Farm & Ranch

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch…

Published

4 months ago

December 16, 2023

NTFR

We are definitely in the season of holidays, family and being appreciative of what we have. While our ventures can be enduring and rewarding at the same time, the real question I ask myself is, “Who are we doing this for?” While most of the time it is for ourselves because we love what we do, in the long term, we probably do this for our families, our hired hands and the ones that put as much towards our success as we do. Our circle is our community and while we certainly want to do good in life it also gives us as much or more pride to see others do good themselves.

Winter officially begins this month and with that comes the feed and hay bills. This year was really tough on our native forages due to the drought and heat combination. Our pastures haven’t been this bad in 20-plus years. We normally don’t overgraze our pastures, but it is obvious now that we did this year while not noticing we were doing so. The moisture we did receive did not keep our forages growing because, in my opinion, the extreme heat shut the plants down. So, the normal $400 to $500 winter feed bills for 120 days of feeding are going to increase. As I mentioned in earlier articles, we did double our winter forage planting this year so hopefully we will see some relief from store-bought protein supplements.

To read more, pick up a copy of the December issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.

Farm & Ranch

Hazards of Backyard Poultry

Published

1 week ago

April 21, 2024

NTFR

By Barry Whitworth, DVM

Having backyard poultry is a popular agriculture enterprise. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, 0.8 percent of all households in the United States have chickens. People keep chickens for a variety of reasons with table eggs being one of the more common reasons.

Unfortunately, some of these poultry producers are not aware of the hazards that come with keeping poultry because many times they carry pathogens but appear healthy.
Chickens are carriers of several zoonotic diseases. These are diseases that can be passed from animals to humans. According to a recent survey in Pennsylvania, a majority of backyard poultry producers were aware of the dangers of avian influenza. However, this study also revealed that far fewer producers were aware of the risk of possible exposure to Salmonella and Campylobacter.

The lack of knowledge about the hazards of raising poultry likely contributes to the continued issues of Salmonella outbreaks associated with backyard poultry. In 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 1,072 illnesses of Salmonella linked to backyard poultry, and 272 of those patients required hospitalization. Oklahoma reported 43 individuals with the disease.

To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.