Grafting ornamental plants and fruit trees

The purpose of grafting is to combine one plant's qualities of flowering or fruiting with the roots of another that offers vigour and resilience. This is a difficult task and requires lots of skill and practice. In most cases, trees and shrubs are available to buy already grafted onto a rootstock.

Fruit trees are grafted because:
If they were grown on their own root system, many would be too vigorous.
Cultivars will not usually come true from seed.
A fruiting plant can be produced in a shorter period of time.
A weak-growing cultivar can be invigorated.
Ornamental shrubs and trees are grafted when:
It is difficult to propagate by other means, such as cuttings or cultivars do not come true from seed.
In order to strengthen plants that grow weakly on their own root systems.
In order to produce a larger flowering plant in a shorter period of time.

When to graft
Ornamental plants are usually grafted in early spring before the sap starts to rise, but it can also be done in autumn.

Fruit trees are grafted at different times of year, depending on the technique. Chip budding and T-budding are undertaken from mid-summer into early autumn, while whip-and-tongue grafting takes place in late winter or early spring.

How to graft
Most plants need to be grafted within their own species i.e. Acer palmatum cultivars onto an Acer palmatum rootstock. However, it is sometimes possible to graft within a genus i.e. Acer japonicum, A. circinatum and A. shirasawanum can all be grafted onto Acer palmatum rootstock.

A few plants can be successfully grafted onto different species, providing they are within the same family. For example, Fothergilla onto Parrotia rootstock, as both are in the Hamamelidaceae family.

For grafting pines, a rough rule of thumb to remember is a five-needle pine can be grafted onto a five-needle pine. The same applies for three and two needle pines. There are always exceptions to these rules and it can be a case of trial and error.

The most important things to remember when attempting to graft a plant is to use healthy material, have a very sharp knife that is regularly sterilised, and cut straight so surfaces meet flush.

Ornamental trees and shrubs: spliced grafts

Side-spliced grafting is usually undertaken in late winter or early spring before bud break. Scion-wood should be from healthy one- to two-year-old wood. The best rootstocks are two-year-old seedlings, ideally about pencil thickness.

Cut the scion wood just above a bud into 15-25cm (6-10in) lengths.
Cut the rootstock down to about 7.5cm (3in).
Make a downward nick about 3cm (1¼in) below the top of the rootstock.
Then, starting at the top of the rootstock, make a downward sloping cut to meet the first cut. Remove the slither of wood.
Take the scion-wood and make a cut along one side the same length as made on the rootstock.
Make a short angled cut at the base of the scion wood.
Fit the base of the scion wood into the rootstock so that the cambiums (green layer just beneath the bark) meet.
It is preferable that they touch on both sides of the stem, but usually satisfactory if they only meet on one side.
The key to grafting is to make straight cuts so the rootstock and scion fit snugly.
The graft should then be wrapped with grafting tape, polythene strips or raffia and any exposed cut surfaces painted with grafting wax.
If possible, place in a propagator or greenhouse. Do not over-water the compost but mist regularly. If successful, the graft should start to show new growth in about six to eight weeks.

Fruit trees: whip and tongue grafting

This method is used for the production of fruit and some ornamental plants. It is normally undertaken in March or early April on rootstocks planted 12 months previously. This technique uses two cuts on both the scion and rootstock, which enables the two parts to be 'locked' together. This gives a structurally strong graft suitable for field conditions.

In December or January select healthy and vigorous shoots from the scion tree. Note that both rootstock and scion material need to be about the same diameter – preferably 2.5cm (1in). Remove a 23cm (9in) length by cutting just above a bud on the tree.
Bundle five or six scions together and heel them into a well-drained, sheltered site, leaving 5-7.5cm (2-3in) showing above the soil. This will keep them moist but dormant. Alternatively, wrap them up in a dry plastic bag and keep them in the fridge until spring.
In February, before bud break, cut the top off the rootstock at about 15-30cm (6-12in) above ground level and trim off the sideshoots.
Make a 3.5cm (1½in) upward-sloping cut on one side that exits half way through the stem.
Follow this with a downward cut, one-third of the way down the exposed face of the first cut.
Make this 0.5cm (¼in) deep to form the ‘tongue’ into which you will insert the ‘tongue’ of the scion.
The scion (three to four buds long) is prepared by making a flat sloping cut 5cm (2in) long, just behind a bud.
Follow this with an upward cut 5mm (¼in) deep to form the corresponding ‘tongue’. Both are brought together with the tongues interlocking.
Match the two cambiums together as well as possible and bind firmly with grafting tape or raffia.
Remove this when a callus is clearly visible (about eight weeks later).

Problems
Generally, failures occur when the callus between the scion and rootstock does not form. This can be due to poor cutting and joining, or inferior quality plant material. However, a few loses are to be expected.

However, sometimes graft unions can fail many years after they were, seemingly, successfully made. Wisteria is a common example of this, and the reason is usually given as 'graft incompatibility'.

All About Growing Melons

Delicious and packed with nutrition, melons have delighted gardeners for about 2,500 years. Their rambling vines grow best in warm weather, and fruit flavor and texture improve if rain becomes less frequent as the fruits mature. Melons come in a wide range of sizes, shapes and colors, providing a multitude of options for summertime fare. All melons grow best in fertile, well-drained soil with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0.

