Categories
Poultry

Heat Tolerant Chickens: 8 Breeds for a Backyard Flock

white leghorn chicken standing on a gate is a heat tolerant chicken breed
Adobe Stock/aoverholt

Heat-tolerant chickens lay an abundance of eggs throughout the hot summer months and pay no mind to hot, humid climates. From Leghorns to Delawares, these eight heat-hardy breeds may surprise you.

#1 Leghorns

Whether you choose the White Leghorn or the less common Brown Leghorn, these robust birds are extremely heat hardy. Their big, floppy combs and wattles help these girls stay cool and keep laying an abundance of eggs during the dog days of summer.

Leghorns are exceptional layers, with each hen averaging three hundred medium-sized white eggs annually (five to six eggs per week). These hens are such exceptional layers that factory farms favor them over any other breed, due to their excellent feed-to-egg ratio.

Leghorn hens have a flighty personality, but if kept in small numbers in a mixed flock with more docile breeds, they can sometimes be tamed.

Leghorns get picked off by predators easily and should never be allowed to free range.

#2 Rhode Island Red

Known for being extremely hardy in the cold, many people never consider Rhode Island Reds to be heat tolerant chickens. However, these hens do well in the heat, producing eggs throughout the hottest summer months.

Due to their hardiness, Rhode Island Reds are ideal for individuals who live in a climate with hot summers and cold winters.

Rhode Island Red hens are exceptional layers, producing an average of two hundred and eighty light brown large/extra large eggs annually (about four to six eggs per week).

Hens are friendly, curious, and calm. Due to their curious nature, Rhode Island Reds are more prone to pecking than other breeds. This trait may put them at a disadvantage for families with small children.

#3 Hamburg

With their striking feather patterns and unique rose combs, the Hamburg is truly a one-of-a-kind chicken. But their looks aren’t the only thing these chickens have going for them. Hamburgs are also one of the best heat-tolerant chickens available.

Despite their ornamental look, Hamburg hens are good producers, averaging one hundred and twenty to one hundred and fifty medium white eggs annually (about three to five eggs per week).

A Hamburg hen’s personality is a little unpredictable, as some strains of this breed have a nervous and high-strung personality, while others are friendly, talkative, and sociable. However, all Hamburg chickens love adventure and are full of energy, preferring to free-range over confinement.

Roosters of this breed are extremely loyal and devoted to their hens and are always on the lookout for danger.

Did you know? While a Hamburg’s feather pattern may be eye-catching for humans, their unique feather pattern makes it extremely difficult for predators to spot them.

#4 Speckled Sussex

This typical barnyard-looking hen is one of the best heat-tolerant chickens available. Speckled Sussex are not only heat and cold hardy, but these delightful hens have few health concerns and are ideal for the novice and veteran chicken keeper alike.

Speckled Sussex hens are dependable egg layers, rarely dropping in production (with the exception to molt and overwinter) for the first four years of their lives. Each hen produces an average of one hundred and fifty light brown, medium-sized eggs annually (about four to five eggs per week).

Speckled Sussex are highly intelligent, curious, energetic, and friendly, and they love to carry on animated conversations with their owners. Ideal family pets, Sussex hens quickly become part of the family.

#5 Buff Orpington

You have probably read that Buff Orpingtons are a cold-hardy breed, so it may be surprising that they are also heat tolerant chickens.

heat tolerant chicken breed buff orpington walking in grass
Adobe Stock/alkerk

Buff Orpington hens are good egg layers, averaging one hundred and twenty large light brown eggs annually (about three to four eggs per week). Buff Orpington hens are more prone to go broody than other heat-tolerant chickens.

With their beautiful golden feathers and sweet, docile personalities, Buff Orpingtons continue to be one of the most popular heat tolerant chickens. These sweeties love to interact with their human families and enjoy snuggling on their favorite human’s lap.

#6 Andalusian

The Blue Andalusian is a striking chicken and is easy to recognize with their slate-blue feathers and bright red combs. Andalusians are extremely heat hardy, preferring the hot days of summer over winter.

Hens of this breed are among the most popular white egg layers kept in backyard flocks. They are excellent layers, producing an average of two hundred medium white eggs annually (about 4-6 eggs per week).

