PHOTO: Daniel JohnsonWhen you buy an old farm, you buy a lot more than the land. Aside from the obvious examples of improved property—outbuildings, fences, wells and so on—you might get some old machinery, random piles of scrap metal, old tires and who knows what else. Some of these items are mere trash, but you can salvage others in creative ways.
Some chicken coop designs are inspired by imagination, and others by practicality. I never get bored of seeing the creativity and hard work people put into building their coops. Thanks to social media and chicken keepers who like to show off their innovations, we can all be inspired to build our own coops for much less than the cost of buying one.
Courtesy iStockphoto/ThinkstockThe sweet potato, an economical crop choice, is also a good crop for farmers who want to grow organically or who face the threat of drought, as it requires few inputs.Small-scale tobacco farmers in eastern Kentucky looking for alternatives to tobacco are discovering that an easy, potentially profitable transition lies in sweet potatoes.
Home /Animal Care /Hand-Raising Awesome ChicksMy friend Nicole just came over with her most excellent kid to borrow my homemade chick brooder. Much as parents swoon over their kids’ baby pictures as they pack the car to send them off to college, I swooned over the tiny chick-raising accessories tucked inside.
(Editors Note: “Food for Thought,” a regular column by Carol Ekarius, runs in most every issue of Hobby Farms. For the July-August 2009 Hobby Farms, we posted the “Food for Thought” column online. We hope you have a chance to read and comment.)by Carol EkariusIn March, secretary of agriculture Tom Vilsack said he would consider making the USDA’s National Animal ID System (NAIS) mandatory.
Home /News & Trending /62 Groups Request NAIS Not be Part of School Lunch ProgramKeeping the school lunch meals out of range of the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) is the goal of 62 organizations that recently signed a letter to the House Appropriations Committee asking Congress not to connect NAIS to the School Lunch Program.