Types of Melons

Finding the right melons for your garden will take some experimenting, because varieties that thrive in dry climates may fail under moist conditions, and vice versa. Check out our chart of melon types, which includes our recommended varieties of melons for home gardeners.

Watermelons mature after 80 to 100 days in hot, humid climates — they won’t grow well or taste good without plenty of warmth and sun. Watermelons tend to be the easiest melons to grow in organic gardens because of their pest and disease resistance.

American cantaloupes, properly called muskmelons because of their fruity fragrance, produce 75 to 85 days after planting. Some varieties have smooth rinds, but the most popular and nutritious varieties have orange flesh beneath heavily netted rinds.

Honeydew melons have smooth rinds over white or green flesh. Most varieties need about 100 days of warm weather to make a good crop.

Casaba and crenshaw melons are oblong with wrinkled rinds and juicy, salmon-pink flesh. Most varieties need more than 100 days of warm weather to produce high-quality fruits.

Specialty melons vary in size and maturation time, and some are much sweeter than others. Asian melons are fast-growing and productive, but aren’t as sweet as European or Middle Eastern varieties.

When to Plant Melons

Sow muskmelons, honeydew and other Cucumis melo varieties in prepared beds or hills after your last frost has passed, or sow seeds indoors under fluorescent light and set the seedlings out after about three weeks. Direct sow watermelon seeds in late spring or early summer, when your soil feels warm to the touch. In short-season climates, plant watermelon seedlings started indoors to get a jump-start on the growing season.

How to Plant Melons

Fertile, well-drained soil is essential to growing great melons. Prepare raised planting hills within wide rows or along your garden’s edge. Space 3-foot-wide hills 5 to 6 feet apart. Loosen the soil in the planting sites to at least 12 inches deep. Mix in a 2-inch layer of compost and a light application of organic fertilizer. Melons love composted manure (from cows, horses or poultry), which eliminates the need for supplemental fertilizer. Use a rake to shape the hills into 6- to 8-inch-high, flat-topped mounds, and water well. Plant six seeds per hill, poking them into the soil 1 inch deep. Ten days after sowing, thin plants to three per hill. If planting seedlings, set out three seedlings for each hill.

Consider installing protective row covers after you finish planting melons. Row covers benefit melons by raising soil surface temperatures, taming wind and excluding insects. Remove covers a week after plants begin to bloom so insects can pollinate the flowers (learn more about how to use row covers to protect plants and extend your growing season).

Harvesting and Storing Melons

Most muskmelons naturally separate (“slip”) from the vine when ripe, which means you can pick these melons with just a gentle tug. The rinds of some varieties of honeydew and watermelon change color when ripe, making it easier to learn the melon-picker’s art. Watermelons are ripe when the curled tendril nearest to the melon dries to brown, and when the melon sounds deep and solid if thumped. Pecking from birds often indicates imminent ripeness.

Keep muskmelons at room temperature for two to three days after harvesting to help bring out flavors, and then move them to a refrigerator. Always keep honeydew and Asian melons in the refrigerator. Watermelons stored in a cool place (about 55 degrees Fahrenheit) will keep for several weeks.

Saving Melon Seeds

To keep seed quality high, select a perfect fruit from the densest part of a planting of open-pollinated melons and mark the fruit for seed saving. You can set aside seed from all melons as you eat the fruits, then rinse the seeds and allow them to dry at room temperature for about three weeks. Select the largest, plumpest seeds for replanting and store them in a cool, dry place. If given good storage conditions, melon seeds can stay viable for at least five years.

Melon Pest and Disease Prevention Tips

Melons often face challenges from insects, namely aphids and squash bugs. Cucumber beetles also pose a threat, spreading bacterial wilt when their doo comes in contact with feeding wounds in the plants’ leaves. Watermelons are resistant to bacterial wilt, but other types of melons are susceptible. Your best defense is to use protective row covers.

Melon plants that stay full and leafy until the fruits ripen produce better crops, but powdery mildew can rob plants of their energy, which in turn reduces sugars, flavor and nutrition. In addition to using resistant varieties, some gardeners ward off powdery mildew by using a spray made of 1 part milk to 6 parts water, applied every two weeks during the second half of summer.

Melon Growing Tips

Learn how to grow melons using vigorous, disease-resistant hybrids. As your skills develop, switch to open-pollinated varieties so you can save your own seed.

All melons love rich compost, so try planting them in an old compost pile.

Grow honeydew and small-fruited Asian melons on trellises to save space: They’re great for vertical culture.

How to Raise a Baby Horse

Raising a baby horse can be difficult and overwhelming if you aren't familiar with horses. Raising a baby horse is a big job! If you've decided to keep your baby horse to train and ride one day, it's important to work with your baby horse as you raise them from a young age. 

The most important thing to remember is that manners learned when you are raising foal will carry into maturity, and bad habits that are cute for a baby horse can be deadly when that baby becomes a 1100 pound adult horse.

