Importance of understand Feed! -by Boots N Lace

Feed is a "hot" topic among farmers and homesteaders. Have you noticed lab results on the back of food and treats? Half that crap, no one knows what it means! Proteins most of us understand--that's what grows muscle. But to much (depending on the animal class) will cause health issues too. To little--the animal will be sluggish and not grow. They need the RIGHT amount for growing AND energy. Pregnancy, the mom needs more. So now you are understanding why this is such a HOT topic! Gotta get it right!

Having this Lab Analysis done on my bakery we serve here to dogs on the Farm, has raised some research on my part I figured I would share with you. The focus for this post is TND. WHAT IS IT? Results from ranchers smarter than me: Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN)

TDN is a measure of the energy value in a feedstuff. The term TDN has its origins in an older system of measuring available energy in feeds and is very hard to measure directly. Today, reported TDN values are calculated, not measured values. Formulas for calculating TDN originally were based on ADF and frequently varied by region and the nutritionist doing the calculation. The National Research Council (NRC) suggested a more accurate and robust procedure of estimating TDN than those based solely on ADF (NRC, 2001). Their procedure is based on the assumption that forage classes (legumes, cool season grasses, warm season grasses, etc.) have more uniform and predictable digestion coefficients. So, they proposed that the TDN for alfalfa, clovers and legume/grass mixtures be calculated as follows....

See the link for more information on the formulas

http://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.cfm?number=B1367

Anti-Freeze Pipe Help for the Homestead -The Jester

Guys, winter will eventually be here! I know we all winterize differently depending on where we are , the big tips I can give for the central states are

1 Unscrew your garden hoses(can't tell you how many flooded basements calls I've had because of this one?

2 If you have RV's or any other un climate controlled restrooms, dump some antifreeze down the sinks and anything else with a sewer trap on it.

3 Wrapping outside hydrants like the one below with anything doesn't help, Check out the pic for how they work, Unhook the hose to allow the water to drain out.

4 Shut your foundation vents. Keep that heat in your crawl spaces.

Those are the big ones I can think of off hand. Chime in with what you do beyond this in your areas!

Winterizing the Critters -Charaty Lawson

'Tis the season! Well, yeah, Christmas and New Year's is comin', but on the homestead, this time of year also means something else. With the drifting snow and the falling temps, protecting your critters becomes even more important than usual. Not only do you need to protect your animals from cold weather and all the troubles it brings by itself, you also need to be more aware of predators since their free and easy buffet is drying up. Here's a few quick tips to help you prepare for the winter season. 

Most animals, save for some specialty breeds, do fine in cold weather as long as they have a few simple adjustments....mainly shelter from the rain, snow and wind, adequate food to stoke the internal furnace (the simple act of digesting food creates inner heat that helps the animal make it through the cold better) and easy to access water. A shelter can be as fancy as a barn or as easy as a lean-to, hoop house or in the case of goats and sheep, a dog house. Contrary to popular belief, bigger is not better when it comes to winter shelter...the animal's body heat can actually help heat the structure if it's small enough. Just be sure to give proper bedding, usually hay or straw is good, as both enable the animal to lay or burrow into it and make sure the entrance is situated away from the wind. 

Predators are finding less plentiful food and are starting to eye your livestock and pets more seriously. As a good steward to your critters, you need to make their areas as safe as possible. That could be as easy as shutting the chickens and other birds up in their coops earlier, before the evening's hunt begins or as much work as stringing extra lines of electric fence, beefing up existing fencing or even investing in livestock guardian dogs. Determined predators may even cause a need for hunting and trapping.
Below are a few links to our files and more intensive information on winter care of your pets and livestock.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/twisted-mind-homesteading/basics-101-on-how-to-train-an-lgd-to-protect-your-livestock-by-boots-n-lace/1687733341462953

https://www.facebook.com/notes/twisted-mind-homesteading/how-to-keep-your-livestock-warm-without-looking-like-the-gentle-barn-by-boots-n-/1703397023229918

Putting the Garden to Bed -Mad Potter

Putting the Garden to Bed

Summer has come full circle. The last of the fall cold crops are finishing up. Fall has taken ahold and winter is around the corner. Believe it or not now is the time to start preparing for the coming spring season by putting the garden to bed.

In most of the U.S. gardens have a spell of rest, some more lengthy than others depending on your location. A few things you can do to help insure an easier start next spring when homesteading gets busy are. Garden clean up, remove dead plants and throw them to a new composting site. Put away cages, trellises, hoses, pull stakes from the garden. Make notes of what did well and what needs changed. I always burn tomato plants, helps eliminate blight next season. Blight can over winter in a compost pit and devastate an heirloom crop next year.

See all those leaves in the yard? Don't mulch them collect them and add them to the garden. The fauna in the soil never really rest and will start breaking them down even over the winter.

