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RichZ, do you have any of your livestock or poultry slaughtered or do they all retire? What do you do with the kids afterwards? I'm just wondering how you handle that. Don't egg and milk producing animals get old and feeble pretty quickly after they stop producing? Do you have them...

As agriculture became mechanized, the tractor quickly replaced draft horses. I know very few farmers who still use them. Now it seems that ATVs, UTVs, golf carts, trucks, and other vehicles are replacing horses even more. Do horses still have a place on the farm?

I answer negative reviews when I get them. I admit it when I've made a mistake and I try to remedy it. You have nothing to apologize for though. You were trying to take care of your employees and yourself and family by closing up. Couldn't she have gotten flowers elsewhere? Some people are...

I think that's a tough situation that everyone faces at some point when they raise livestock. I know some families who keep them around as pets, but personally, we send them to slaughter - chickens, ducks, turkeys, cows, whatever is no longer producing. We slaughter for meat to sell and for...

I second RichZ with using the Japanese beetle traps. Some people say that they attract more beetles to your yard, and that might be true, but in my experience they work a treat. Unfortunately, you won't get rid of the grubs that way. Grubs are usually fairly close to the surface of the soil...

Only predators have stolen livestock from us. I have dogs that will bark if anyone comes around and the chickens definitely raise a ruckus when they're upset. I put baby monitors in the barn and coop and I'm a light sleeper, so I'll wake up if I hear something. Smart cams might be a better...

It's been a coon's age since I've heard that expression. I doubt you could sour the pot though. Many different ideas have been shared around this forum with no upset. Plus, it's the internet. It's not like sharing your opinion at the feed store and almost coming to fisticuffs because you...

I have two in the house, one is upstairs and one is downstairs. I have a two in the shop, one is in the office and the other is behind the counter. I have three in the barn, one extinguisher at each exit and one hung in the very middle. You should definitely get one or more for the barn! All...

I use saucer feeders which are supposed to keep insects out. It does a decent job of that, but every now and then, a bug of one kind or another manages to wedge itself (and die) in one of the ports. When that happens, I just hose it out.

I've thought about that and I think we'd grow cherry trees in that case. We'd probably go with a dwarf variety since it starts producing within two or so years. The cherries provide food for the table and they're easy to preserve. You can use the pits to make syrup, to make hot compresses...

I planted a crop Shasta daisies last spring that thrived. I sold a few bouquets at the farmers market last season. This year, however, they haven't bloomed at all. I only have green foliage. Nothing seems amiss from what I can tell. There are no pests, and they haven't been damaged by cold...

A drip-irrigation system can be as complicated or as easy as you want it to be. You can make your own system for very little. It will take some time to piece it together, though, especially if you're intending to do several acres.

I can't see it falling that low, but I'd love for it to happen. I never thought the price would fall below $2 again. Not after it ran $5 a gallon for a while around here.

@More Green I'm guessing someone who didn't want to make a big investment would simply start small then scale things later as they earned money off the project. That looks pretty doable to me. You'd upgrade your equipment as you went along.

And they'll promptly fly away. Well, at least that's been my experience. You can kill the pests with a mixture of dish soap and water. If you want to attract ladybugs to your yard, plant something they like such as fennel, cosmos, yarrow, and dill.

Cutworms are a nuisance when the crop first begins to grow, but they'll target just about any young plant. Corn rootworms can be particularly devastating as the larva feed on the roots.

When it comes to your livestock, do you guys slaughter and butcher them at home or do you send them off? We process fowl at home, but we send the pigs off because it's so messy. We also like to use the pig from tail to snout, which for us involves selling the parts we don't want.

If I was going to deal with peafowl I'd breed them and sell them. They fetch a decent rate usually. Even the common blue peafowl goes for around $50 around here.

I've yet to find a perfect solution, so I use a combination of methods. I've planted naturally deterrents like lemongrass around those the areas that they're most likely to be a nuisance. I keep some fans running where I can because moving air seems to help. I don't leave stagnant water on...

What? Are you all men leaving the housework to your wives? I've never known a house on a farm that didn't accumulate crud from going in and out and taking care of the animals and having children around. How are you keeping your homes so pristine? We pull our shoes off at the door and change...