Dogbane (Plectranthus caninus) is a semi-succulent perennial herb from the mint family which is native to South Africa. Despite not being edible, dogbane has numerous uses in a home food garden and is considered a valuable pioneer support plant by permaculturists. Tough, low-maintenance, fast-growing yet not invasive, dogbane might just be your newest garden go-to!
Keeping a flock of chickens in your backyard is a great step towards self-sufficiency. A supply of fresh, organically-produced, free-range eggs is a big plus…but what if you get too many at once? Sure, you can boil, poach, fry, and scramble- but what else can you do to make the most of your eggs? Here’s
Growing a backyard full of food is exciting, satisfying, healthy, and environmentally friendly, but keeping pest damage to a minimum is sometimes a battle. Things can get away from us quickly, especially in the peak growing season: as fast as the crops grow, the damaging insects come in faster. Here are my 10 top organic
Introduction Article updated on 17th October 2018. Over the years as a backyard chicken keeper and breeder, I’ve heard lots of claims and remedies for how to safely treat mites or lice on chickens and other poultry; such as products like ivermectin, Maldison 50, Permethrin (synthetic pyrethrum), Carbaryl (Sevin), pest powders, dipping solutions. Or, more
Yes there is a difference between chicken and duck eggs A question I often hear or get asked is do duck eggs taste the same as chicken eggs? The simple answer is NO but having said that, the differences for most people are not obvious. Standard duck eggs are usually bigger than chicken eggs by
Make a free DIY chicken feed scooper today! Here's a nice simple tip to make a DIY scooper for those who keep chickens and any other animal for that matter requiring the scooping out of feed from a bin or bag etc. The DIY feed scooper is made out of a soda/soft drink bottle, such
How many chickens should you keep? How many chickens does the average newbie chicken keeper really need? Or, how many chickens should I start out with? These are two common questions asked by people who want to start keeping chickens but aren't quite sure about egg laying or chicken maintenance. The first thing I say
Can you just keep one chicken I should you have more? Can I keep just one chicken or will it fret? One of the great things about chickens is their versatility. They are also an independent animal and often like to be on their own. Therefore, it is OK to keep just one chicken because
Here's some info on when chickens start laying eggs Chickens usually start laying between 16 to 20 weeks or around 4 to 5 months old; however, it can take a little longer for hens to settle in and start laying especially if they have been moved to a new area or spent a fair amount
Keep a couple of ducks to keep them happy You can keep just one duck, obviously, but you shouldn't and here's why. One black hen, a couple or ducks, 3 brown bears, 4 running hares… Remember this verbal game? If you do, you probably drank too much in your early 20's ha-ha… However, my loose
You often hear the term "point of lay" in association with buying or selling chickens so what does point of lay actually mean? Simply, the term "point of lay" means hens which have matured to the stage when they should be starting to lay eggs. The time it usually takes for a good laying breed
Introduction (This article was reviewed for currency on 10 Apr 2015) Raising or keeping quail isn't the first thing that comes to mind when one ponders self sufficiency. Needless to say, poultry have always been a favourite for self sufficiency and backyard farming because they are relatively easy to keep compared to livestock, they grow
Introduction I imagine many (or even most) people who practice some sort of self-sufficiency involving DIY slaughtering would hold some reservations with the whole process. The subject of DIY slaughtering or even commercial slaughtering is a difficult one but it is part of life. For the majority who eat meat, we shouldn't take for granted
I have a black hen who loves to come and visit me. She's a smart girl and definitely the smartest chicken out of all my hens and I say this because she's the only one (out of 15) that deliberately finds a way under my temporary fencing only to navigate 60 metres up to the
Several months prior to this article I wrote a two part “How to” article on how to build a quail or chicken run. The interest in this article has been exciting to see and I'm glad this particular project is grabbing peoples curiosity as I wasn't sure if our readers would enjoy my DIY building
Introduction When you think about great moments in time, human achievement, or an event which changed the world, most people would consider the wheel, electricity, war, medicine, moon landing, internet, Jesus, or Michael Jackson, but very few people give any credit to the domesticated fowl. Therefore, in this article I would like to be the
This article was updated on 28 Nov 2015 I‘ve known people who have given up and given away their chickens simply because they felt chickens were too much trouble to look after. In fact, we’ve even benefited from people asking us if we could take their birds off their hands for free because they were
Article updated on 7 May 2015 As a follow-up to my article on “Different types of chicken feeders” I thought I would write about what I consider to be the best drinkers for chickens and indeed other poultry. At the same time, this article will also cover some simple rules for chicken drinkers, various types
With all the wonder foods and so-called weight loss remedies pushed onto us all daily, I never recall ever hearing about eating quail as a healthy meat alternative or to help lose weight. That’s such a pity because quail is one of the world’s wonder foods and more people should know about it. Of course,
In a world where just about everything is supersized up, quail are no exception – welcome to the world of giants and Jumbo quail… Whether you call them Coturnix quail, Japanese quail, or Pharaoh quail, they all pretty much mean the same thing – a small domesticated breed of poultry. They come in various colours
Self Sufficient Me is a blog about self-sustainment by growing our own produce (plant/animal), and self-fulfilment by looking after our health (physical/mental) through exercise and slowing life down a little.