Suckling Age:

One of the best things you can do to help responsibly raise your baby horse is to work with them regularly. Commit to work with your baby horse 3-6 times a week- the more the better, although short, positive session work best. Get the baby horse used to being brushed and touched all over their body. Teach them to pick up their hooves for you when you ask. Get your baby horse used to having a foal-sized halter put on.

Leading and Tying

It is much easier to teach a small baby horse to lead and tie than it is to teach a large animal. Teaching a baby horse to lead will require the assistance of a helper. A baby horse will naturally want to follow where his mother goes- therefore, a few times a week, have a handler lead your mare around as you lead the foal behind the mother. Do not let the foal rush ahead or lag behind, gently encourage and reprimand, and praise for walking by your side. If done regularly, you will save you and your horse from the dangerous experience of halter breaking an adult horse.

As you raise him, teach your baby horse to tie - after he begins to understand leading. For the first time, tie in a stall or small corral, with mother nearby. Feed your leadrope around a sturdy pole, hold the end, and leave some slack in the line, allow the horse to realize he is tied. Your foal will likely pull back, do not release the rope unless the foal becomes tangled. The baby horse must learn struggling will not release him. When he stops pulling on the line, praise him and turn him loose. This skill is much easier to teach a baby horse than an adult horse.

Weaning

Somewhere between four and six months your baby horse will need to be weaned from its mother to allow the mother time to recover from nursing. Weaning can be traumatic but try separating mother and foal a few hours a day, in safe pens or stalls so they can still see each other. Gradually extending the time and distance apart is the safest way to wean a foal. If your baby horse can have another foal as a companion or even an older gelding, he or she will do much better.

After the baby horse you've raised is a weanling the fun of ground work can begin! Again, keep sessions with your still-baby horse short- but do it regularly or you'll be faced with an unruly, unmanageable adult! If your baby horse is a male, 6 months to 1 year is an ideal time to geld and save yourself the attitude and hormones of a stallion around. As you raise your foal from 6 months to 2 years you should work with your baby horse regularly. Take the baby horse for walks in all sorts of environments, teach your baby horse to load in a trailer, to take bathes and be sprayed by the hose, to stand for the farrier to trim and shoe their hooves (you can practice this by having them lift their feet as you mess with their feet and gently tap their hooves with a small hammer) to walk over tarps and not be afraid of plastic bags. Teach your weanling and yearling to yield to pressure all over their body- for instance, when you touch their side, to sidestep away. As a yearling, begin teaching your baby horse to wear a surcingle and allow it to be cinched up. And acclimate the horse to having ropes tossed over, under, and around their body without shying.

If you raise your baby horse properly you can build an incredible bond with your baby horse and produce a well mannered, educated horse that will be easy to saddle break.

Raising a foal can be a rewarding and memorable experience and some people who raise a baby horse go on to professional careers with horses. A vet tech degree (which can be earned from online degree programs in some states) can prepare you not just for a career as a vet tech, but make you a more hireable candidate for a career working at a horse breeding farm or veterinary clinic that specaializes in equine reproduction.

How to Choose Animals and Crops to Raise on Your Farm

So you've decided to start a small farm. But you're not sure what animals to raise, or what to plant. How do you decide?

What Appeals to You?

It seems obvious, but the most likely candidates for farm animals are the ones that you're drawn to naturally. If goats seem odd or strange, maybe they're not for you. Perhaps you have fond memories of petting cows on your grandparents' farm, or have a fondness for pigs.

If your goal is to start a business with your farm, think carefully about markets for your product, and do some research to see if there is demand for it. If your goal is self-sufficiency, you'll want to consider what kind of food you and your family like to eat. Don't raise pigs if you never eat pork!

Be Cautious About the Unusual

Often, people are drawn to unusual or exotic animals. Their thought process is often that something that isn't "what everybody else is doing" will be marketable. This isn't always a logical conclusion. While specialty crops can be a great way to generate income, sometimes this can backfire. Be sure there's a market for your unusual animal, herb, vegetable or fruit before investing a lot of money in it.

Make a List

Make a list of your potential animals and crops. Leave room for notes, and make sure to list the reasons why you are considering this particular animal or crop. Use this list to gather tidbits of information as you get further into the research process.

Read About It

Go to the library or your local independent bookstore and look at everything you can find about the animals and crops on your list. Use the Internet to search for basic information on raising each animal. At this point, you might start narrowing down your list as you find out more details. Whenever you lose focus, look back at your goals for your farm and ask yourself: does this animal or crop further my goals?

Talk to Farmers

You've pondered it, read about it, and thought some more about it. Sometimes you just have to experience things to figure out your path, and nowhere is this more true than farming.

Find some local farmers who are raising the animals or crops you're considering. Ask them about their successes and their challenges. Go pet the animals, see the housing and fencing that the farmer has chosen, experience the animals in three dimensions.

Now you've had a chance to thoroughly explore some potential animals and crops for your farm. You're ready to choose some to start with! How exciting!

Raising Healthy Turkeys from Poults

If you're starting your turkey flock with day-old poults, you are probably wondering how to make sure they grow into healthy, happy adult turkeys. With some preparation and care, your baby turkeys will thrive.

