PEM badge: Animal Care

Animal care
Instruction, regulation, insurance, safety, etc

Animals are a benefit to any homestead no matter what you eat.

Extra care was expended to make it so that the Sand and Straw badges can be completed by a vegan.  A great deal of this was accomplished by creating a nurturing environment for beneficial wild animals and insects.

The Wood and Iron badges are an effort to move to a much higher level of animal care than is found on most homesteads.  

Sand badge

Complete five:
   - Build a nice birdhouse for a specific species of bird (prerequisite dimensional.sand.birdhouse)
   - Build a mason bee house (possibly other solitary bees)
   - Perform maintenance on a mason bee house (possibly other solitary bees)
   - Make a bee/insect watering station
   - Move a yellowjacket nest from where it is a bother to where it is a value
   - Catch a honey bee swarm with a bait hive (aka swarm trap)
   - Rescue a honey bee swarm
   - Plant a three season nectar harvest for pollinators
   - Build a ladybug house
   - Build a bat house
   - Build an insect hotel
   - Scythe and bale one bale of hay
   - Scythe and bale one bale of straw
   - Create a brush pile near a garden for animal/insect diversity habitat
   - Create six different toad habitats
   - Plant 60 mulberry tree seeds
   - Create snake/lizard habitat
   - Create a live rodent trap
   - Create at least a pint of holzer bone sauce
   - Share appropriate kitchen scraps
   - Milk a cow or goat or sheep - one gallon for cows, one quart for others
   - Plant seeds for humming birds
   - Putting out some winter straw to help the animals stay warm
   - Fecal parasite test
   - Sheep health check
   - Training animals for goodies
   - Cleaning a shelter
   - Cleaning out at least 4 nesting boxes for chickens
   - Grow sprouts as a winter feed for fowl
   - Remove algae from a trout pond
   - Add aeration strategy to a trout pond
   - Stock a trout pond with trout
   - Move animals to a new paddock
   - Collect 12 eggs from your fowl
   - Food/water/egg/safety check for your fowl
   - Food/water/safety check for your 4 legged livestock
   - Create dragonfly habitat
   - Create frog habitat
   - Manage breeding and support farm cat resulting in at least six kittens
   - Chicken - slaughter and clean
   - Duck - slaughter and clean
   - Turkey - slaughter and clean
   - Guinea fowl - slaughter and clean
   - Quail - slaughter and clean
   - Pigeon  - slaughter and clean
   - Goose - slaughter and clean
   - Rabbit - slaughter and clean
   - Guinea pig - slaughter and clean

Straw badge

35 points required

  - Set up a stock tank that won’t freeze in the winter without electricity - 4 points
      - only applies in climates where freezing is a routine issue
  - Set up a moveable electric fence for paddock shift systems (show a move)
      - Using 110v ac power - 1 point
      - Using car battery (kept dry) - 1.5 points
  - Scythe and bale a dozen bales of hay - 4 points
  - Scythe and bale a dozen bales of straw - 4 points
  - Build a manual baler - 3 points
  - Grow forage for chickens/pigs in a single paddock - 4 points
  - Prove that paddock shift is amazing - 10 points
      - at least 4 paddocks with a 10 foot x10 foot control area that is fenced off
  - Grow a three season nectar harvest for pollinators - 10 points
      - at least a dozen species with hundreds of blooms at 2 points in each season (six pics total)
  - Prove that chickens prefer fresh food over organic commercial food - 10 points
  - Prove your animal’s food is fit for human consumption - 1 point
  - Prove that your animal’s water is clean/fresh/healthy - 2 points
  - System to collect excessive insects in the summer, dry them and feed them out in the winter - 4 points
  - Set up a holzer bee hive - 2 points
  - Set up a conventional bee hive - 1 point
  - Shear a sheep - 4 points
  - Shear an alpaca/llama - 4 points
  - Make a lightweight paddock shift chick brooder - 4 points
      - 2 feet by 3 feet minimum warm area connected to a 2 feet by 3 feet minimum “run” exposed to sun
  - Make a lightweight paddock shift chicken coop - 4 points
  - Make a skiddable goat shelter - 4 points
  - Make a skiddable hog shelter - 5 points
  - Make a skiddable cattle shelter - 7 points
  - Make a 200 foot wavy deer fence - 4 points
  - Do the work to entice beavers to an area - 4 points
      - prove that work introduced beavers to the area - 2 more points
  - Show how offal from one animal system is an input to a different animal system - 2 points

