Life on the Farm
White-tail deer are a common sight on our farm. But seeing one grazing in our goat pasture gives me the willies. Why? Because white-tails can shed a hair-like nematode that causes deer worm infection in goats. In the days when...
Search the web for the word Humanimal and you will find links describing all sorts of things. Some of them are: a video game, a hard rock band, several music albums, a horror movie, and a documentary. Also: a British...
An herb that grows in the garden and can be used as a sugar substitute sounds too good to be true, so of course I had to try it. Naturally sweet stevia has now taken its place on my list...
Animal behaviorists all agree that the various sounds chickens make have meaning. But they disagree on how to interpret the meaning. Some believe chickens speak a language, similar to human language. Others question whether chickens mean what they say. They...
Ginger seems like an exotic spice from a faraway place. I used it for many years before realizing how easy it is to grow ginger in your garden. My moment of epiphany occurred one year when crystallized ginger inexplicably became...
Chickens make a lot of different sounds, and every one of them means something, at least to another chicken. But do chickens speak a language? Do they convey information in the same way humans do with words? Do chickens, like...
Like most farmers, my husband and I can’t bear to throw away good parts. So when our old wheelbarrow rusted out, we salvaged the still-serviceable parts to build a better wheelbarrow. It was Allan’s inspiration to use the parts to...
Why do you suppose we humans believe we know what chickens are saying when they make certain sounds? It’s because humans convey emotion using the same system of vocalizing as chickens. The structure of any sound a chicken makes, or...
Creamed honey is often called whipped honey. If you wish to make your own, the first thing you need to know is this: Whipped honey is not whipped. You actually do not want to incorporate any air into so-called whipped...
The mysteries of the origin of chicken talk and human speech may be found in the goings-on among the frogs and toads in your farm pond, says my ornithologist friend Gene Morton, who has written extensively on animal behavior and...