Set Everything Up

Just like for baby chicks, you'll need to set up a brooder for your turkey poults. A turkey poult brooder is just the same as one for baby chickens, so you can use these resources to design your brooder. The key is to have everything set up and warmed to 95 to 98 degrees before your poults arrive. Also similar to baby chicks, the poults will huddle under the lap if they're too cold, or stay at the edges of the heat source if they're too hot. So while a thermometer can be a helpful guide to temperature, especially before the poults arrive, use their behavior as your guide.

You will raise the heat lamp a few inches each week (and roughly 5 degrees lower) until the temperature is the same as the outdoors or the poults are 6 weeks old. You'll also want to have feeders and waterers filled and placed properly. You don't want them right under the lamp, but you also don't want them too far from the center. Place them so that the poults can get to them easily without getting either chilled or overheated. Hanging feeders can prevent poults from standing - and pooping - in the feed or knocking it over.

Use pine shavings - never cedar - for the bottom of the brooder. Once poults are three weeks old, some farmers like to use clean sand. It can be cleaned just like cat litter and keeps the brooder dry.

Finally, make sure you have their roosts and pen ready for them to move to after they outgrow the need for the heat lamp and are ready to move to pasture.

As Soon As They Get Home

Once your poults arrive home from the feed store or from the post office, inspect each one as you remove it from the transport box. Dip its beak in water as soon as you put them into the brooder, so they learn where the water is and how to drink. Remember that especially for shipped poults, they will be stressed from the transport process. Make sure they eat and drink well for the first two weeks.

Preventing Problems

Turkey poults are particularly prone to "starving out," which means that some poults will get pushed away from the feeder or hang back, and will actually starve to death despite food being available. Keep a close eye on poults while they're feeding to make sure this doesn't happen.

Overcrowding can also contribute to starving out, so make sure you have plenty of room for your poults. You'll want at least a 10x10 space for a dozen day-old poults, and as they get bigger they will need more room.

Add a Roost

By three weeks of age, you can add a roost to your brooder. Teaching turkeys to roost early helps when they're eventually moved to roosts later. Plus, they will sleep warmer and more comfortably.

Feed Them Properly

There are many different feeds for poultry. Medicated, nonmedicated, starter, grower - what to pick? Turkeys need high protein, more so than chickens. A gamebird or poultry starter that has around 28 percent protein works for the first 12 weeks. Medicated or not is your choice; many small growers like to use nonmedicated feed. After 12 weeks, the feed can be lowered to 20 percent, but any lower and your turkeys won't grow as big as they could.

Move Them Outside

As your poults grow, you will need to make the brooder bigger so they aren't crowded. As mentioned above, each week you will raise the lamp and lower the temperature about five degrees. Or, you could switch to lower-wattage bulbs as they grow. Much like vegetables, you will need to "harden off" your turkey poults by gradually exposing them to outside temperatures. By three weeks, they can have access to an enclosed "sun porch" on nice days - but keep them inside on rainy or cold days.

Make sure they are fully feathered and at least eight weeks old before moving poults to their new outdoor housing. You can give them access to outdoors but still provide the lamp at night for a week or two, and then finally move them to their new, grown-up turkey roosts and pen. Check on them nightly for a few days after the transition. Make sure they don't get damp or chilled.

Electronet and Chicken Tractors

If you decide you want to raise pastured poultry, whether for eggs or meat, you'll need to provide your chickens with fresh grass, bugs, weeds and such to eat. How? By making sure they always have a new patch of grass to munch.

When I first started raising chickens, I didn't understand the different options. What was electric fencing for? How often would I have to move it? Did they need a chicken tractor too? Could they be raised in just a chicken tractor with no outside pasture? I found the answers and want to share them with you as you venture into the world of keeping chickens.

Electric Net Fencing, aka Electronet
Electric net fencing, also called electronet, is one option for containing poultry. Light, movable, and quickly installed, electric net fencing is used for sheep, goats, and even cattle. For poultry, high netting is usually recommended - 42 or 48 inches - and the nets are spaced closer together, preventing small hens from escaping.

How does electronet work? Electronet consists of horizontal electrified wires held in place with vertical plastic strings. You need an energizer, which is powered by a connection to electricity, a battery, or a small solar panel, and a ground rod, which is driven into the ground near the energizer.

One other key with electric net fencing: you must move it often and mow underneath, because brush in contact with the fence will reduce the voltage on the fence and therefore its effectiveness.

Chicken Tractor
A chicken tractor is simply a movable coop for a flock of chickens. The idea behind a chicken tractor is that the birds can be somewhat confined and moved often to a fresh patch of grass, eliminating the need for a permanent coop area and bedding, and allowing the hens to eat fresh grass, grubs, bugs, seeds, and weeds without having them roam completely freely over the land.

Chicken tractors can work one of two ways. Sometimes they're used in conjunction with electronet, and chickens are moved less frequently. This allows the chicken tractor method to work with larger flocks where a coop large enough to comfortably house the whole flock would have to be so large, it wouldn't be very portable.