Blue Andalusian hens are talkative, noisy, and active. They enjoy free-ranging and prefer little to no human interaction.  Due to their flighty nature, the breed is not recommended for the novice.

#7 Golden Comet

Golden Comets are not only one of the most commonly kept brown egg layers, but they are also heat tolerant. With their small bodies and medium-large combs, these hens thrive in the heat.

Comets are excellent layers, producing an average of two hundred and eighty to three hundred large brown eggs annually (about five to six eggs per week). Even during the hot summer months, Golden Comets will continue to outlay all your other brown egg layers.

Comets have a calm, friendly, and relaxed personality and will happily seek out their owners for a snuggle and some treats. Golden Comet hens have a winning personality that makes them ideal family pets.

#8 Delaware

With their white plumage and big single combs, it’s no wonder Delawares are one of the best heat-tolerant chickens.

Delaware hens are excellent layers, averaging two hundred extra large brown eggs annually (about five eggs per week).

These clever hens possess a quirky personality unique to the breed. Delawares are friendly, entertaining, calm, enjoy interacting with their human family, and make a fun addition to the flock. However, Delaware hens can be moody when they don’t get their own way.

Many of the heat-tolerant chickens discussed in this article are also cold-hardy, making them ideal breeds for almost any climate while adding a splash of color and personality to both your flock and your egg basket.

Categories
Animals

Pig Feed Conversion Efficiency Explained

lard pigs feeding together in a field
Amanda Slater/Flickr

Pig feed conversion is a topic that can be confusing for new and experienced pig farmers. The basics are that pigs can loosely be lumped into two classes, bacon pigs and lard pigs. It’s important to know which is which before you get started.

Upon entry into the pig-purchasing arena, today’s new and prospective hog farmers are met with a kid-in-candy-store scenario: The slow food movement, along with a surge of interest in heritage breeds, has made buying starter pigs a venture worthy of some study and forethought.

Some years back, we came upon the opportunity to acquire a litter of Large Black piglets. Large blacks are firmly a heritage breed, defined loosely as a breed that has fallen out of favor with producers over the years but is of interest to farmers and customers for their pasturing and foraging abilities, distinct flavor profiles and general preservation. Which is to say they’re different—and the opportunity to raise uncommon animals prompted us to buy all five and a Gloucestershire Old Spots (an even rarer pig that slipped onto the endangered list at one point) to boot. We grew our uncommon hogs out on a ration of high-protein, hand-mixed feed, reveling all the while in the sight of our uncommon animals lazily occupying the pastures we rotated them between. To our minds, the extra effort was sure to pay off in some as-yet-unidentified manner.

So we were of course befuddled when the vacuum-packed cuts we received from our processor fell far short of the weight we’d come to expect. And we were disappointed when customer feedback yielded such comments as, “That little pork chop sure was fatty.”

And this is how we learned the all-important first lesson in our lifelong education on the sprawling topic of feed conversion efficiency: We’d raised a litter of lard pigs.

What is Pig Feed Conversion Efficiency?

Feed conversion efficiency is something of an unwieldy topic, full of numerous interconnecting factors, but the basic concept is simple: When a pig eats, the resulting muscle gain roughly determines the feed conversion efficiency. If a pig requires a lot of feed to gain muscle, the efficiency is low; less feed required to achieve muscle gain is high efficiency. And the key term here is “muscle”—if a pig converts feed into excessive fat (i.e., not meat), you’ll leave the processor as unhappy as we were.

If you want to raise a herd of heritage pigs to keep a breed from extinction, feed conversion efficiency won’t be a primary concern. But if you’re trying to manage costs and keep market profits in the black, bacon pigs are definitely the way to go, and you should stay away from lard pigs.

Here’s a quick breakdown of bacon pigs and lard pigs, though be aware each pig is its own animal: You can get a fat Yorkshire, just as I’m sure somebody’s raised a buff Large Black. However, generally speaking, here’s where a few popular breeds land on the bacon vs. lard pig spectrum of conversion-efficiency metrics.

4 Lard Pig Breeds

1. Gloucestershire Old Spots: Known as “apple pigs” for their traditional use cleaning up fallen apples in orchards of yore, these pigs are the oldest breed of spotted pigs around today. GOSs pack on the fat, and they have a tendency to be stubborn.

