Dogs found and angered this monster rattler. Too close to main infrastructure with 2 dogs and 2 little ones so had to send him on his way. Somewhere around 44 inches

What do you think?

We bought an Ag zoned 11+ acre farm 1 year ago. It’s a long and narrow property so the neighbors on either side are sort of close. To my knowledge the previous residents were tenants and they had way too many animals, pigs, cows, a donkey, chickens etc. their animals got out a lot, and the smell was really bad. Animals died all the time. I’ve found many bones and skulls in the field. Anyway the neighbor on one side told us all this when we met them last year. We assured them that we do have livestock but we take care of it. We have 4 kune kune pigs, 11 sheep and 2 horses. The horses are far out back in the field 24/7. The pigs stay in the small barn 24/7 because we simply don’t have money for fencing that they can’t escape from yet. Our sheep are in at night but on the fields during the day. Our neighbor had major issues with the previous residents, they even tried to sue them and claim health issues due to the smell. Based on the smell of the house I don’t doubt it. This place was nasty when we moved in. The barn had 3 ft of manure in it. We had to clean that out to get our animals in. The barn is probably 100-150ft away from their property line. And if I am right about the wind direction it does go up and across that way. There is a section of woods in between the barn and their house.
Yesterday the husband comes over and says he doesn’t want trouble but the animal smell he just won’t tolerate. He said his wife can’t go outside again and they don’t want to go through all through this again. They want to avoid going the legal route and talk with us first but they kept saying they just won’t tolerate it. He asked me what I had in the barn and I said 4 mini pigs and a few sheep (my rams) and they are mini sheep too.
I said as far as I understand the previous owner didn’t take care of his animals. He admitted yes the guy had 32 pigs in the barn (it’s a 3 stall barn) I also said I don’t know what else to do. They said you knew we had issues with the pig smell before and you got pigs anyway. I reminded them I had the pigs beforehand and we showed the wife the pigs and how they are way smaller. She said yes but they don’t stay that small. It ended on ok terms and I said I’d talk with my husband to see what we can do. I admitted I’m not a fan of the pigs but 🤷‍♀️.
I google search laws in my township and see it says manure has to be 75 ft back from property lines. Ok cool I didn’t know that so I had my husband move the piles far away and we tarped them. I’m going to lime the spot where they were today. They were in between the barn and the bordering woods. But before he did this I dug jntk the piles and stuck my nose in and smelled nothing. I go into the barn and smell down in the stalls (which we use deep bedding and put clean straw on regularly) I smell nothing. Are they just having ptsd from the previous residents last year?
Why now? Why not in the summer?
I want to work with them but I literally can’t smell anything and we have way less animals than the other people and we actually take care of them. Do I muck the pig poop out everyday no, but I do it regularly.
I originally wanted to tell them that I moved the manure piles and that things should be better but if it’s some phantom ptsd smell they are smelling then I don’t want to validate that. We are going to add farm insurance to our homeowners just in case. Their property is so presteenly landscaped and tidy because they are retired boomers. I have 3 little kids and my husband has his own business. So no it’s not perfect over here but it’s not nasty or unsanitary. What are your thoughts on this? Am I crazy? Are they crazy? Should I have a paper trail showing we did something or just leave it be? They showed up and angrily knocked on my door at 12:30 on a Tuesday afternoon. They calmed a bit but I could tell he was upset at first. We’ve been on ok terms so far but we don’t deal with them a lot. I lost so much sleep last night worrying about this. We are first time home buyers but are not new to farming. In our state we are protected under right to farm so that’s fine but I don’t want to have to get to that point. How do I just get them to realize that they are just reverting back to the previous people and panicking for no reason? I mean I had other non farm people come over and stand there and smell nothing. The same day the same wind conditions and weather as them complaining. Do I just convince my husband the way forward is no pigs? That would take a lot of convincing. I’m sure they just tried to scare me but it worked…I’m still shook up.

