raise geese, you can buy goslings or start with eggs. Eggs are cheaper than goslings, and you can hatch them yourself in an incubator. It takes about 30 days of incubation, some...

Turkeys are usually raised for consumption on large farms, but if you are just starting out as a turkey farmer, or if you would like to keep them as pets, you can buy turkey eggs and hatch them...

A male peafowl is termed a peacock; while a female is called a peahen. Like any species, there are some signs to look for when determining gender in these birds. Being able to determine the...

Peafowl, considered domesticated birds, are one of the most beautiful species of birds in the world. The India Blue Peafowl is the heartier of the peafowl species and lends itself well to domestic...

A male guinea fowl is termed a cock, while a female is called a hen. Like any species, there are some signs to look for when determining gender. The ability to determine sex aids the local...

A lot of factors go into breeding goats and there is no foolproof formula for success. Breeding and raising goats takes time, dedication and knowledge. Whether you decide to breed goats as a...

Whether you're a junior competitor showing your dairy goat for the first time, an amateur goat enthusiast or a professional breeder, taking your goat to show is an exciting way to evaluate the...

Whether you have pigs as pets or as livestock, they must be vaccinated against potential diseases. Pig herds are extremely vulnerable to contagious diseases, which can spread rapidly among the...

Many settlers and companies used sure-footed and hardy burros as pack animals when they made their way West. Today descendants of those burros that escaped or were released by settlers run the...

When the West was wild, cowboys didn't just live by the gun, they also lived by the lariat. Most people know a lariat as a lasso, but the word lasso actually refers to the act of throwing the...

The ability to determine gender and species of waterfowl depends on a few key characteristics. Whether a hunter, tracker or a casual nature observer, the ability to distinguish the mallard from...

Burros have been living in the Southwest deserts since a few escaped from Spanish explorers in the 1500s. Today, up to 20,000 burros roam the deserts. Each year, the Bureau of Land Management...

Everyone knows not to count chickens before they are hatched, but surely there is a way to do it without getting jinxed or by unwittingly causing the death or destruction of one of your chickens....