Ra Kenworth

My power is Hydro Quebec.
They have a reputation but at least the power comes from water gravity, not coal or nuclear. If it was something else, I wouldn't use it.

20 years ago, when I bought my 850sq ft humble abode, yes, small makes the best of any heat source, I replaced the most used baseboards with newer ones -- smaller and more efficient.

I also added house wrap -- house was still black joe.

Soon thereafter, roof job and new insulation.

I recently replaced the stove outlet with a 220v utility heater under the kitchen, and the oven was replaced with my small thrift store $10  110v portable oven, and I use the conduction single unit, which is part of my outdoor summer kitchen equipment, crock pots, and camp stoves for the cast iron etc.

Now I am only going to use the wood furnace if there is a power outage which happens less frequently these days, but I am well equipped for this -- making the best of electric anything I think includes making sure you aren't totally dependent on it!

Interesting new fact for me!
Pigeon chicks don't generate dander if that's the right word, until they are much older. They are born hairless, and if the temperatures are warm, they stay that way for quite a while, with the flight feathers being the priority. So if kept indoors it's not a problem even as they reach the 3-4 week self serve stage (before which they must be hand fed and watered if their parents aren't doing it.)
I tend to keep them in plastic cages which keeps the straw contained.

Maureen Finn wrote:Consider yeast

Excellent point! That would explain why the most chronic back rashes I have seen were on dogs eating high sugar kibble

I have pigeons and I am pretty sure they get the same mites: little little skinny black 3mm lines that wiggle up under the wings especially.
I do everything mentioned already, plus I check youngsters regularly and anyone looking sedentary, and give them a blood temperature water bath dunking in a sink or bucket.
It is crucial to keep the head above water at all times --
Pigeons don't have a coughing reflex.
I give it about five minutes and that drowns the little suckers!
The adults will bathe themselves and couples preen each other, but the young ones vary in their ability to self groom.
Unless it is really hot out, I let them dry off inside a plastic cage beside a heater indoors  otherwise in the sun until they look dry..
If one is lousy, which can happen with young ones on occasion, perhaps 3% max, I will quarantine them, keeping the bedding clean every day and dunking every 2-3 days until they are clear, with healthy poop.

This is a brilliant discussion!
I ordered two books
Veterinary guide for farmers
1975: 9780910990615

Merck Veterinary Manual
1986: 9780911910537

I have recently discovered that almost all dog kibble is baked at temperatures that are too high, and degrade ingredients. The only way around this being freeze dried according to that information.
I have a ton of medium grade chow that my new puppy is getting, along with homemade food, but mainly so I can keep up with his growth, which is good as I am cleaning out freezers! I probably won't buy more.
The old boy is only getting homemade food, lots of raw eggs, and he gets first dibs on baked fish heads and tails,etc before the puppy finishes things off.

My old boy has more energy than he had a couple of months ago, when I started cutting back and finally eliminating kibble over the past few.weeks. He has never had skin issues, but had chronic diarrhea when I adopted him a decade ago being his 4th owner, but probiotics, weeds, peelings, animal fat, raw pig heads, and cows feet, homemade bone meal from healthy meat, and second-broth after some for the humans, cooked with lentils and whatever, cleared his diarrhea in no time. My dog had a stress component though as well and all that settled down quickly but when I was away up north, he wasn't getting daily his freezer care packs of homemade food -- we are still going through all that now. So he was getting pure kibble half time. I gave him one more winter, but he is starting to get playful already! 75-85 lbs and 13 years old.

I have known dogs with skin issues and they all were eating kibble. High sugar being the worst.

I would try picking up red split lentils which cook up as quickly as rice, and get ground fennel for digestive enzymes. Make your own food, and raw eggs, raw, meat buy whole fish and feed the heads, try tapering off the kibble for a while and just see?

I am very curious how things went if you do try this.

PS it is way way cheaper to feed them this way.

What will I be doing with my nettles after making tisane? Chopping them up and throwing in the freezer in rewashed ziplock bags. The nice tender shoots I shall use like spinach for myself, but the rest will go in the dog food over the next few months. Then ditto in Spring!

You can also slow cook your turnip skins, sluggy celery, etc, and save the water and use up whatever you want to cook in the water for yourself, you and the dog, then fine slice the slush and again, care packs for dog food!

I hope this helps
The short list of bad dog foods are grapes and raisins, allium, especially raw onions, chocolate and cocoa.

The Boston Mass PBS series Victory Garden began in 1975, starring James Underwood Crockett and I watched it as a pre teen recent immigrant from my TV in Kingston Ontario, probably coming from Watertown NY, until 1979 when he died. My maternal grandfather had a victory garden but didn't have the time of day for us children. I loved that show, learned so much, and hardly ever missed it and was pretty disoriented when he died. The show went for 35 years. That's how I learned to victory garden.
Most of the rest I learned from permies books and from this website. I have learned sooo much here!

Sorrel
Asparagus (from berries)
Stinging nettles
Rhubarb
Lemon balm (separate them late fall -- they still haven't been affected by the frost. I use it as a vegetable and stuff fish with it.)

We've had frost already. I had a hard time getting stinging nettles started, but now they are established, they're frost resistant a great late fall and early spring alternative.

Edit: I am having no luck with Egyptian walking onions and ground nuts!! I keep trying.

Not quite vegetables but great for bringing in pollinators:
Black raspberries
Currants
Thimble berries (rubrus odoratus)
Echinacea

I also plant biennials as volunteers into the compost heap: root vegetables I find abandoned by others. I just planted two handful of beets onto the compost hill that had just begun to mold. They will be fine and provide early spring greens, and seeds later on. This works for turnip and carrot tops as well. I plant the carrot tops facing upwards in the compost heap, and anything else like that.

I use various weeds extensively: they are easy to grow!

Edit: wildflowers -- I don't consider them weeds, but I turned my septic tile bed into a butterfly and bee garden a decade ago. It evolves, but I have a lot of echinacea which the monarch butterflies love, although they have declined greatly over the past five years, and this is in a forest wilderness area, not agriculture/ spraying territory. I worry the monarchs won't recover. They love wild cherry flowers as well and I now have some of that.

Update in my August 15 post using hay bales: I won't get any squash from those bales this year, but I have improved my bales and they have stabilized, so I won't be starting at zero. For next Spring: More soil and peas and corn I think