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How to Getting Started Raising Chickens
Countryside & Small Stock Journal March/April 2017 issue is NOW AVAILABLE! Subscribe today. + Starting Off Right With Chickens — If you plan on raising chickens on your homestead, there are a few...
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Saying “Hi”– Editor’s Letter April/May 2017
It’s hard to know what to say when you’re writing your first editor’s letter, so I think I’ll start with a simple “hi.” I feel like I know so many of you already since I come to the magazine from the...
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Editor’s Letter – May/June 2017
Greetings and Salutations! Hi everyone! It’s certainly nice to meet all of you! I look forward to getting to know you better over the coming issues, but in the meantime, I thought I’d take a minute and...
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Beginner’s Equipment Guide to Raising Chickens for Eggs
What is the best bedding for chickens won’t be the only question you have as you set up your first brooder. As you await the arrival of your new chicks, you will most likely be researching what you...
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Tips For Farm Pond Design In Your Backyard
By Anita B. Stone, Photographs by S. Tullock – Do you know the basics of farm pond design? If you’re ready to tap into a small backyard pond system on your homesteading land, put nature to work and...
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Recycling Materials On Hand For Compost Bin Plans
There are endless compost bin plans available online. A basic understanding of what components a compost bin must have is essential. Composting is among the easiest, environmentally friendly things to...
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Rope-Making Machine Plans
By Bob Greenwood and Judi Stevens – Did you ever need a rope to tie a gate, make a halter, tie down a load or make a lead rope? Why not make your own? With a few simple tools and supplies, you can make...
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Examining Chicken Anatomy and Biology — Our First e-edition
We’ve got exciting news for all you Backyard Poultry readers out there! If you have a Web-Only or All-Access Backyard Poultry subscription, you now get six EXTRA e-editions a year, in addition to the...
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Our First e-edition: How to Start Beekeeping
We have exciting news for Countryside! If you have a Web-Only or All-Access Countryside subscription, you now get six EXTRA e-editions a year, in addition to the six issues you receive every other...
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Spring Issue: How to Care for Baby Chicks
Our April/May 2017 Issue is NOW AVAILABLE, featuring great tips on how to care for baby chicks. Subscribe today! Learn how to care for baby chickens on their journey from the brooder to coop! This...
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Growing Seedlings Indoors Without Power
Not only is this my first gardening season in a new growing zone, it’s my first season to be growing seedlings indoors without a power source. Living off the grid has its own set of challenges, I...
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Learn How to Make Cheese at Home
Countryside & Small Stock Journal May/June 2017 issue is NOW AVAILABLE! Subscribe today. Say cheese! From soft to hard varieties, learning how to make cheese at home is a rewarding experience. In...
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The Scoop on Using Prebiotics and Probiotics for Chickens
When chicken keepers get their birds, they often wonder what to feed chickens. It’s probably the first question most newcomers ask. They naturally concentrate on commercial feed rations, fresh water,...
View ArticleHow to Raise Dairy Goats for Organic Goat Milk
By Cheryl K. Smith – When you’re learning goat farming basics, it pays to ask yourself if you want to raise your dairy goats for organic goat milk. It’s a question asked more frequently, as people in...
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Exploring Cherished Chicken Breeds
In case you haven’t heard, we’ve got exciting news for all you Backyard Poultry readers out there! If you have a Web-Only or All-Access Backyard Poultry subscription, you now get six EXTRA e-editions a...
View ArticlePrepare Livestock Guardian Dogs for Summer and More!
Our May/June 2017 issue of sheep! is NOW AVAILABLE. Learn why this magazine is the leading source for sheep information for the modern flockmaster seeking to raise sheep for profit or personal use....
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Raising Miniature Goats, Cows, Chicken and Sheep
What is driving the recent trend in raising miniature goats, cows, chickens and other livestock? As more people move toward a simpler way of life, and are living in a more self-sustainable way, they...
View ArticleFrom the Editor, CYS Spring e-edition Gardening
Springtime brings a lot of wonderful things, not the least of which is the return of gardening season. As soon as the weather turns warmer, I head outside to see what plants are starting to sprout. In...
View ArticleHomesteading Basics – Backyard Homesteading by David Toht
I grew up in an urban part of northern New Jersey where homesteading basics weren’t something that most people were concerned about. Aside from the beautiful gardens, my grandmother grew in her...
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Spring e-edition: Planting Vegetables at Home
We have exciting news for Countryside readers! If you have a Web-Only or All-Access Countryside subscription, you now get six EXTRA e-editions a year, in addition to the six issues you receive every...
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Get to Know Pigeons
Pigeons are remarkable for so many reasons. A true cosmopolitan, long after humans have left this Earth, only cockroaches, rats, and pigeons will remain. Humans and pigeons have been sharing living...
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Book Preview: Backyard Chickens Beyond the Basics
Backyard Chickens Beyond the Basics explores the realities of raising a flock for eggs — and entertainment, of course! From odd eggs and molting to chicken behavior, feeding and preparing for the...
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Drop Spindle Spinning: Making and Using Your First Spindle
By Angela Hammer – I’ve always liked making things with my hands. I learned how to crochet years ago, so spinning became the next logical step for me to take. Why buy yarn when you can make it...
View ArticleSelling Eggs as a Business and More!
Our June/July 2017 issue is NOW AVAILABLE, featuring everything about eggs — from selling eggs to finding the perfect chicken breed for maximum egg production to understanding duck egg color. Subscribe...
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Cayuga Duck Breed Spotlight
By Holly Fuller – Cayuga ducks are a threatened breed. These beautiful, iridescent, green feathered ducks are great for their flavorful meat, egg production, show quality, and their ability to make...