2. Large Black: There’s a lot to love about the Large Black, such as its sunburn immunity and calm disposition, but that love can die at the processor, where meat yields can fall below expectations.

3. Mangalitsa: The Mangalitsa is a weird-looking pig. But not in a bad way—its thick, wooly coat is almost sheep-like compared to other popular pigs. It’s also firmly a lard pig, with much lower pork yields than other breeds.

4. Guinea Hogs: This pig grows fast on whatever you feed them, but much of that conversion results in fat, not muscle. Raise this pig for its foraging abilities, not its profit potential at the local farmers’ market.

4 Bacon Pig Breeds

1. Tamworth: One of the oldest breeds, traceable back to the domestication of wild hogs, the Tamworth was specifically bred for bacon—it has long, deep sides that curers prefer—but the hog’s wild ancestry makes it a frequent flight risk.

2. Berkshire: I’ll be honest—this is my favorite pig (and it’s what we raise on our farm). The oldest recorded British pig, this animal has just enough fat marbling to add moisture and flavor to a cut of pork. With a distinctly “porky” taste, this animal is often brought in to add flavor to a line that’s lost palate appeal.

3. Hampshire: Sporting a distinct white belt that crosses its shoulders, the Hampshire also boasts hardiness, vigor, breeding proficiency and a knack for foraging. It’s also a lean pig, reliably able to yield predictable amounts of market-ready pork chops.

4. Yorkshire: Sometimes called the Large White, this pig is hands down the most popular breed in the world. While the commercial pork industry is reliant on this breed for its excellent conversion rate, small producers can also benefit from the lean pig’s pork yield, though it’s worth mentioning that muted flavor is sometimes an issue, due to the extreme lack of fat.

This article about pig feed conversion was written for Hobby Farms magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Categories
Poultry

How to Prevent Bird Flu in Chickens

woman feeding a flock of backyard chickens in the garden with the chickens protected from bird flu by chicken wire fencing
Adobe Stock/JackF

How to prevent bird flu in chickens can seem impossible, but there are several ways to protect your chickens from contracting this deadly disease. Here are six practical and easy tips on how to prevent bird flu in chickens. 

#1 Practice Biosecurity

Practicing biosecurity is one of the most important steps in how to prevent bird flu in chickens. But what is biosecurity? And how do you practice it in your flock?

Practicing biosecurity in your backyard flock means taking necessary precautions to avoid the spreading of harmful pathogens that could make your chickens sick. While it may sound complicated, practicing biosecurity is easy and will not only help to protect your chickens against the bird flu, but it also helps protect them from countless other diseases and internal and external parasites.

How to prevent bird flu in chickens by practicing biosecurity is a two-way street. This means you don’t want to bring home diseases from other chickens and poultry to your flock, but you also don’t want to share your flock’s germs with other birds or poultry. Never share or borrow poultry equipment. Stay clear of poultry shows, swaps, etc.; quarantine new poultry, and do not allow visitors to enter your coop and run.

Wear designated boots and clothes when visiting your coop and run to ensure you are not bringing in diseases from other birds to your flock.

How to prevent bird flu in chickens is extremely important, so be sure to practice biosecurity to keep your flock safe.

#2 Bye Bye Birdie

How to prevent bird flu in chickens should always include keeping wild birds away from your flock’s feeders and water founts. If wild birds eat or drink from the same source as your flock, some of the bird’s saliva will enter the water and remain on the feed. The avian flu is spread through bodily fluids, so preventing wild birds from contaminating chicken feed and water is critical.

Another concern backyard chicken owners face when dealing with wild birds sharing their flock’s feed and water sources is that the birds frequently poop while eating and drinking. Bird poop will contaminate the water, and poop in feed may be ingested by your flock.

Leave feeders and water founts in the coop or covered run to prevent wild birds from gaining access to your flock’s essentials. Never leave coop or run doors and unscreened windows open, as birds will quickly realize they can access your chickens’ feed and water through the door or window.

Even if the wild birds aren’t carrying the bird flu virus, they still carry many other diseases and parasites that could make your flock sick.

