Did you know that whitetail deer can share diseases and parasites with your sheep and goats? Meningeal worm, also called brain worm and deer worm, is one of those parasites. It is not as frequently seen or spoken of as other parasite, but it can be deadly if not treated promptly and properly. Thus, it…
How To Keep Garden Weeds At Bay
Weeding. Most gardeners consider this to be one of their least favorite tasks. It can be tedious, monotonous, and thankless enough to put some people off gardening all together. Weeds grow incredibly fast and can overtake your garden seemingly overnight. They can quickly result in crop yield reductions or the death of ornamental plants. Thus,…
Enhancing Livestock Performance: The Importance of Breeding Stock Selection
If a large percentage of your flock is related to your ram, you might be at the point where you are worried about inbreeding and looking to buy a new ram. Perhaps you’re looking to buy in some new ewes to enlarge your flock. Or maybe you just feel like your sheep aren’t performing as…
Brown Rot: The Bane of Growing Stone Fruit
If you have ever tried growing stone fruits like peaches or plums, then you might have struggled to ever get fruit. This is particularly if you live in the hot humid environment of the southeast. In the spring your trees flower, you get a promising set of happy looking fruit, then shortly before they start…
Keeping Mastitis Out Of Your Flock Of Sheep
If you breed sheep for any length of time, you’re likely to run across a case of mastitis at some point. This is particularly true for dairy animals. The increased udder volume and the larger, lower placed teats that are desirable for milking make the animals more susceptible to mastitis. So today we are going…
Saving Seeds: How To Maximize Color on a Budget
If you’re a budget conscious gardener (and who isn’t in today’s economy), then you might be interested in saving seeds. Many annuals are grown from seed, and they are a fantastic addition to the garden. Annuals are the best way to get copious amounts of long-lasting color. Unfortunately, buying them over and over every year…
Lambing: What To Expect When Your Ewes Start Expecting
Lambing season is in full swing. If you are new to sheep and this is your first lamb crop, you are likely a bit nervous and apprehensive about what to expect. You are probably also curious about what signs you should be watching for. So today we are going to look at pictures of and…
Dwarf Abutilons: Not Your Grandmother’s Flowering Maple
If you pay any attention to the horticulture industry, then you know that plants come and go in fads just like almost any thing else. Colors are popular, then they’re not. Variegated foliage is all the rage, then it’s not. However, one thing that never becomes unpopular is bountiful blooms. Most people who grow plants…
How To Prevent Pregnancy Toxemia and Milk Fever
A few months ago we discussed both the basics of how to understand a forage analysis, and also how to select the right mineral mix for your sheep. Lambing season is just around the corner, so, today we are going to discuss two very common and completely preventable nutrition-based problems you might encounter. We will…
How To Propagate Plants Part 3: Grafting
Today is part 3 of our how to propagate plants series. We will be discussing a more difficult, but no less important method: grafting. If you are unfamiliar with what grafting is, it is taking a small piece of one plant (called a scion) and attaching it to a different plant (called the rootstock) in…