Animal Systems – Page 2 – Gallifrey Forest Farm

Chicken culling

2016/09/08 Danielle 0

A quick warning for anyone who is squicked by reading about killing animals – this post is about death. Specifically, the death of chickens (roosters). There are no graphic pics, however. One of the parts of keeping pet chickens that isn’t so often talked about is what to do with the extras. The hens who’ve stopped laying, the roosters which inevitably hatch from about half the eggs you or your broody mama chook incubate. If the birds are pets, you can simply keep hens who’ve passed their laying years – but most people don’t. Councils restrict the number of […]

dairy production

2016/08/31 Danielle 4

I was interested (and felt vindicated too!) to see that the national response to predatory milk pricing by the milk wholesalers, potentially pushing dairy farmers past where they can make any profit at all, has been to boycott non-name branded milk in droves. The supermarkets are struggling to move it off the shelves, while sales of name brand milk (Pura, Browns, Harvey Fresh, etc., as well as smaller local brands such as Sunnydale and ?) have continued as normal. Consumers really do want to support farmers, and when a way to do so is offered which makes sense and is […]

guinea pigs, the reprise

2016/07/08 Danielle 0

No, I haven’t gone and acquired some guinea pigs. Yet. What I have been doing is some productivity calculations. My objective in keeping guinea pigs (aka cavies, aka cuy) is meat; if that squicks you, please stop now and don’t read any further. Ok then. One young guinea pig (at 4 months old) weighs 0.5 – 1 kg, on average. That obviously includes the bones, organs, skin, etc. which aren’t really edible – although the organs are useful for feeding to cats (and the dog we will eventually get), and pet food is one of the primary drivers […]

June 25: Less is More 2016 (hosting a beehive)

2016/06/25 Danielle 0

Today I presented at the 2016 Less is More festival, on hosting a beehive in your back yard. Here are some of the points I covered, just in case you couldn’t make it to the talk, or need a little reminder of the content. 🙂 Why host a beehive? Well, it’s more a case of why wouldn’t you, really. It’s easy and safe, the bees will pollinate all your vegetables and your fruit trees, and produce honey as well. Plus, honeybees are under a lot of pressure from climate change, pollution, disease and the use of damaging pesticides such […]

June 23: Making Mead

2016/06/23 Danielle 0

On Saturday I’ll be presenting at the 2016 Less is More festival in Peppermint Grove. I gave a presentation last year, on urban livestock, and I really enjoyed the experience. I’ve signed up to present again this year, this time on beekeeping. I’m no expert bee-keeper, but I do have bees and I love them. They’re fascinating, and very low maintenance, and they produce amazing honey from the flowers around here. My first introduction to bees as anything other than a flying insect in my garden was in Melbourne a few years ago. I did a one day “intro […]