Or, the chicken tractor is built large enough for the entire flock to live in it all the time, and move it as the patch of grass underneath is used up. Oftentimes these chicken tractors have part of the tractor enclosed only in mesh and part with a roof, so the chickens can have sunshine and shade. (Chickens love shade!) The benefit to this design is that you don't have to move both a fence and a chicken tractor. The drawback is you may be moving the tractor more often, and the chickens are truly confined all the time. This method works better with smaller flocks, where the chicken tractor doesn't have to be very large for the hens to be happy with the space. It works particularly well in suburban or urban settings where electric net fencing would be unwieldy or unattractive.

There are many plans and ideas for chicken tractors available on the Internet, and they range from tiny, for 3 or 4 hens, to large.

Happy New Year

Merry Christmas !

Angora Goat

How long do angoras live? Do they need special care as they age?

In our flock, it is not uncommon for our girls to go 9-11 years- undoubtedly we could push them longer, but they do not stay unless they can put kids on the ground. Best suggestion is keep on top of their body score and adjust your feeding program accordingly. If you have several, this could mean seperating the geriatrics from the rest of the flock for TLC.

What vaccinations does an angora need? What about worming?

Tetanus and overeating (this is 1 shot combined) once per year, the kids get 2 doeses a few weeks apart and then once annually. Worming at least 4 times per year, kids we worm every month up until 6 months, every two months until a year. Also, we keep a coccistat in the feed for the kids to prevent coccidia (you won't have to worry about this with adults though).

Are angoras good for brush clearing?

Angora goats are indeed excellent brush clearers and weed eaters. A few years ago when we moved to Ohio we rented a pasture that was absolutely covered in multi-flora rose bushes as tall as I am (5'9"). After two grazing seasons the roses were almost totally gone along with all the other burs, weeds etc. The lighter the stocking rate the longer it will take them to take down any existing browse, but they will with time.

I read that Angoras are "delicate" and have trouble with cold, wet weather. Have you found this to be true?

First, let me premise this by saying I have raised angoras several very cold, wet climates and experienced no difficulty. The only time that an angora is particularly susceptible to cold/wet is the three weeks after shearing. If they do not have shelter during this time and are submitted to a cold wet rain or sleet they will have trouble, but if they have access to shelter, they will do fine. The cold/wet issue after shearing is really a greater one for large herds in Texas, Montana, Idaho, where they don't have access to shelter on range and a storm can blow in before the herd can be brought to shelter... in Midwestern farm flocks you can see this wouldn't be a problem--as most are no more than a few hundred yards from shelter at any time.

Can you milk angoras?

No! Angoras are the most efficient fiber producing animals on earth, producing up to 25% of their own body weight in fiber annually. They raise wonderful kids, beautiful fiber, but sorry, not enough extra milk for you too. If you are looking for a goat to provide milk, choose one of the many dairy breeds.

What Sheep Eat

Grass, clover, and forbs
Mostly sheep eat grass, clover, forbs, and other pasture plants. They especially love forbs. It is usually their first choice of food in a pasture. A forb is a broad-leaf plant other than grass. It is a flowering plant. Forbs are often very nutritious. As compared to cattle, sheep eat a greater variety of plants and select a more nutritious diet, but less so than goats.


Grazing time
Sheep will graze for an average of seven hours per day, mostly in the hours around dawn and in the late afternoon, near sunset. When supplements are fed, it is best to feed them in the middle of the day so that normal grazing patterns are not disrupted.


Different plants
Sheep in different geographic areas eat different plants. Tropical forages are usually not as nutritious as those that grow in temperate climates. Protein is often the most limiting nutrient in forages. All forages are more nutritious if they are eaten in a vegetative state.


Pasture (land) requirements
The amount of pasture or range land that it takes to feed a sheep depends upon the quality of the land (soil), the amount and distribution of rainfall, and the management of the pasture.

In dry climates, an acre (or hectare) of pasture or rangeland cannot feed as many sheep as an acre of pasture in a moist climate. An acre of pasture in the wet season (spring and fall) can support more sheep than an acre in the dry season (usually summer)

Reproductive rates and lamb growth rates are lower in arid climates than high-rainfall areas that grow more plentiful forage. As a result, wool production tends to be of greater importance in arid and semi-arid environments, as it takes less nutrition to grow good quality wool than to produce milk and raise lambs. A farmer may be able to graze ten sheep on one acre of improved pasture in Maryland, whereas one sheep could require ten acres of native range in West Texas.


Stored feed
When fresh forage is not available, sheep are usually fed stored or harvested feeds: hay, silage, green chop, or crop by-products. Hay is grass that has been mowed (cut) and cured (dried) for use as livestock feed.

Silage (short for ensilage) or haylage is green forage that has been fermented and stored in a silo or other system that keeps air out. Moldy silage can cause listeriosis in sheep. The pieces should be chopped smaller for sheep as compared to cattle.

Sometimes, pasture plants are cut, chopped, and brought to the sheep. Fresh harvested forage is called green chop. This "cut-and-carry" system of feeding is common in developing countries, where labor is not a limiting factor.


Supplementation
Grain is often fed to sheep with higher nutritional needs, such as pregnant ewes during late gestation, ewes nursing two or more lambs, and lambs with the genetic potential for rapid growth. Grain is the seed part of cereal crops such as corn, barley, wheat, and oats. Grain is not "unnatural" for sheep. They have always eaten the seeds of plants.

