Homestead Academy: A Two Day Course in Kitchen Self-Reliance

June 24, 2013

Events

...ead baking, vinegar brewing, yogurt making and more. The event, which will take place on July 6th and 7th is presented by Growcology and the Emerald Village and will take place in Vista, CA. This weekend intensive is designed to catapult you into a life of self-reliance through homesteading. Join Growcology and the Emerald Village Volunteers as we share the simple and effective ways to make: yogurt, cheese, butter, bread, home cleaning products, b...

Read…

Weekend Linkages: A sign, some chickens and a strange real estate listing . . .

Mr. Homegrown

August 15, 2021

Saturday Linkages

...How the Happy Foot/Sad Foot sign got rescued Life under COVID in Florida Include These Items In Your Chicken First-Aid Kit ‘A literal return to the earth’: is human composting the greenest burial? End of the line for Uber? How the Pandemic Now Ends Strange real estate listing of the week...

Read…

Breaking Broodiness in Chickens

Mr. Homegrown

August 4, 2015

Animals, Chickens

11 Comments

This picture is what happens when I forget to take a picture of our broody hens. This past week three of our four hens decided to all get broody at once. And since we have only one nesting box they all crammed into the box as tight as passengers in economy class in what passes for air travel these days. Since it’s August and hot and humid, I began to worry that they would overheat. Then I remembered a trick passed along by a UC David avian veteri...

Read…

Your Thoughts on Treadle Feeders?

Mr. Homegrown

July 3, 2015

Animals, Chickens

8 Comments

...nded last week was using treadle feeders. Think of it as a Skinner box for chickens. Chickens walk up to the feeder, step on a treadle, and feed is dispensed. It beats having to wake up at five in the morning to put out food in a conventional feeder. You have to teach your chickens how to use a treadle feeder. One of the veterinarians suggested putting something shiny on the feeder. Your flock will step up to peck at it and discover that the feede...

Read…

A tip for bored chickens . . .

Mr. Homegrown

June 30, 2015

Animals, Chickens

11 Comments

Yet more ideas from the poultry seminar I attended last week. Behavioral specialist Richard Blatchford of UC Cooperative Extension had a great idea for entertaining hens like ours that are confined to a run: give them a bale of straw and don’t even undo the strings. I used to cut the strings and toss them the bale in sections. Keeping it intact keeps them occupied for a much longer time. They’ve been obsessed with the bale for days now and are sl...

Read…