#3 Strong Immune System

Just like we humans take supplements and choose healthy eating habits to boost our immune systems and prevent sickness, how to prevent bird flu in chickens includes keeping your flock’s immune systems strong.

While your flock may still occasionally become ill, boosting their immune system will not only keep them healthy and safe from the bird flu, but it will protect them against other diseases, too.

There are three ways to boost your flock’s health: The best way to keep your flock’s immune system strong is by feeding them a complete feed formulated by a feed company specific to your flock’s needs, i.e., layer feed for laying hens, broiler feed for meat birds, etc.

Another option when researching how to prevent bird flu in chickens is to consider adding probiotics as part of their daily diet. Choose a probiotic that is made for poultry and preferably water-soluble. Poultry probiotics should contain lactobacillus, a critical probiotic chickens need to keep their digestive tract (the digestive tract is where sixty percent of a chicken’s immune system is.) healthy and running smoothly.

Fresh greens and herbs help to boost a chicken’s immune system and keep them healthy and strong. During the winter season, steeping some of your flock’s favorite spices, such as oregano, dill, basil, etc., into a tea to add to their water will help keep your flock’s immune system in tip-top condition all season long.

#4 Stay Away From Waterfowl

If you have ever searched online for how to prevent bird flu in chickens, you have probably read to keep your flock away from wild waterfowl. While this may seem easy if you only own chickens, for those who also share their home with domestic ducks and geese, this can be more challenging.

Wild waterfowl may not appear sick, but that doesn’t mean that they still aren’t carrying the bird flu. In many cases, the waterfowl simply act as a carrier for the disease but never succumb to the illness.

If your property is frequently visited by wild waterfowl, never allow your flock to free-range to avoid domestic and wild birds from intermingling and digesting each other’s poop. Keep domestic waterfowl off of ponds, streams, and other waterways to prevent your flock from drinking contaminated water. This is critical even if your pond or creek doesn’t have wild waterfowl visitors, as flowing water may be carrying this deadly virus from another pond or creek upstream from you.

#5 Avoid Free-Ranging

Free-ranging chickens are often thought of as healthier, so why does how to prevent bird flu in chickens include avoiding free-ranging?

It is true that access to fresh air and sunshine and the ability to forage for bugs and nutritious greens are excellent ways to help your flock stay healthy, but consequently being allowed to free-range has actually caused some flocks to contract the bird flu.

Chickens allowed to free-range may be tempted to hang out under trees where roosting birds poop and therefore ingest the wild bird’s poop. Not only is this behavior gross, but it is a sure way to make your flock sick.

Free-ranging flocks are also more likely to come into contact with birds that have died. As omnivores, chickens eat anything, including songbirds and other meat. Bad news for your flock if the deceased bird died from the bird flu.

#6 Migration Safety Tip

Migration time is one of the most feared times for poultry owners, as large flocks of birds are more prone to carrying the bird flu than the single robin hopping through the lawn.

How to protect bird flu in chickens and other poultry during migration season is extremely critical, so extra precautions should be taken.

Covering the run roof is one of the best ways to keep your flock safe from migrating birds and waterfowl. When the sky is filled with migrating waterfowl and birds, you run the risk of a migrating bird pooping while flying overhead and landing in your run. (Yes, it does happen.) Covering the roof of the run with shade cloth or tarps will prevent this and give you peace of mind.

By following these steps on how to prevent bird flu in chickens, you can rest easy, knowing you are doing everything you can to boost your chicken’s immune systems and prevent the bird flu from visiting your flock.

This article about how to prevent bird flu in chickens was written for Chickens magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Categories
Poultry

What is the Bird Flu Virus? Common Questions & Answers

healthy backyard chickens free of the bird flu virus are grazing in a backyard in green grass
Adobe Stock/Patrick

Bird flu virus is a common concern among poultry keepers, as this deadly disease can wipe out an entire flock in a 24-hour period. Learn what symptoms to look for, how this disease is spread, if this disease is transmittable to you, and much more.

What is the Bird Flu Virus?

Often referred to as avian influenza, the bird flu virus is often present in the U.S. but is usually only found in a few wild birds and waterfowl, not spreading from flock to flock. However, every several years, the bird flu virus flares up, threatening backyard flocks and commercial farms and affecting wild birds and waterfowl.