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12 Benefits of Learning How to Crochet
By Cathy Myers Bullard – “Chain four, join, and turn.” What artful activity relieves stress, inspires creativity, and promotes well-being all while being fun and functional? The answer: crochet....
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Kids and Coopworths: Sheep Camp at Owens Farm
By Caroline Owens What do you get when you combine summer, kids, and Coopworth sheep? Sheep Camp! The 1st of February is a critically important day for Owens Farm in Sunbury, Pennsylvania. That’s when...
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How to Raise Livestock Guardian Dogs
Countryside & Small Stock Journal July/August 2017 issue is NOW AVAILABLE! Subscribe today. Using livestock guardian dogs dates back more than 2,000 years ago. In Countryside’s July/August 2017...
View Article50 Must-Haves for TEOTWAWKI
By Thomas Sciacca – Arguably, the most important thing to store for a SHTF (Stuff Hits The Fan) or complete TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It) scenario is knowledge. Without it, you won’t...
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Hatching Duck Eggs
Hatching duck eggs is an awe-inspiring experience. Since domestic duck breeds rarely go broody (i.e. sit on fertile eggs until they hatch), using an incubator is generally your best bet. Various types...
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CDC: Salmonella Outbreak – Should You be Worried About Your Backyard Birds?
By Michelle Miller – A new CDC Salmonella outbreak report warns that illness from Salmonella is on the rise in 2017. Hundreds of people, over a third being children under the age of five, have become...
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How to Shear a Sheep and Other Fiber Animals
Learning how to shear a sheep takes practice and time. Before you head out to buy sheep shearing supplies try to observe a professional sheep shearer and ask questions. The first few times are going to...
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10 Best Agriculture Schools
By Doug Ottinger, Minnesota Academia, I learned, is not all about laptops and college football games these days. In a few corners around the country, some of the best agriculture schools are training...
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Summertime Chicken Care 101
In case you haven’t heard, we’ve got exciting news for all you Backyard Poultry readers out there! If you have a Web-Only or All-Access Backyard Poultry subscription, you now get six EXTRA e-editions a...
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How to Get Started with Meat Goat Farming
By Christine Kocourek – I have been involved with goats for more than 20 years, starting with grade dairy goats. My farm currently has more than 40 head of registered fullblood, purebred, and...
View ArticleHello From Pam Freeman, Countryside Editor
My experience may be unusual, but when I grew up, I never tasted store-bought jam or tomatoes from a supermarket can. In fact, our pantry just didn’t have many store-bought items. My mom canned...
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What is the Best Mulch to Prevent Weeds?
All Photos By Shelley Dedauw The best mulch to prevent weeds depends on where the mulch lies, what else you need it to do…and, of course, cost. What is the most important factor for a successful...
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From Canning Tomatoes to Pickling Beets, Savor Your Homegrown Harvest!
Our Summer 2017 e-edition is now available! Learn how to can, store, and preserve the homestead harvest you have worked so hard to grow — from canning tomatoes to pickling beats, this issue has all the...
View ArticleWhat is Your Livestock Guardian Dog’s Bark Trying to Tell You?
Our July/August 2017 issue of sheep! is NOW AVAILABLE, featuring stories that answer questions like, what is your livestock guardian dog’s bark trying to tell you? Learn why this magazine is the...
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Frittatas 101 – Start Basic Then Make it Fancy
When I learned to make frittatas, I knew I had a dish simple enough for a family supper yet fancy enough for entertaining. Frittata, which translates to “fried” in Italian, is an egg-based classic...
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10 Facts About Ducks: Are Ducks the New Chickens?
Over the last few years, keeping backyard chickens has become all the rage. Whether it’s wanting to know where their food is coming from, a desire to be more self-sufficient or merely wanting to go...
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Are You Wondering What Do Roosters Eat?
The common answer from chicken keepers when you ask them “what do roosters eat” is that they feed their roosters the same thing as the rest of the flock. This makes sense in backyard settings where the...
View ArticleCool Chicken Coops, Therapy Chickens and More!
Our August/September 2017 issue is NOW AVAILABLE! Learn how therapy chickens are gaining in popularity, check out cool chicken coops from readers, including our three Coolest Coops contest winners, and...
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How to Get Rid of Rats and Mice
Countryside & Small Stock Journal September/October 2017 issue is NOW AVAILABLE! Subscribe today and learn how to get rid of rats and mice naturally. Ahhhh! Fall! It’s such a welcome relief from...
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A Wonderful Goat Milk Soap Recipe with 5 Variations
By Mary Jane Toth – Goat milk soap is gentle to the skin. When used in soap, one delightful goat milk benefit is that it delivers calcium to the skin, making it smoother and healthier. Homemade...
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Why and When Do Chickens Molt?
By Jen Pitino – Many people wonder when do chickens molt? Molting, the chicken pundits tell us, is supposed to happen in either spring or at the end of summer as we slip in to fall weather and shorter...
View ArticleRaising Sheep: Buying and Caring for Your First Flock
By Marvin R. Gray – So you’ve moved to the country and have been thinking about raising sheep on your five or 10 acres. Perhaps you have only limited livestock experience, but raising sheep is...
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The Scoop on Using Prebiotics and Probiotics for Chickens
When chicken keepers get their birds, they often wonder what to feed chickens. It’s probably the first question most newcomers ask. They naturally concentrate on commercial feed rations, fresh water,...
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Prepare Your Chickens for Molting Season
In case you haven’t heard, we’ve got exciting news for all you Backyard Poultry readers out there! If you have a Web-Only or All-Access Backyard Poultry subscription, you now get six EXTRA e-editions...
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Pigeon Facts: An Introduction and History
Pigeons are remarkable for so many reasons. A true cosmopolitan, long after humans have left this Earth, only cockroaches, rats, and pigeons will remain. Humans and pigeons have been sharing living...
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