Episode 138For the Love of Goats Welcome to the world of showing goats! Have you ever dreamed of picking the perfect breeding pair that produces such a successful combination of genetics that you wind up with a doe that wins ... Read More The post Breeding Champion Goats with Ed Jodlowski appeared first on The Thrifty Homesteader ..read more

Episode 137For the Love of Goats If you’ve ever wondered about the importance of forage and hay testing to ensure your herd is receiving maximum nutrition, today’s episode will provide you with lots of valuable information. We are talking to ... Read More The post Hay Testing: Labs, Equipment, and Results appeared first on The Thrifty Homesteader ..read more

Episode 136For the Love of Goats In this bonus episode with Dr. Woody Lane, a livestock nutritionist and forage specialist and consultant, who’s the owner of Lane Livestock Services and the author of three books on forages, grazing, soils, and ... Read More The post Pasture Grasses and Browse appeared first on The Thrifty Homesteader ..read more

Episode 135For the Love of Goats It can be a seemingly insurmountable challenge to balance the grazing needs of your herd with the necessity to maintain pasture and forage growth. If only there was a formula to strike that perfect ... Read More The post 4 Good Pasture Principles appeared first on The Thrifty Homesteader ..read more

Episode 134For the Love of Goats Herd shares are often considered to be a sneaky way to circumvent state laws prohibiting the sale of raw milk. But did you know that herd shares themselves are not legal in all 50 ... Read More The post Herd Shares: Legalities and Liabilities appeared first on The Thrifty Homesteader ..read more

Episode 133 For the Love of Goats Listeriosis can strike fear into the hearts of goats owners, not only because it needs prompt treatment to increase the odds of survival, and because it can be difficult to diagnose due to the fact that it shares symptoms with several other serious illnesses, but also because Listeria bacteria exist everywhere.   Today, Dr. Melissa Holahan, a postdoctoral researcher from the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, is joining us to talk about listeriosis and how we can prevent these zoonotic bacteria from sickening both our goats and us. She ..read more

Episode 132 For the Love of Goats Have you ever thought about hosting guests on your farm for additional income, but were too unsure about the logistics to take the first step? Today’s podcast will offer clarity and may even inspire you to finally venture into the world of agritourism. We are talking to Scottie Jones, co-owner of Leaping Lamb Farm in Oregon and the founder of FarmStay USA, a national marketing and referral website for working farms that offer agritourism opportunities.  Agritourism has been growing in popularity for some time. First it was glamping, and now Airbnb has ad ..read more

Episode 131 For the Love of Goats If you ever wondered about the benefits of milk testing, today’s episode contains an abundance of valuable information. Today we are talking to Jeremy Leather, a field technician at Dairy One, a milk testing lab in New York State. While Dairy One offers multiple services, including forage and soil testing, we are focusing on their excellent milk testing services and how milk testing can have a major positive impact on the health of your herd.  Jeremy discusses the basics of milk testing and the most common things goat owners test for and why. He also exp ..read more

Episode 130 For the Love of Goats Have you ever wanted to try raw milk, lauded for its health benefits, but were concerned about the safety? Like all raw foods from lettuce to oysters, there is a risk of contamination, but there’s a lot we can do to be sure that all of our raw food, including milk, is as safe as possible. We are talking to Mark McAfee, the chairman of the Raw Milk Institute, which was founded in 2011 to help meet the growing demand for safe raw milk and to educate consumers on raw milk safety. He is also the founder of Raw Farm, the largest producer of raw milk in the world ..read more

by Stephen Edson With their short legs, long bodies, fox-like faces, and bat ears, Corgis have captured many dog lovers’ hearts around the world. Most famous in recent times as having been the companion of choice for Queen Elizabeth II, surely her love of the breed has helped to popularize it. Today, most Corgis are simply companion dogs, which is understandable given their lively and affectionate dispositions. However, beneath their adorable exterior is a true blue-collar working dog. They come from a long line of herding dogs, bred specifically to be capable of moving livestock with little ..read more