After cleaning up the garden add the leaf litter you have collected from the yard to the garden. Now its time to add any other amendments you may need or have. A local county extension office can do a soil test for you and is often free. Peat moss, can wait till spring if you have soil that is heavy and compacted like clay. ( also a topic up coming)

Okay we have all the stuff added now lets give it a pass over with the rototiller, by hand if raised beds, or disc it in with the tractor. After tilling spread a layer of manure over the garden if you have it. Let it sit on top over the winter to age. Reserve chicken shit for areas that you plan on growing leafy greens in. The higher nitrogen content will produce leafy growth better than vegetables. (We will get into that later.) For now you're done. Sit back enjoy the holidays, enjoy the can upon can of produce that was put away over the summer.

-Mad Potter

Trapping 102 -by Toe Catch

Baits are just that , a bait. Baits can be broke down into four distinct groups : Food stuffs , Liquid , Paste and Chunked. Depending on animal you are trying to draw in , they can be as simple as a donut , peanut butter , jelly , sardines or an extensively tested and commercially manufactured formula and anything in between. Baits are used year round with great success , for everything from the smallest pest like mice to the largest predators like bears. Baits are used for removing wildlife and pest by Animal control personnel , hunters , fishermen , homeowners and trappers alike. For the purpose of this article I will talk about trapping baits and their uses. Used with or without lures. Let's start with the least used which is liquid baits. Liquid bait is just that a liquid or semi liquid. Liquid are baits that have been ground into liquid form , has additives making it semi liquid or are liquid byproducts of making another bait. Fruit can be ground in a blender to almost pure liquid and then have things like simple peanut oil or glycerine added as an extender and glycol added as an antifreeze agent. This can be used for trapping Raccoon , Muskrat , Opossum , Skunks , Grey & Red Fox and Coyote in cages , dogless , cubbies and dirt hole sets. Another that comes to mind is Horse Hoof liquid which is liquid bait that when used in a dirt hole set will cause every K9 species around to have an extreme digging reaction. Some baits are actually used to catch trapping bait like mice , rats , moles , etc. Then those can be frozen and used whole at a later time or ground into a paste to be mixed with other ingredients to make a predator bait with some to great success. Which brings me to the group of paste baits. Commercial paste baits are usually some type fruit or meat base (either fresh or tainted meats , I'll explain this process later) mixed with glycol's , glycerine , oils , glands , fixatives , extenders , tinctures, etc. Depending on the species or group of species the bait is targeting. A good fruit paste bait is persimmon , the fruit is ground up and mixed with glycol to prevent freezing and lanolin or corn starch to get the consistency desired. Meat paste baits are meat that is ground up and mixed with ground up glands from different species depending targeted species. Mink , Muskrat , Beaver , Skunk , Coyote , Fox and Bobcat glands are all used with great success in paste baits. Mice , Beaver and Bobcat meats are all common meats to be used with glands from Muskrat , Mink and Beaver Castors for an extremely good predator bait and mixed with skunk essence (a little goes an extremely long way) and lanolin or corn starch to get desired consistency and a preservative like sodium benzoate to stop it from aging any farther. Paste baits can be smeared on backing or down a dirt hole which is the most common. Chunk baits are what is typically made by the trapping public meats can be anything , but Fish , Venison , Beaver are the most commonly used. The meat cut into chunks and mixed with sodium benzoate to preserve and a commercial bait solution that already contains all the other ingredients needed for predators and used in dirt hole sets. Meats are used fresh or tainted (aged) both need to be mixed with a preservative like sodium benzoate (SB) to stop the aging (decomposition) process. The (SB) can be mixed as is with the meat , but I have found it reacts fastest if desolved in a small amount of warm water first and then added to the meat. This still takes about an additional three days to be exorbed by the meat so adding it is crucial or the meat will rot and become us less unless you want to catch every opossum within 100 miles. The aging process varies from person to person , but is typically done in a cool dry area away from heat and direct sunlight. A good rule is when it starts to get a slight odor of "Going Bad" it's time to add the preservative and mix in the other solutions and additives. Then allowed to age awhile longer. I will go into further detail in another article on making meat baits. Toe Catch

