7
votes
What's the best use for pig fat (lard)?
You seem to be well aware of the "cooking applications" of lard, but just in case you haven't heard of it, I'm particularly fond of Schmalz a German spread made from lard, together with small amounts ...
- 5,963
6
votes
Accepted
Wind farms using advanced technology (radar, AI, tracking) to shut down wind farm turbines when risks are highest for migratory and endangered birds?
The Netherlands
I am aware of 1 such wind farm in my country named 'Windpark Krammer'. This farm is located near 3 protected nature areas. According to their webpage that lists a few media articles (...
- 14.4k
6
votes
What's the best use for pig fat (lard)?
You can use it to replace oil when cooking things that would benefit from the pork flavour like soups.
You can use it in any situation that requires deep frying. Chips taste especially nice when ...
6
votes
Accepted
Are bats and chickens good animals for pest control?
My wife and I have about 100 free-ranging chickens. For bug control, they are a mixed blessing. Chickens eat just about any kind of insect they can find, excepting small ants, and thank goodness ...
- 386
5
votes
Accepted
Is mud, or berm/swales considered to be worth more in a wetland?
Unless there is lack of upland habitat, for example if you live in a highly developed area, then the conversion of any wetland area to upland area would almost certainly have a net negative impact on ...
- 1,478
5
votes
How does footprint per dollar vs footprint per kilo compare for different methods of raising livestock?
I have an incomplete answer, but at least this is something to get the conversation started. At the bottom of your comments, you restate the question as "is organic any better because it costs more, ...
5
votes
What type of guinea pigs will keep a food forest well cleaned?
We kept 70 - 80 wild guinea pigs in the back of our lot for perhaps four months. They free-ranged the pasture during the daytime and slept in sturdy cages at night. Every few weeks we would move the ...
- 386
4
votes
Accepted
Are possum fur products typically from culled possums?
Possums are not farmed in New Zealand or in Australia.
They're an Australian native, where most species are protected. The brushtail possum that's a major pest species in New Zealand is only ...
- 3,875
4
votes
Accepted
What's the best use for pig fat (lard)?
More uses...
Lard or the fat can be made into Lardo - or cured pork fat (Italian name). This is done without rendering it. It's remarkably tasty. There are many versions of this around the world.
...
- 176
4
votes
How many people could be fed using the land currently used to grow feed for livestock?
Your question seems to be specifically limited to grain fed to livestock, even though a great deal of the feed grown for livestock is not grain, and most livestock are not fed, let alone fed grain. It'...
- 3,875
4
votes
Is "buying local" sustainable, with reference to food made from animals?
A good question, but one for which the answer will differ for different locations around the world. Here in New Zealand, for example, very little feed is brought in from outside of the farm upon which ...
- 348
4
votes
Accepted
Can sunn hemp make animals high?
No.
Hemp apparently was, for medieval Europeans, a generic term used to describe any fibre.
Thus there is a bewildering variety of plants carrying the name hemp,
including; Manila hemp (abacá, ...
- 8,745
3
votes
Dogs to protect housing against bears
I'm not aware of any dog that can go up against a brown bear and survive. Even wolves have trouble -- a brown bear can easily steal the kill from a small wolfpack. Your best option is probably a ...
- 598
3
votes
How does footprint per dollar vs footprint per kilo compare for different methods of raising livestock?
Since asking the question I have been thinking about this quite a bit, and I believe the fundamental difference boils down to the balance between preventing and repairing negative externalities:
...
- 11.8k
3
votes
Accepted
Cost analysis of changing cow diet to lower methane emissions
A number of sources claim that adding seaweed to the diet of cattle can reduce methane emissions from cattle by 70 to 86 percent.
Cows fed small amount of seaweed burp 86 per cent less methane in ...
- 3,507
3
votes
Are pine needles poisonous to goats?
I have been told that pine is a natural de-wormer for goats. I always give mine a few descent size branches when they show signs of worms. They usually will try their hardest to get to the branches ...
- 31
2
votes
How to create healthy bat living conditions in Vermont?
Audibon Magazine distilled the following from Bat Conservation International:
Here are some tips for installing a bat house, from Bat Conservation
International, a science-based bat conservation ...
- 1,478
2
votes
Are pine needles poisonous to goats?
Some pines can act as abortifacients and possibly cause renal damage because they contain isocupressic acid.
Ponderosa pine is the one I know of, because we have some near our goat pasture and have ...
- 21
2
votes
Are pine needles poisonous to goats?
There is quite a lot of info on the web in general, from this big list of poisonous and ok plants (repeated in various places with no source or attribution - pine is on the ok side). A more definitive ...
- 3,875
2
votes
Accepted
I've read that black locust is poisonous to sheep, so will installing black locust poles poison sheep also?
Pretty much everything is toxic if you have too much of it. Water, for example, can be toxic to humans. The trick to not going insane in this world is to stop looking at lists on websites that claim ...
- 2,804
2
votes
What types of ducks are cold hardy, and do well in wetlands?
Google is your friend. Use it.
search cold weather ducks
http://thriftyhomesteader.com/2013/11/cold-ducks-keeping-ducks-in-winter.html
The above is in the Olympic mountains at 1000 feet. Heavy ...
- 7,197
2
votes
Is "buying local" sustainable, with reference to food made from animals?
There are a few chapters of a good book that come to mind about the state of Confined Animal Feeding Operations or CAFO's. The book is called "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
Much of the ...
- 375
2
votes
What to look for in a pair of sustainable shoes?
Main considerations:
source of materials.
Obviously more oil is a bad thing. This casts aspersions on any plastic too.
Longevity.
A shoe that lasts for 10 years is a 20 times the value of one ...
- 7,197
2
votes
How to encourage turkeys onto my land without encouraging other wild life?
I suspect your best bet is to start another gaggle. Wild turkeys are capable of flight, but aren't built for long distance flying. Much depends on the width of the river. If it's only a few feet, ...
- 7,197
1
vote
What are the uses of bones from the different animals bred industrially?
Lots of it is ground up and used as animal feed. for the same animals...
- 375
1
vote
Is "buying local" sustainable, with reference to food made from animals?
Our World in Data recently put together an interesting chart on this topic. From the article "You want to reduce the carbon footprint of your food? Focus on what you eat, not whether your food is ...
- 11.8k
1
vote
What to look for in a pair of sustainable shoes?
Summary: choose natural materials such as hemp, jute, organic cotton, or bamboo, preferably from a manufacturer that uses vegetable-based dyes, is fair-trade certified, and is working on reducing its ...
- 14.4k
1
vote
Accepted
What type/breed of animals do I want for food forest maintenance?
Many kinds of animals can be used, but chickens are most often selected to patrol the floor of a food forest. I used to allow my hens to have full run of the yard all the time, but they were way too ...
- 412
1
vote
Are pine needles poisonous to goats?
Well, it seems a little is ok.
I think we have over done it with out goats, given them too much too quickly. Seems to be a problem with gut bacteria and not having time to adjust to the new feed.
We ...
- 11
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