Information and Articles

How do I get started in free range pig farming? It’s a question that is now being asked on a regular basis. Firstly, and probably most importantly, contact your local council and ask if there are any restrictions or special requirements for farming pigs in your area.
Getting started 
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 The Department of Primary Industries (DPI) is reminding livestock producers that now is the time to vaccinate their flocks and herds for clostridial diseases  such as pulpy kidney, blackleg and black disease.

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 The word according to CFMoto has been spreading like wildfire in the Australian marketplace since its range of ATVs was released just over 12 months  ago. And now CFMoto has announced the arrival of the newest, toughest and downright brilliant quad, the CFMoto X8.

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Purchasing bulls can be one of the highest costs associated with cattle breeding and running a small beef herd.

Owning a bull 
Bulls are the most cost effective when they are mated with the largest number of cows possible, as the cost of the bull can be spread out over a larger number of calves. Bulls can safely be mated with between 40-60 cows. However, for the majority of small landholders this number of cows is out of reach.

Purchasing and mating a single bull is risky as this animal could easily suffer injury, infection or disease and become infertile. Single sire herds also require a replacement bull when the bull’s daughters return to the herd. Owning more than one bull can create cattle management problems. For example, when bulls fight they can injure each other and damage farm infrastructure.

Owners of small beef herds should consider bull/herd sharing, bull hiring and artificial insemination as worthy alternatives to bull ownership.  

Bull sharing involves two cattle farmers buying two bulls together.

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 Between 2001 and 2010, there was an average of 13 quad bike deaths per year. In 2011, this increased to 23 deaths and tragically in the first five months of  2012, 8 people have already died on quad bikes.

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Keeping livestock for milk is one of the oldest and most traditional ways of self-sufficient farming and it is still a way of ensuring food security today. Many  types of livestock – including sheep, goats and cattle – can be kept to supply milk.
If you would like regular, plentiful supplies of fresh milk daily, with excesses available to produce products like cheese and butter, a dairy cow is your best choice. 

 The fight against invasive animals has gone online for Western Australian rural landholders with the launch of a new 1080 training tool.

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With keeping chickens comes the responsibility of providing them adequate housing. This article covers important considerations for buying or building the  perfect chicken house for your poultry.

Because many plans for building poultry housing are already freely available on the internet, this article will concern itself more with what's required to keep poultry safe, happy and productive in terms of space and amenity requirements. Armed with this knowledge, you should be able to build, modify or purchase a chicken coop that’s suitable to your poultry’s needs and will keep them safe and contented.

What makes poultry happy/unhappy?
Research now provides a very good idea of what makes poultry happy and productive. Interestingly, the findings closely reflect the behaviours of the wild red jungle fowl of Southern Asia, from which all domesticated poultry are descended. In the wild, red jungle fowl form small, complex social groups. Much of their waking time is spent foraging over large distances, taking dust baths and preening themselves. Prior to laying they seek secluded spots for nest building and at night, they fly up into trees to avoid predators and roost. 

An ideal chicken coop for keeping chickens

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 ‘Getting away from it all’ is an Australian dream. In our area, getting away from it all often involves buying a rural block. Rural blocks can be productive  farmland, a bush block or a combination of both.

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 This compost pile was the star attraction for more than 100 farmers and agricultural industry members, who flocked to Craig Mathews’ Bass Coast dairy  farm to find out more about on-farm composting.

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