Update : I was out mucking my horse paddock (in case that was the smell too) and they happened to be in their woods right along side where I was (the back of their property) and they said hello and we discussed the deer he dropped back there and the coyotes last night, and then they asked if we lock up our chickens to keep them safe, and the foxes, and then they asked if I was riding, and I said yeah and then mucking. I offered to show them the horses so they came over and saw them, and of course talked about oh the previous guy did this and that and blah blah. And it was cordial and nice and no mention of the smell or conversation from earlier. Which was nice but also, odd. I wonder if we both just want to forget about it? Not sure.

A quiet autumn road in the woods. I’m building a small homestead in New Brunswick and sharing the journey — nature, metal detecting, and mythic fantasy writing.

If you have land with tons of black locust, black walnut, and oaks and you’re wanting to provide for you, your family and the community look into Coppice management. It’s a super simple and productive way to regenerate your land while also providing you with unlimited resources forever!

Just bought & brought home an angus bull yesterday to breed my cows & heifers. I'll put him out in December, he's in with the neighbor's 2 dairy heifers now. Needed something small before putting my big ol' hereford on them next season.

The solitary heifer picture is about 18 months, I believe she was born April/May of last year

The other heifer next to the bale feeder was born November 24th last year, figured she'd get bred by January which puts her right near that 22-23 month mark when calving

Be nice, I know these aren't show cattle. They aren't papered or registered or pure bred. They are homestead cows, pasture puppies/muts, meant to put 1 in the freezer yearly and sell/raise the calves to help cover some costs. Fed mostly grass/hay but I do grind feed (eat corn & alfalfa) to keep them docile & bucket trained, ~5-7lbs a day total between all them.

So i have this barn on my property that was already here When I acquired the property. It’s easily 50-60 years old and the roof looks like it’s the original w/ at least a decade or so worth of leaves on top. The structure can be 15-20 feet off the ground and easily 20-25 feet long and probably wide also.

As you can see from the last 2 pics some of the tin roofing is starting to give and there’s also like a 10-12 foot branch that looks like it could be close to 200 lbs on top of the roof. I’m trying to get the roof cleared so I can breathe a little this winter, maybe buy me or year or 2 to prep and repair when I can. A come-along was suggested to get the branch off, although it could be in a little bit of no man’s land as I may have to fully get on the roof to be able to reach branch and who knows if it can support even another 100 lbs.

Contemplating attempting to push it with 2x4 type object but it is also more towards the high end slope of the roof so if it does actually roll down it will probably travel about 80% of the roof which could be the straw that broke the camels back🤷🏻‍♂️. I’d like to do what I can before winter as there are quite a few things higher up on the priority list but if this could I can do some work for a day or 2 job to get it better situated, that could be squeezed in. Thanks for ideas.

TLDR=how do I clear this roof without dying? Big branch, weak roof

Looking at buying a 2025 Bobcat CT1025 to care for our 5 Acre lot. We have 3 acres of roses and other assorted flowers, so we mostly move mulch and wood chips - plus mowing the rest of the property and an assortment of homestead activities like our veg garden. Alternatives include similar sized Kubota (more expensive) and John Deere (less power but about the same price). Anyone out there have an opinion about Bobcat?

I’m a business student and my group is working on an entrepreneurship project about goat grazing services as an alternative to traditional landscaping.
Our idea is to offer goat rental services to HOAs, property managers, and business owners with large properties to help clear overgrown weeds, brush, and vegetation in a more environmentally friendly way.
We’re trying to determine whether people would actually be interested in using this type of service, and we’d love to hear your opinions!
A few questions we have:
Would you consider using goats instead of traditional landscaping methods? Why or why not?
What would be your biggest concern (pricing, safety, effectiveness, convenience, etc.)?
Would the environmental benefits make you more interested in trying goat grazing?
If you’ve used goat grazing services before, how was your experience? Was it worth the cost?
We’re looking for honest feedback, both positive and negative, to help us evaluate whether our business idea is realistic.
Thank you for helping us with our research!

