M Waisman

We have had chickens for 20 years and have done exactly nothing for avian flu. We usually have 15-20 and they are mostly outside except in the coldest winter days, which keeps them robust.

I agree there is a lot of Big Media and Big Pharma and Big Ag behind a lot of the fear hype. As we have always done, we avoid pharmaceuticals for ourselves and our livestoock and use plenty of immune boosters like what has been mentioned already (ACV, garlic, mushrooms, probiotics, etc). Finding ways that work for you to relieve your worry will probably do a great deal of good too as stress is not good for health. A simple mantra for you could be "I am clean, careful and feel good."

When we moved to our farm 13 years ago, the previous owners had a huge row of summer and fall bearing raspberries mixed together. It drove me crazy and I eventually mowed it all down, a little at a time. It was incredibly unproductive given the space it took and very hard to pick, impossible to maintain/prune.

I've never been able to commit to a site for growing a good patch. I've seen raised beds up against a building (usually garage) that looked nice and was easy to access. I've seen strips in lawn grass that was good for fancy trellising and mowing to keep suckers at bay. ...I guess those are the two most common.

We have plenty of site choices- edged, in raised bed, along a sheep/goat fence so they can graze one side and we harvest and mow the other, plunked in the lawn (quackgrass is a big struggle here and I'm not great with fussy weeding and maintenance/mulch), along a gravel driveway....

We're in land of four seasons with cold winters (if all goes well).

What's worked best for you?

azomite

lavendar oil, tea tree oil, or get spendy and buy Thieves oil blend -- you can use a diffuser with reeds in a jar, plug in with little pads or electric misting type, drip on clay or stones

clean with white vinegar

baking soda

air circulation- a good fan

I asked every vet I could think of. I really detest hauling my animals in for visits and they charge so much to come to us. Luckily the photos were enough for several of them to concur, more or less, that they are growths/lesions/scar tissue from nursing lambs that had sore mouth. People that raise sheep seemed to know because they see them regularly and were confident but nobody else (the horse vets or book-learned vets) knew. We do usually get mild cases of sore mouth on lambs in spring. It's only on their mouths (I've never seen it anywhere else) and the nodules are not active or contagious, just leftover weirdness. Not urgent but she is a cull. We won't risk bottle lambs.

We have an 18 acre regenerative/organic family farm. I suppose what I find most unique is that I can (largely) do what I want without much concern or question from others and feel so independent under our big, big sky, day after day on our little piece of earth. Then if I want to go to the state capital downtown, I'm there in 12 minutes. Many visitors comment on this dichotomy. I see visitors, delivery drivers, etc stop and look at the apple trees, take pictures of the goats, pet the friendly barn cats, or try to identify something in my wild garden right outside the door. It's Country Mouse delighting in the awe of City Mice.

ICE CREAM! It makes a nice gift too!

Such a loaded question...when my kids are grown and flown I suspect gifts like the ones suggested here will be valued. My family is not of that ilk.

Over the years I've made the same thing for everyone, such as tweedy sewn owls, felted wool bowls/containers, painted silhouettes of kids, knitted hats, hand sewn Dopp kit bags, custom shearling shoe liners...little is well-received (DOPP kits were) so in 2020 we stopped pouring ourselves into handmade items and feeling bad about the whole thing. This year they will all get a silk pillowcase. I got them at a great sale price from an okay company and my husband (such a stodgy, er, minimalist) LOVES his silk pillowcase so I think it will go over well. The shift to consumerism does make me sad but we try to find something they may actually appreciate that we feel okay buying too. Too bad for them it all shifted just when I started making the BEST soap.

For others, we plan to gift my husband's really good hard cider or homemade cider syrup.

You can bury them but I certainly wouldn't want to for a variety of reasons. Nutrients all get cycled back into the earth in one way or another if left be.

Composting is what we do for deadstock (dead livestock) and I would recommend.  https://familyfarmlivestock.com/composting-the-best-way-to-dispose-of-dead-stock/

I've tried burying skulls to let the soil critters clean them but something came and dug them up. I didn't want to dig a huge, deep-enough hole, bury, mark or remember where it was, and dig again in several months to retrieve it. Next time I would (not having a lake to submerge it in) put it on a post or something for scavengers and UV to clean instead. Work smart, not hard.

I bought a pair of coyote fur mittens from a northern MN man named Elmer a few years ago (i don't think he was on etsy but maybe).  When he announced he was retiring after the next season, I bought them. I'd seen his glorious shop IRL and kept thinking about them. Depending on how serious this hobby of yours is, you could cold call a couple small businesses like Elmer's and see if you can get an invitation to come help them for a couple days and learn from them. You'd learn so much more than you can from books or online.

Another option is gatherings like Traditional Ways Gathering (near Lake Superior but there must be these happening all over the north. Buckskin Revolution is a super cool woman that sews a lot with leather and fur and teaches many workshops. She has a big online presence.

I would not use a traditional heat lamp. You could look for an alternative safer option made near you or make something. I made a hanging wire rack that is parallel to the ground and covered it with reflective bubble wrap, with flaps down the side. Mine was in a mobile coop and for meat birds but they loved it. It requires no electricity and has no risk of fire. You could create similar contraptions that allow chickens to stay warm without electricity. Induction brooders, barrel heaters are good options that do use electricity but are far safer than a heat lamp.