How is Bird Flu Spread?

The bird flu virus is spread from bird to bird, either from direct contact with each other or by consuming contaminated water or feed.

This highly contagious disease can also be transmitted to your flock from manure tracked in on your shoes (courtesy of wild waterfowl or other domesticated flocks) or can be picked up at poultry shows, swap meets, or even from visiting your best friend’s coop.

11 Common Symptoms of Avian Influenza

Knowing the signs and symptoms of the bird flu virus is necessary for a correct diagnosis. Eleven common symptoms include the following:

1. Unusual or involuntary movements

2. Circling behaviors

3. Deformation of the neck

4. Lack of interest in food or water

5. Blindness

6. Diarrhea

7. Nasal or eye discharge

8. Sudden death soon after symptoms appear

9. Multiple deaths in the flock

10. Swelling around heads, necks, and eyes

11. Purple-colored legs and feet

Note: The symptoms of the bird flu virus are often the same as those of other common poultry diseases. Just because your flock may be experiencing some of these symptoms does not necessarily mean they have the bird flu. If your flock experiences these symptoms, contact your local or state veterinarian to see if the bird flu virus is a possibility in your flock.

Can I Get the Bird Flu Virus?

Can I get the bird flu virus, is a commonly asked question. In rare cases, humans can contract the bird flu virus, but it doesn’t usually happen. The good news is this disease is not deadly in humans, with symptoms being similar to other human flu symptoms, such as muscle cramps, fever, coughing, etc.

farmer wearing protective mask to prevent bird flu transmission
Adobe Stock/visoot

Individuals who work with or have come into contact with sick poultry are more likely to contract the bird flu virus. If you need to be around sick birds, wear a mask to help protect yourself.  If you have come into contact with the disease, follow all of the safety and cleaning guidelines laid out by the state vet and your family doctor to prevent it from spreading.

Following good hygiene, such as washing your hands for twenty seconds (the amount of time it takes to sing happy birthday twice) after handling poultry, poultry equipment, or cleaning the coop, will help keep you and your family healthy and safe.

Can Livestock Be Affected By the Bird Flu?

While it is not very common, some livestock, such as cattle, can contract bird flu. Keeping your herds and other livestock healthy and their immune systems strong is the best way to prevent them from contracting this disease.

Practice good biosecurity, feed nutrient-rich, species-specific, vegetarian-based feed, and clean barnyards and stalls frequently to prevent the spreading of disease.

Keeping wild birds out of pastures and barns can be challenging, if not impossible, so your best bet is practicing good husbandry.

Are Household Pets At Risk for the Bird Flu?

Household pets are not usually at risk of contracting bird flu but if your dog or cat consumes a contaminated bird, they can become ill.

Protect your four-footed family members by never allowing them to roam around outside unsupervised. If your dog or cat does consume a bird, keep an eye on them for signs of illness and call your vet immediately if they become sick.

Just like outdoor birds and poultry, house birds can be at risk of contracting the bird flu virus. Protect your parrots and other house birds by removing outdoor shoes before entering the house and changing your clothes after handling your poultry.

How Can Waterfowl Hunters Stay Safe?

Wild waterfowl are known for carrying the virus without appearing sick, so waterfowl hunters should use extra caution, especially if they have backyard poultry at home.

canada geese flying
Adobe Stock/Dennis Donohue

Before setting out on a hunt, do some research to see if the bird flu virus has been seen in your area. If cases have been reported near you are hunting, protect yourself and your flock and stay home.

If cases haven’t been reported close by, wear separate shoes and clothing for hunts. If possible, change footwear and outdoor wear before returning home to avoid spreading the bird flu virus and other diseases.  Never wear hunting gear or shoes when in contact with your flock.

Waterfowl hunting is never complete without your faithful canine by your side. When hunting with your dog, be sure to avoid having him retrieve deceased birds who were not shot or obviously sick birds to keep your canine safe and healthy.

For complete guidelines on how you can protect yourself, your hunting dogs, and poultry flocks while hunting, please visit https://www.aphis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/fsc_hpai_hunters.pdf  and https://www.ducks.org/conservation/waterfowl-research-science/waterfowl-hunters-and-the-avian-flu-what-you-need-to-know

Learning about avian influenza, including the signs and symptoms, is necessary to protect your flock and avoid the spreading of this deadly disease. But with proper care, good husbandry, and practicing biosecurity, the bird flu virus should not pose a threat to your backyard flock.