Howdy Y’all, I’m working on trying to make a cost comparison for having a milk cow for bucket calves (3-4 a year) vs using milk replacer. I already have beef cattle, pasture space, hay & grain anyway as some of my pastures are “poor” in places so I grain everything small amounts all year around, my own bull for breeding, facilities for cattle, a milking machine for my dairy goats (they can’t keep up to this many calves) that I can easily convert to a machine for a cow. I have all the “dairy supplies” needed for a milk cow as well since I can float between my goats and a cow easily. All I’d have to do special for a cow would be building her a milk stall to bring her in to milk.

The bucket calves are for my kids 4H clover kid project (yes they get to show bucket calves here in our state). So I’m curious, if anyone pretty much already had things set up for bovines and had to do some small tweaks for a milk cow how much did you spend over all for her? I’m seeing purchase prices of about $2,000-$3,000 for a good solid cow, other things you’ve found beneficial to have on hand like holistic medical supplies, or anything else.

I’d also love to have some cow milk for our house to use too. Especially for things like butter and cream based things that I can’t easily do with my goats. And I don’t have the desire to get a cream separator either right now.

Is it pigs, chickens, rabbits, cows? Something else? Is hunting better? Very curious to know what you guys think.

Not sure which flair/tag to use, if it's incorrect I do apologize.

As the title says, I moved a while back (July 2026) am looking to rebrand the farm. I went from just above 1,000 acres to nearly 7,000 acres. Our main product we sell is Alfalfa hay; we also have livestock: Highland cattle, poultry, and hogs. I guess what I’m actually asking for is what’s the general consensus regarding a move/rebranding worth it or not? I understand I will need to change the invoicing, but that’s what has sparked the inquiry. Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated.

I’m looking to spend $1-$1.5k for a winter growing set up. I know that doesn’t get me anywhere close to a greenhouse so I’m looking for creative, reliable solutions. Our winters in the south have gotten colder with 1-3 good snow/ice storms a year.

On this day in 2002, USDA Organic regulations became effective. (Federal Register) If you could add one rule to USDA Organic standards, what would it be? Or what would you get rid of!?

I get a lot of pallets here and there. All chemical free and are ht. Any good homestead projects i can use them for? I already have plans for some raised beds and compost bins, but those and decorations is all I can find when looking it up.

Getting a 40ft high cube shipping container delivered this week. What are some good options for locking/securing the door? I am well aware of “if thieves want it bad enough they’ll get into it” deal. Budget is around $100, but could stretch if a slightly more expensive option is THAT much better than the sub-$100 option.

Here are two I’ve seen on Amazon:

Closer to budget
https://a.co/d/0jjPXu9f

Above budget, but would consider it if it’s THAT much better
https://a.co/d/00YzId1p

Just Slaughtered a rabbit and found white spots on liver. What now?

My wether got hurt somehow idek how, could be play fighting with the other one or rubbing his head on stuff bc he does that- but is he hurt bad enough to go to the vet or should I glue it or bandage it ? Leave him and keep it clean ?? Idk but the other guy is getting pool noodles asap

So screen shot of the email I got and here is a link for the science paper.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41538-026-00776-w?mc_cid=3beadd2b57&mc_eid=ca90047171

A few days ago I shared how my family went from our first blueberry bushes in pots to over 1,000. I never expected so many kind comments and questions. Thank you! Some answers to the most common questions: the variety is Duke, about 2-2.5 kg (5 lb) per bush, grown in peat and pine bark. We use pots because moles destroyed the roots in the ground, and every 4-5 years each plant gets fresh soil. This winter our goals are adding more bushes to grow the orchard and putting up bird netting before next June's harvest. The video was filmed on May 26. Thanks again, this community made our week.