Breeding list:
  - Breed a broody hen to hatch at least six chicks - 4 points
  - Breed a broody duck to hatch at least six ducklings - 4 points
  - Breed a broody turkey to hatch at least four poults- 4 points
  - Breed a guinea fowl to hatch at least six keets - 4 points
  - Breed a quail to hatch at least six chicks - 4 points
  - Breed a pigeon to hatch at least four squabs - 4 points
  - Breed a goose to hatch at least six goslings- 4 points
  - Breed a goat resulting in at least one kid - 4 points
  - Breed a rabbit resulting in at least three kits - 4 points
  - Breed an ewe resulting in at least one lamb - 4 points
  - Breed a cow resulting in at least one calf - 4 points
  - Breed a sow resulting in at least six piglets - 4 points
  - Breed a guinea pig resulting in at least six pups - 4 points
  - Breed a llama resulting in at least one cria - 4 points
  - Breed an alpaca resulting in at least one cria - 4 points
  - Breed a working farm dog resulting in at least six puppies - 4 points
  - Raising mealworms - end up with two pounds more than when you started - 3 points
  - Raising crayfish - end up with two pounds more than when you started - 3 points
  - Raising worms - end up with two pounds more worms than when you started - 4 points
  - Raising black soldier flies - end up with two pounds more grubs than when you started - 4 points
  - Raising mason bees - end up with ½ lb of cocoons - 2 points
  - Fish farming - end up with five pounds more than when you started - 2 points
      - Prerequisite is to do the Stock a trout pond with trout BB

Harvest List:
  - Process fish - catch and clean 5 lbs of fish from your pond - 2 points
  - Butcher a goat - slaughter and clean - 2 points
  - Butcher a sheep - slaughter and clean - 2 points
  - Butcher a cattle - slaughter and clean - 8 points
  - Butcher a pig - slaughter and clean - 6 points

Parasite list:
  - Prove that your chickens do not have parasites - 4 points
  - Prove that your ducks do not have parasites - 4 points
  - Prove that your cattle do not have parasites - 4 points
  - Prove that your guinea fowl do not have parasites - 4 points
  - Prove that your quail do not have parasites - 4 points
  - Prove that your pigeons do not have parasites - 4 points
  - Prove that your geese do not have parasites - 4 points
  - Prove that your rabbits do not have parasites - 4 points
  - Prove that your llamas do not have parasites - 4 points
  - Prove that your alpacas do not have parasites - 4 points
  - Prove that your hogs do not have parasites - 4 points
  - Prove that your cats do not have parasites - 4 points
  - Prove that your dogs do not have parasites - 4 points
  - Prove that your goats do not have parasites - 4 points
  - Prove that your sheep do not have parasites - 4 points
  - Prove that your turkeys do not have parasites - 4 points
  - Prove that your fish do not have parasites - 4 points
  - Prove that your bees do not have parasites - 4 points
  - Prove that your guinea pigs do not have parasites - 4 points

Wood badge

Prerequisites:
  - Prove your animal’s food is fit for human consumption
  - Prove that your animal’s water is clean/fresh/healthy

Care for 6 different species of animal for 6 months
  - Provide clearly better conditions than any conventional farm
  - Primarily skiddable shelters
  - No manure handling
  - Less than 2% off property inputs

Harvest 200,000 calories from a domestic animal system
  - At least 6 animal products and a minimum of 10,000 calories from each of the 6

60 points required

  - Harvest 20 lbs of fiber from a domestic animal system - 10 points
  - Harvest 5 square feet of leather - 8 points
  - Harvest 5 square feet of fur - 8 points
  - Seal a 1000 square foot pond with pigs - 12 points
  - Grow a large three season nectar harvest for honeybees - 20 points
      - Minimum of 1/4 acre and at least two dozen species
  - Arrange a hayless system for a ruminant herd - 20 points
  - Arrange a mob grazing system for a ruminant herd - 20 points
  - Grow forage for chickens/pigs in four paddocks - 10 points
      - at least 12 plant species, obviously more than 20,000 calories of forage per paddock

 Iron badge

These six species required:
  - Cattle
  - Chickens
  - Hogs
  - Turkey
  - Fish
  - Honeybees