This article about bird flu was written for Chickens magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Categories
Animals

5 Tips For How to Tell If a Pig Is Pregnant

pig pregnant sow
Lyndsey Teter

How to tell if a pig is pregnant is something that many farmers wonder about. Knowing the answer can be difficult, but here are five tips to help.

Is My Pig Pregnant?

Three months, three weeks, three days. The short gestation and prolific nature of the swine means that, relatively, we don’t have to wait too long to find out if hog-farrowing is an enterprise on your farm. The maximum amount of torture you will endure is 114 days.

Developing and minding a farrowing calendar helps you plan for piglets.

#1 Detecting Heat

The trickiest part is establishing a starting point for the 21-day count, or the estrus cycle of your lady.

Pigs cycle every 18 to 21 days. The span of symptoms is wide, ranging from none at all, to fully aggressive, restless, swollen mamas, mounting pen mates with visible discharge, ears popping up and down, vocalizing and locking their back legs to brace for the boar’s heavy frame.

My favorite sow used to walk to the edge of her paddock closest to our house and stare, unmoving, for hours. She was a great no-brainer sow for a beginning farmer. Some are less obvious, but most gals show at least a few of these signs.

The most reliable indicator is the attention of the boar. However, keep in mind, that you do not have to witness a boar mount a sow or gilt for her to get pregnant.

We’ve had seemingly discrete boars that prefer to breed when no one is watching, and we’ve had boars with less scruples, willing to mate only on full agriculture educational display, as a bus full of school children drives by.

But sneaky or not, the boar always leaves evidence of mating. He’ll leave sticky evidence all over the sow’s body, particularly her rear end, all over the pasture, maybe even all over a bale of hay, it’s just … you’ll see it.

# 2 A Little Bit Pregnant

Once you can establish mating has occurred, it’s time to start the 21-day clock looking for another heat cycle. Prepare to endure all sorts of “what ifs” and self-doubt.

No is the only definitive answer. If she cycles again, she is not in the family way. If there’s no evidence of heat, you’re partially on your way to answering yes, my pig is pregnant.

Unless she’s only a little bit pregnant.

There are many roadblocks to certainty on the farm. Disease pressure, stress, weather changes, transportation stress, age and condition of the sow—a number of things can cause a gilt or sow to absorb an early pregnancy. It’s rare, but it happens.

To complicate matters further, aggressive boars will mount a sow who is already pregnant. It’s a good sign if she refuses to put up with his tomfoolery, but it depends on the temperament of both the boar and the sow.

I have seen very pregnant sows put up with this behavior.

Follow these strategies when planning and planting pastures for pigs.

#3 Testing for Pregnancy

When we first started out, we were tempted by expensive cheats like pig pregnancy test strips (yes, they exist) and portable ultrasound instruments, which emit a series of tones that indicate pregnancy between 30-80 days after mating.

Ultimately, collecting pig urine or convincing sows to hold still for the Doppler—as well as learning proper technique for these devices—were not practical at our scale. I could definitely see myself diagnosing a full bladder as a false positive.

We put off buying equipment until, one day, we found we had trained our eyes to recognize a pregnant pig.

#4 Monitoring Mammary Development

Milkline, underline, rail, milk rail—there are many terms for it, but mammary development is the most reliable and consistent indicator of swine pregnancy.

Udders along the belly will fill out slowly from the rear like a balloon animal prior to being twisted. Teats will expand or cone out toward the ground.

It takes several hours of pig boob observation to make the call, but as a general rule, gilts show change earlier than our sows. The professional eye can detect change about 30 days out.

In an older sow, our warning window is shortened to about 2-3 weeks. Eventually, the udders will become so engorged that you’ll be able to squeeze the teat and express milk, a sure indicator of Go Time. Pack your hospital bag, as you’ll likely have piglets within 24-48 hours.