Trapping 101 -by Toe Catct

Lures and their usage. All wildlife are placed into two categories : Predators or Pray. This will focus on Predators. There are several different reasons to use a lure for trapping. Sexual desire , food , curiosity , calling to name a few. For the purpose of this article I will talk about food , curiosity and calling. Each has their own purpose and when used correctly can help produce great results. First let's discuss food lures. Food lure isn't the same as a food bait. This is exactly what the name implies , it plays on the animals hunger and need for food , through it's nose. A good food lure can target a specific species , yet in many cases will attract multiple species. Of all lures a food grade lure is probably the most used. Lures use the fragrance of food without the actual food. Most use oils and extracts with extenders and fixatives to obtain the fragrance they are after. Oils like Cherry , Anise , Apple , Cheese or extracts like vanilla , peppermint , etc. Are widely used to appeal to species like Raccoon , Bear , Skunk , Etc. Food lures can be used year round with great success , however they will produce different results in the middle of winter than they do in spring and summer. Curiosity lures are used with great success in instances where species are pressured or the typical food lures are not producing the desired results. Curiosity lure contain oils , extracts , glands , extenders and fixatives. They do as the name implies and appeal to the curiosity of the species. Catnip is a good example of a curiosity to predators like Bobcats , Coyote and Grey Fox. Many lure makers use Catnip oil as an ingredient in their curiosity lures that are designed to be used as a "Rub" lure to be used in a rub set causing the animals to want to rub their faces in the lure. Call lures can be broke down into two groups: close range and long distance call (LDC). Many of these use glands , oils , extenders , fixatives and Skunk essence (business end liquid of a skunk) to do exactly as the name implies. The close range call lures can be used year round to appeal to the predatory species with great success. The LDC is best used during winter when the temperature has dropped , predators are on the move looking for a meal and competing for food. LDC are very "Loud and Strong" in fragrance and should be used with care to not be over used , a little goes a very long way and should not be used directly at your set , but used close by to get the predators in the area where the other lures and baits can take over. I personally use them very sparingly and at about head height off the ground on a nearby tree limb. Many LDC lure have a very strong Skunk odor and should not be open indoors , you will regret it and will get very familiar with the dog !!!! When using lures it is best to use them as the manufacturer suggest. They have tested and tried them and know what amount works best. A good rule of thumb is use a "Pea" sized amount. I personally keep Q-tips in with my lures and will dip them in the lure to get the amount of lure desired. I encourage questions about lures and baits and their usage. I will answer them as fast as possible and will do another piece on baits and their usage. Both can be used alone or together along with urine in many sets for trapping. I can't possible put everything into one piece or cover every possible scenario. I will get some photos and videos covering trapping , preperation of equipment , sets , fur handling and the uses of lures and baits as well. Toe Catch

Greeting your dog Pack Style -by Boots N Lace

TRAINING TIP FROM THE PACK:

Ever notice how EVERY time you leave the room you get greeted by your dog excitedly and with an active nose? Why? Well, lets look at the Pack in function....

Your dogs are as happy to come as they are to go here at the Farm. Every time a dog enters the Pack, everyone stops what they are doing and comes to greet. Proper greeting ritual is sniffing and being sniffed. The ritual HAS to take place, or the Pack sees it as a challenge and the non-sniffer gets punished with corrections from the Pack members. (If your dog isn't doing that, that is a behavior that must be addressed from lack of socialization. Call me!) Think of it this way, you go to a co-workers home for dinner, upon entry, you SHAKE HANDS with their family. Why? Because that is proper American custom to meet new people and you are rude if you don't (or ill mannered whichever.) So make sure your dog is sniffing and allowing itself to be sniffed.

When your dog leaves the Pack to go on a walk and comes back, the dogs re-sniff entering member to confirm not only that "yup, it's the same guy" but also to reconfirm dominance pecking order. When there is no challenge by the new enter-er, play resumes back to normal.

So, back to why you get greeted EVERY TIME YOU LEAVE for 5 mins! lol. Your dog wants to not only give you proper ritual, but also make sure that the dominance pecking order rules are STILL the same as when you left. Are you making sure that you are being the Pack Leader EVERY time you enter where your dog is at? Or are you winding their brain up into excitement and making your return a ritual? Remember, if it is all fun and games when you enter the room, it will also be fun and games when your guest come in too. YOU Pack Leader set the example for both. Dogs are not able to know that today is ok but tomorrow is not. It is either all or nothing, you decide.

Happy Sniffing!


smile emoticon

Counter Surfing Dog Correction -by Boots N Lace

Proper Timing and Correction Dog Training Tip:

Many dogs have the poor manners of chins, front paws, or worse ALL 4 paws on the counter/table. Owners then contact me going "Wth? How did he get there? He never did that before!" Sure he did, you just weren't paying attention!

The trick to managing your dogs behavior is EARLY correction. Don't wait for the action of actually jumping or climbing. Correct it at LOOKING or "eyeing." Dogs follow their noses by instinct as that is how they see their world. THEN they eye. Then they put their mouth up there. It takes THOSE steps, but if you weren't paying attention you missed YOUR cue. Once the dog starts, you can't stop them. I then hear "he knows better, he cowers when I scold him." Eh, well, easier to say sorry than get permission right?

To correct looking, a negative tone of "Eh-Eh" is usually enough for most dogs. When I'm training I will even "bait" the dog by putting ham or bacon on the edge of the counter. They have to remain in a sit, stay, and LOOKING AT ME (imperative) before I then give the food to them.

For the more "hell bent" dog, that the above negative don't work on, I use the squirt bottle mixture and hard spray setting. I will advance to an e-collar if the dog has history of counter surfing and wants to get up when my back is turned or I am out of the room (a whole other topic piece.)

Manners Matter!

-Boots N Lace