A protein source, such as soybean meal or cottonseed meal is usually added to the grain ration, along with vitamins and minerals to make a 100 percent nutritionally-balanced feed. Unbalanced grain rations can lead to a variety of health concerns.

Sheep love the taste of grain and can experience digestive problems if they eat too much grain too fast. Grain consumption needs to be regulated, introduced slowly and gradually increased in the diet.

Ruminants, such as sheep, should always have some roughage (fibrous feed) in their diets. at least a pound per day for sheep. Producers in many parts of the world cannot afford to feed grain to their livestock. Whereas in some parts of the U.S. and in some years, grain is a more economical source of nutrients that forage.

By-products
By-products from crop production and food processing can also be fed to sheep. This is another advantage of ruminant livestock: they can be fed products that would otherwise go to waste and/or require costly disposal. Examples of by-product feeds include soybean hulls, peanut hulls, corn gluten feed, wheat middlings, and whole cottonseed.

With more corn being used in the production of ethanol, distiller's grains are becoming a more popular (and more economcal) feedstuff for sheep and other livestock. Distiller's grains are the solids left after ethanol is made. They are also a by-product of the brewing industry. Distiller's grains can be fed wet or dry, but are usually fed dry. Distiller's grains can contain high levels of phosphorus and sulfur, so their inclusion in sheep and lamb diets is usually limited.

A healthy diet for rabbits

Rabbits need:

Fresh clean drinking water continuously, checked twice daily. Ensure water doesn’t freeze in winter. Without water rabbits become seriously ill.

Good quality hay and/or grass, always available, should constitute the majority of rabbits' diets.
- Rabbits graze, naturally eating grass/other plants for long periods, mainly at dawn and dusk.
- Rabbits’ digestive systems need grass and/or hay to function properly.
- Read meal planner and feeding tips.

Hay and/or grass as they’re much more important than commercial rabbit pellets ('nuggets').
- If giving pellets, follow manufacturer’s instructions.
- Don’t top the bowl up as rabbits might stop eating enough hay and/or grass.
- Growing/pregnant/nursing/underweight rabbits may need larger portions.

Healthy diets. Avoid muesli-style foods as they are associated with health problems. See muesli is unhealthy for rabbits for advice on transferring rabbits to healthier diets. Contact your vet for dietary advice.
- Rabbits' teeth grow continuously, needing wearing down and keeping at the correct length/shape by eating grass/hay/leafy green plants.
- Not eating the right diet results in serious dental disease.

Root vegetables (e.g. carrots) or fruit only in small amounts as treats. Don’t feed other treats as they may harm your rabbits.
- Rabbits don’t naturally eat cereals/root vegetables/fruit.

Safe, washed leafy green vegetables/herbs/weeds daily. Take care – some plants are poisonous.
- Avoid sudden changes in diets and do not feed lawnmower clippings as both these upset rabbits’ digestive systems causing illness.

Feeding quantities adjusted to prevent them from becoming underweight/overweight.
- Quantities rabbits need to eat depend on age/lifestyle/general health.
- Rabbits become overweight and may suffer if eating more food than needed.

The amount they eat and drink monitoring. If these habits change, droppings gets less/stop, or soft droppings stick to their back end, talk to your vet immediately as they could be seriously ill.
- Rabbits produce two dropping types – hard dry pellets, and softer moist pellets they eat directly from their bottom and are dietary essentials.

How to Freeze Summer Vegetables

At this point in the season the farmers market tables are a riot of color, piled precariously with mountains of perfect produce – succulent heirloom tomatoes in their misfit beauty, corn fit to burst at the touch, luminous summer squash lined up in flirty nonchalance. But you know what will happen. The abundance will slowly dwindle as the apples start taking over, and all of a sudden, it’s roots and kale until spring.

With the canning revival in full swing, sterilized jars and water baths are covering the counters of many a kitchen. But if you shy away from canning or have ample freezer space to supplement the pantry, freezing produce is an excellent way to preserve the local harvest for the bleaker months. Although frozen vegetables have taken a bad rap in the past, I’d take frozen produce in a heartbeat over old produce, commercially canned products, or produce imported from afar. Nutrients aren’t lost, and if frozen properly, neither is texture nor flavor.

The Basics

Use the freshest produce you can find, and freeze it as soon as you can—the quicker the better. Make sure to avoid the 12 most toxic fruits and vegetables.

Wash and dry everything thoroughly. Remove pits and cut into uniform sized pieces.

Use containers, freezer bags or a vacuum seal system—and remember to leave headroom for expansion.

If you are watching your use of plastic, the ever-popular Ball makes freezer safe glass jars—yay! Label with contents and date.

Blanching

Although freezing slows enzyme action, it doesn’t completely stop it – therefore, most produce requires some method of heat treatment, generally blanching, to inactivate the ripening enzymes and to preserve color, texture, and flavor. To blanch vegetables, place the washed, prepared vegetables in a pot of boiling water. Roughly use a gallon of water per pound of prepped vegetables. Boil water, and time the blanching as soon as the water returns to a boil after submerging the produce. After the recommended time has elapsed, remove the vegetables and plunge them into very cold (you can add ice) water for the same amount of time that you blanched them for.