Six more species required (your choice).  Possibilities could be more than what you see on this list:
  - Ducks
  - Guinea fowl
  - Quail
  - Pigeons
  - Geese
  - Guinea pigs for meat
  - Working farm dogs
  - Working farm cats
  - Sheep
  - Goats
  - Llama
  - Alpaca
  - Rabbits

General conditions required for all animals for which it applies:
  - Primarily skiddable shelters
  - No manure handling
  - All of the animal systems must be less than 2% off-site input
  - Hayless (or dramatic hay reduction system) is required
  - Minimal bare dirt under hoof/foot
  - Out in green, lush pasture most of the year
  - Plenty of shady spots
  - Sufficient herd/flock size to satisfy animal’s natural needs
  - Lack of flies, ticks, etc
  - Dry, wind protected shelters
  - Cattle butchering offal goes to chickens, pigs, fish, etc., Chicken goes to the pigs, dogs, fish, etc
  - Little to no predator pressure
  - Parasite and disease checks for all species
  - Their last day and last 15 minutes are calm and relaxing.  Slaughtered on site.

  - Harvest 4 million calories from 9 domestic animal systems
      - Must include a minimum of:
          - 1 beef animal
          - dairy (5 lbs butter, 5 lbs cheese, 1 qt cream)
          - 100 eggs
          - 12 butchered chicken
          - 6 turkeys
          - 2 hogs
          - 10 lbs fish
          - 10 lbs honey
  - Harvest 80 lbs of fiber from a domestic animal system
  - Harvest 20 square feet of leather
  - Harvest 20 square feet of fur

Provide proof that you are breeding and nurturing 12 animal species
  - Pampered or treated better than 98% of other domestic animals
  - Level 6 animal care is “pampered” and level 7 is “something that would inspire a Disney movie about a little girl and all of her homestead animal friends.”  Provide some evidence that you might be close to level 7.  
  - General examples:
      - Come when called
      - Let them “escape” and show you can call/entice them back easily
      - You drink their water
      - You eat their food
      - You’ve thought deeply about your animal’s fears of predation and act accordingly (ie. not picking up rabbits or especially flipping them over)
      - Just because a human would like your “pampering”, ensure that your critter would
      - Herbal apothecary in their paddocks
      - Sing or play with you
      - Sleep in their shelter for one night
      - Toys and forms of entertainment for the animals
      - Four seasons of pampering
      - Examples of being people friendly
      - Prolific reproduction
      - Prolific meat/milk production
      - Describe your breeding objectives and plan
      - Describe, for each animal, how your breeding objectives breed out dependence on antibiotics
      - A heated shelter for the 12 coldest days of winter
      - Put out food for them for the 12 coldest days of winter

  - Prove you are nurturing your cattle
     - Minimum of 3 calves from breeding to six months old
     - Come willingly to be milked
  - Prove you are nurturing your chickens
      - Chicken breeding program to favor good egg production and foraging on your property
      - Minimum of 100 chickens from hatch to 3 months old under broody hens (no incubators)
  - Prove you are nurturing your hogs
      - Minimum of two dozen hogs from birth to six months old
      - Ensure wallow facilities for the 12 hottest days of the year
  - Prove you are nurturing your turkeys
      - Minimum of a dozen turkeys from under a broody hen to 3 months old
  - Prove you are nurturing your fish
      - 12 or more species of aquatic and riparian plants
      - Variety of water depths, rocks, logs, hiding places
      - No supplemental fish food - sufficient bugs/plants/etc for them to forage
  - Prove you are nurturing your honeybees
      - Tens of thousands of blooms at 2 points in each season within 150 feet of the hive (about two acres)
      - Includes bear protection, additional winter insulation system, no paint on hive and a bee hut or equivalent system for shade, rain and snow protection
      - Each colony must come from a wild swarm and you must prove that your colony swarmed at least once
      - Each hive is at least 200 feet from any other hive
  - Prove you are nurturing another species (complete 6)
      - Breed and Nurture Ducks
      - Breed and Nurture Geese
      - Breed and Nurture Guinea Fowl
      - Breed and Nurture Quail
      - Breed and Nurture Pigeons
      - Breed and Nurture Rabbits
      - Breed and Nurture Goats
      - Breed and Nurture Sheep
      - Breed and Nurture Alpaca
      - Breed and Nurture Guinea Pigs
      - Breed and Nurture Llama
      - Breed and Nuture Working Farm Dogs
      - Breed and Nurture Working Farm Cats