Raising Livestock

"Raising livestock provides fresh meat, milk, and eggs. And just think about all the fertilizer you have for your garden! America is constantly trying to improve and develop new ways to make animals grow bigger, faster and produce more...more...more"

But the advances society has made does not come with some setbacks. The big guys are thinking about quantity and money, after all, isn't that what makes the world go round? They are not thinking of society's health or the quality of meat they produce. This is the main reason I am promoting for small farmers across the world.

Scientifically fed animals is about quantity not quality. They are for fast growth, confinement of animals to restrain movement and conserve space. These animals simply do not have the flavor of ones that are on a varied pasture diet and do not get a chance to live a humane life even for a short time.

Animals that are fed growth stimulating hormones and medicated feed may have long term side effects that, I believe, are known. It is my belief that many scientist and executives, are aware of this, but it all boils down to economy and not health.

And think about how expensive things are in the grocery store. Isn't it time that we get back to supporting our small farmers? Is it possible that all of these growth hormones and medicated feed practices is causing many of the diseases that humans have today?

Click Here! to get great recipes on cooking beef.

Mass production doesn't need to have you bound up. Each one of us can do something about it whether you live in the city or out in the country. Get involved with your local farmers and you will be helping your health and your community in general.

Do you like animals and have a little extra space? It just takes a small space to keep rabbits. Can you make a little extra time to do daily chores in caring for animals?

Is it possible that you to can have cream rich milk? that you produce from your own Dairy cow. You can make fresh butter, cheese, ice cream, cottage cheese, yogurts and all of your very own diary products. Just think how this will effect your grocery bill!

Can you see yourself raising chickens and having fresh farm eggs every day ? and full flavored, chemical free meat that you have produced yourself?

If you simply can not take the time from your busy daily schedule in raising livestock, or you simply do not have the space, I urge you to contact your small farmers and see if you can buy from them.

There are ways that the small farmer can keep cost down by feeding discarded crops, growing specific crops from your livestock and letting them free range over good quality pastures. The type of grass that is planted in your region of the country is also very important.

Pigs love to free range, however they will rut up your pastures. So, develop a good quality plan when raising hogs. They will eat just about anything too.

You can also clear brush on your land by raising goats.

Don't think for a moment that raising livestock is easy. It take time, patience and love to be a small farmer. I do realize that not everyone is cut out to be a farmer. But, in my opinion, the quality of life is something far superior then city life.

You can never skip a day of feeding a caring for your livestock on a farm. It may take only a few minutes a day, but you must be there for them or have someone cover for you if you can't be around.

You must provide feed for the winter by making hay in the summer. I have a lot of help from my neighbors Joe and Jerry. They provide the equipment and I provide the hay meadow. We cut my hay meadow on shares and it works out great!

If you think raising livestock is just not your forte; then I would strongly recommend families to buy meat in bulk.

This will be more cost efficient if you are big meat eaters and you will cut out the middle man. Check out Kansas City Steak Company.

I think you will find that their quality of meat is superb and the pricing is reasonable.

Nonetheless, there is an abundance of rewards, not the least of which is the satisfaction of watching and caring for animals.

Keeping Records of Productivity

When raising livestock, good records are essential if you want to know whether your animals are paying their way and how the cost of raising them stacks up against going to the supermarket.

Keep track of all expenses, including veterinary bills, and write down exactly how much feed you provide each day.

If possible, record the amount fed to individual animals. Keep track of productivity too.

Keep track of how many offspring each animal produces, whether the offspring survive to maturity, and how fast they gain weight.

If you have dairy animals, weigh their milk at each milking. Count the number of eggs laid by each of your chickens, ducks, or geese and the percentage of the eggs hatched.

Raising livestock and maintaining records is a time consuming chore, but very well worth the effort in my experince.

The most convenient system is to keep a loose leaf notebook or box of file cards near your animals shelter.

Carefully kept records will tell you which animals are producing efficiently and which should be culled.

They will also increase the worth of any animals you choose to sell and help you decide which offspring will make the most valuable additions to your stock.

Raising Livestock and Caring For Them

When raising livestock shelter and feeding requirements are different from one farm animal to another, but good sanitation is a requirement in keeping your animals in top condition.

Plan Wisely. Protect your feeding and watering equipment from contamination. Designing the shelter for easy cleaning and maintenance.

Raising livestock on pastures, which I strongly recommend, should be free of, poisonous weeds, and dangerous debris and wet areas. It is important to properly maintain your pastures and the type of grass

I hope you see how important a farmers job is and how much knowledge and experience is required to be a good quality farmer.

Use fencing and traps to protect your animals from predators. Good quality fencing is very important and requires constant mending.

High winds can blow trees and limbs onto your fence. Wildlife, such as deer, can mingle your fence. These are just a few considerations while raising livestock.

Be as proactive as possible by cutting down dead trees before they fall on your fence.

When you trap a coyote or coon, try to relocate them into the forest area which hopefull is far away from your goats or chickens.

I usually keep a radio on in my chicken house which seems to keep them safe from predators.

Daily care is essential. Wash your equipment after use and keep their bedding dry. Check and learn animal behavior for signs signs of illness.

Thoroughly disinfect your animals' shelter once or twice each year. I very seldom keep an animal confined unless they are ill or I suspect they might have problems with delivery to baby. Otherwise, I keep my livestock on pastures.

So, I usually saddle up my horse "Ringo" and go for a trial ride every morning. I check on my lifestock, fencing and any problems that can be detected.

Haul all the old bedding to your compost pile to use later in your garden and replace it with some fresh bedding that is clean, new, and dry.

Wash all equipment that can be moved out of the stall dry in the sun. Sunlight kills molds and helps to disinfect.

Clean the inside of the stall with a stiff bristled brush to remove caked dirt and manure. Go over everything again with a disinfectant that is livestock safe.

Allow plenty of time for the disinfectant to dry before you let the livestock back in the stall. I hope you are getting an appreciation for the small farmer raising livestock.

Use the same sanitary procedures in the event of an outbreak of disease or before bringing a new animal into the shelter.

I had experienced this the hard way. I brought a new bull into my herd which turned out to have shipping fever. I had quarentined him in my six foot tall coral, but he had jumped the coral and got with my herd. My whole here caught it, and I was lucky that I only lost six head. I caught it early and had to call a vet in for vaccination.

Always expect the unexpected they say. It was devastating to me and my herd. Jus keep strange animals away from your livestock.

When buying a new animal, keep it quarantined until you are sure it is healthy and make sure it can't get out!

When you take an animal to a livestock show,, quarantined it for awhile when you return before putting it back into the herd.

I can not stress this enough. Again, it is devastating and something I hope I never experience again.

Some farmers go so far as to pen new animals with a member of the established herd to be sure the new ones are not symptom free disease carriers.

If they are, only a single animal would be lost, not the entire herd.

Some chicken raisers slaughter their entire flocks. Then they start with a new batch of chicks. This is just added saftey and precaution.

Just think about the hugh 300 foot chicken houses and the overcrowding that is placed on the chicks. There is no wonder they have to use all those growth hormones and medicated feeds.

Did you know that most of the chicken raised in poultry houses are ready to be slaughtered in 6 - 8 weeks? It takes my chickens twice that time and still they are not as big as those raised in the poultry houses. Stop and think about it.

Now, are you ready to have a good relationship with your local farmers?

Remember: a clean environment, when raising livestock is the best way to guarantee healthy, profitable and attractive livestock.

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