Most frozen produce should be good stored for nine to 12 months. These are the basic methods for summer’s most popular produce.

Friesian Dairy Cow

Friesian Cow is best known for its outstanding milk producing capacity. These Friesian Cows are healthy and have long-life.

Some Interesting Facts :

Originated in the Netherlands
Quickly recognized by their distinctive black and white color markings
Outstanding milk production
Color Patterns can be either of black and white or red and white.
A healthy Friesian calf weighs 40 Kg or more at birth
A mature Friesian cow weighs about 700 Kg and stand 150 cm tall at the shoulder
Friesian heifers can be bred at 15 months of age, when they weigh about 360 Kg.
It is desirable to have Friesian females calve for the first time between 24 and 27 months of age. While some cows may live considerably longer, the normal productive life of a Friesian cow is six years.

Milk Production Capacity : The average milk production for a Friesian cow is 7800 Kg of milk per lactation

How to Tattoo Your Goats for Easy Identification

No matter whether you're keeping goats because they contribute to a sustainable lifestyle or as a 4-H project for your kids, you'll need to mark them for easy identification. Tattooing your goats is relatively inexpensive. Basic equipment for tattooing costs less than $100 and only a few dollars a year after that.

Microchipping is also an option. Tattooing, although slightly more painful for the goat, doesn’t come with many medical risks; microchipping, on the other hand, has been known to cause tumors.

If you plan to register goats, you need to check with the registry you will use to find out what method they allow and what tattoo sequence (letters and numbers) you need to use.

Supplies for tattooing include gloves to protect your hands from ink, a pair of tattoo tongs, special tattoo ink, and letters and numbers to use in the tongs. You can use black ink on light-colored goats, but green shows up better on dark-skinned goats.

Secure the sequence of letters and numbers you will use in the tattoo tongs.

Squeeze them on a piece of paper to ensure that they are in the right order.

Put on your gloves.

Clean the inside of the goat’s ear or tail web (the loose, hairless area under the tail on either side of the anus) with alcohol, making sure that you have the correct ear for the tattoo you are using.

LaMancha goats’ ears are too small for tattooing, so you need to use the tail web.

When the ear is dry, rub tattoo ink on the inside of the ear or on the tail web.

Hold the ear out and position the tattoo tongs over the inside, being careful to avoid the veins to minimize bleeding.

To tattoo the tail web, position the tongs with the prongs facing the hairless side of the tail.

Puncture the ear or tail web firmly with the tattoo tongs one time, then release.

The goat will try to pull away, so make sure to hold securely.

Apply more tattoo ink and rub it in with your finger or a toothbrush to ensure that it fills the puncture.

Change the tattoo digits to the sequence you will use for the second ear and repeat Steps 3 through 7.

Supplemental Feed for Your Goats

Goats need supplemental minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients in addition to those they get in their hay, grain, and browse. Vitamins and minerals are essential to keeping goats healthy, making sure they're growing well, and assisting in reproduction and the development of skin and bone.

You can supplement your goats' browse and feed them essential minerals and vitamins by supplying them with free-choice loose minerals or a mineral block, which you can find in most feed stores. Goats prefer minerals with salt; if you have to get a salt-free mineral, supplement it with a salt block.

Never buy a so-called "goat/sheep mineral" because it doesn't have enough copper for a goat's needs. The amount of copper that a goat needs can kill a sheep. If you can't find goat-specific minerals, you can use a cattle or horse mineral.

With good hay and an adequate mineral block, your goats get by just fine. But you can also give them some of these supplemental feeds to make them even healthier:

Beet pulp: Beet pulp adds fiber, protein, and energy to a goat's diet and contains calcium and phosphorus. It comes in 50-pound bags and is cheaper than grain but doesn't supply as much energy and so shouldn't be used as a substitute.

Black oil sunflower seeds (BOSS): Black oil sunflower seeds contain vitamin E, zinc, iron, and selenium and also add fiber and fat to the diet. BOSS make the goats' coats shinier and increase the butterfat in their milk. Mix the seeds into your goats' grain; they eat them shell and all.

Kelp meal: Kelp meal is a good source of iodine, selenium, and other minerals. Used as a supplement, it helps protect goats from iodine deficiency. Kelp also improves dairy goats' production, increasing milk volume and butterfat and helping decrease mastitis.

Baking soda: Many goat owners offer their goats free-choice baking soda, which aids digestion by keeping the rumen pH-balanced. If one of your goats has a digestive problem, offer baking soda. Baking soda is also one of the treatments for floppy kid syndrome.

Apple cider vinegar (ACV): Some goat owners add unfiltered apple cider vinegar, which is full of enzymes, minerals, and vitamins, to their goats' water.

Treats and snacks: Just because goats love grain doesn't mean it's good for them to have all the time. You can find plenty of other nutritious snacks for goats:

*Corn chips are a good grain substitute for wethers because the saltiness encourages them to drink water, which helps prevent urinary calculi.

*Goats love apples, watermelon, peaches, pears, grapes, bananas (peel and all, if organic), and dried fruit. Just make sure that the fruits aren't in pieces large enough to cause choking.

*Vegetables are a nutritious addition to any diet. Goats love carrots with their tops attached, celery, pumpkins, squash, lettuce, spinach, and other greens.

Avoid members of the nightshade family, such as potatoes and tomatoes, which contain alkaloids, as well as plants with oxalates, such as kale. These can be poisonous to goats.

Belgian Fawn Goat

Created in Belgium, the Belgian Fawn descended from another breed called the Chamois Colored goat from Switzerland. It is also related to Oberhasli goat found in the United States.

These goats are horned, black or brown in color with a black skin. Adult males weigh on average 65 kg and females 60 kg with an average wither height of 81 cm and 71 cm respectively.

Belgian Red Cattle

The Belgian Red was developed in West Flanders region of Belgium.  It is a dual-purpose breed, producing both meat and milk, and is similar to the Flemish Shorthorn.

During World War I the pastures of West Flanders were turned into battlefields which practically eradicated the cattle population.  Two important native types, the Cassel and the Veurne-Ambacht, were among these breeds. 

After the war the breeders cooperated to form a new breed which was called the West Flemish.  It later became known as the Belgian Red.  Belgian Red cattle are now found throughout West Flanders and constitutes about 7% of the Belgian national herd.

Cows average 138 cm in height and weigh about 725 kg.  Males stand 153 cm and weigh 1,200 kg.  In 1978, cows averaged 4,089 kg of 3.79% milk in a 305-day lactation.

The Most Important Domesticated Animals

Cattle are among the most useful of all domestic animals. It has been said that modern civilization began when people first began milking cows and using oxen to plow their fields. Cattle have wild relatives in many parts of the world. They must have been domesticated in Asia first, however, for their bones have been found in settlements there earlier than anywhere else. Shorthorn cattle are supposed to have been introduced into Europe from Central Asia when the long-horned urus (now extinct) was still running wild. The urus and the Celtic ox were domesticated later than the Asian breeds of cattle.

Sheep have been so changed by breeding that their wild ancestors are hard to identify. Like the wild sheep, the domestic sheep of Egypt in 3000 BC had coats of coarse hair. The dense wool was gradually developed by selective breeding.

Pigs were derived from the wild boar, which can still be found in Europe, Asia, and Africa. In Egypt their flesh was not eaten. They were instead kept as scavengers. They loosened the soil by their rooting and so prepared it for planting. They were also used to trample down the seeds after sowing and to thresh the grain at harvesttime.

According to archaeological records, chickens were first domesticated in the cities of the Indus Valley in about 3000 BC. The donkey of Mediterranean lands is thought to be a descendant of the wild ass of Western Asia.

The horse was the last important animal to be domesticated. The only species of wild horse still living are Przhevalski's horse, very small numbers of which survive in the wild in western Mongolia, and the Riwoche horse, a few of which survive in northeastern Tibet. The tarpan, a wild horse of Europe and Northern Asia, became extinct in the mid-1800s. These two species were probably the ancestors of the modern horse breeds.

A Semitic people who conquered the Mesopotamian region in about 2300 BC were mounted on horses. The ability of these people to domesticate horses may explain their success in war. The first sight of a person riding a horse must have struck terror into the hearts of people unaccustomed to such a sight. In addition, the myth of the centaur, half horse and half man, probably had its origin in just such an experience.

In North America before the arrival of the Europeans, the only domesticated animal among the Native Americans was the dog. After European settlers brought domesticated horses to the New World, the horse effected great changes for the peoples of the Plains (see Indians, American, or Native Americans).

Quokka: The happiest animal in the world

Even though #dogs are a man’s best friend, they aren’t the happiest. And neither are other #domesticated #pets like #cats.

The happiest #animal on the planet can be found in Southwestern #Australia. It’s known as the #Quokka.

Unlike other dangerous Australian #animals, the #Quokka poses no threat to humans.

But not all is great in Quokka Land! According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the #animal is on the red list of endangered species. And with all those wildfires breaking out and triple digit heat, it’s got us wondering what the little guy is so darn happy about.

Nonetheless, we just think it’s too darn cute not to look at!

Poitou Donkey !

#Poitou #Donkey, also know as the #Mammoth #Donkey is an very interesting creature. They are friendly , affectionate and docile. It is the oldest approved breed in #France. However, it also the least known and rarest. There many be only around 180 #purebred #Poitou in existence today.

The Poitou donkey is a #breed of #donkey that has a thick matted and tangled coat, which originates from the #Poitou region of #France, about 300 miles south-west of #Paris.

The #adult #male #Poitou is called a baudet (pronounced 'bo-day') and stands at 14-15 hands and the Poitou mare is called an ânesse and is about one hand lower.

For hundreds of years the Poitou was bred solely to be used in #mule #breeding, an activity which made an important contribution to the #French #agricultural economy and for which the Poitou had a worldwide reputation. The Poitou was exported to many countries, including America, Russia, the Belgian Congo and North Africa, and the army bought large numbers of #mules.