Fair warning, we have had high production sows express milk for a full week before farrowing. Just to keep us from getting too confident.

pig pregnant sow
The key is in the mammary. This gilt is three weeks from farrowing. (Lyndsey Teter)

#5 Watching Lady Pig Parts

As the mother pig’s belly swells and is weighed down with the pregnancy, in some pigs, the vulva will actually begin to point up toward the sky. The key here is knowing what the sow’s vulva looks like when not bred, and observing any change.

This appears to be a genetic trait, as this method has proven less reliable on our farm. But many have found success in observing change of direction in lady pig parts, if that’s your thing.

Raising Baby Pigs: Advice From An Accidental Farmer

Can Results for How to Tell if a Pig is Pregnant Be Clear?

Waiting for babies is a major cause of anxiety for new farmers.

Farmers want to be prepared for a new litter of piglets. At the same time, they also seek assurance they are not carrying costs for livestock with reproductive issues.

Luckily with pigs, there’s usually only a month or two (at most) of wondering in despair if your pig is pregnant. Just hang on a few more weeks.

This article about how to tell if a pig is pregnant was written for Hobby Farms magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Categories
Animals

Meet the Idaho Pasture Pig: A Good Grazer

idaho pasture pig with her babies in a grassy field
Jodi Cronauer, White Bison Farm co-owner, Idaho Pasture Pig Registry (registrar)

The Idaho Pasture Pig was developed by Shelly Farris of Rigby, Idaho, when she saw a need for a good grazing pig. She wanted a good-natured animal that would graze the grass instead of rooting. The animals would also need to mature out at a smaller size than traditionally grown pigs, but able to reach a butcher weight in a reasonable amount of time. She began offering breeding stock to the public in 2012.

Down with IPP

The Idaho Pasture Pig—also called an IPP—is comprised of Old Berkshire, Duroc and Kunekune breeds. Many years of dedicated work went into creating a pig that is great for small family farms, as well as anyone interested in raising quality pork. 

The meat from grass-fed pigs is higher in omega-3 fatty acids. It’s also more marbleized than traditional grown pork, with a deep red color and a sweeter flavor.

Idaho Pasture Pig boars mature to about 350 to 450 pounds. Sows top out about 250 to 350 pounds. With a diet consisting primarily of grass, the pigs will mature to a butcher weight of about 230 to 250 pounds in approximately 10 months.

Read more: Small farms can be perfect places to raise some pigs in pasture!

What Do You Feed an Idaho Pasture Pig?

All pigs require lysine that is found in grains, so IPPs are unable to be 100 percent grass-fed. But they can be primarily grass-fed. Only 10 to 20 percent of their diet needs to consist of grains and minerals.

It’s essential for the minerals to be mixed properly into the feed. Due to their toxicity to salt, Idaho Pasture Pigs are unable to be fed free-choice minerals or mineral blocks. A mineral deficiency will result in the pigs digging in the ground to locate additional minerals instead of grazing the ground properly. 

Its uniform head leads to a shorter, upturned snout. This allows the Idaho Pasture Pig to graze grass. Other breed-standard attributes include:

  • a long back
  • well-developed shoulders
  • rounded hams that extend all the way down to the hocks
  • a good personality 

The Idaho Pasture Pig has more hair on its body than other breeds, making it very cold-hardy. Sows make excellent mothers, and they don’t require heat lamps to farrow outside in A-frame shelters.

The keys to a happy, healthy grazing pig include minerals; water; grass, hay and fodder; shelter; and, of course, a nice wallow!

This article about the Idaho Pasture Pig was written for Hobby Farms magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Categories
Poultry

3 Safe Methods for a Heated Chicken Coop

chickens in a heated chicken coop using a plate heater
Ana Hotaling

A heated chicken coop is something that people in regions of the United States where the temperatures drop dramatically from October to April often consider to keep their birds from freezing. Here’s how to keep your flock safely warm throughout the winter by providing heat via one of these three secure options.

Heated Chicken Coop Dangers

My husband Jae recently shared some sad news with me. A couple of his colleagues had lost their entire chicken coop over the weekend to a fire. All but one of their hens had perished; the lone survivor had to be euthanized, her injuries too extensive to treat. Scorch marks on the outer bricks of their residence showed how tragic this incident could have been.

I looked at Jae and said two words: heat lamp. And of course, it had been.

Search the internet and you are bound to find dozens of examples of coop fires caused by heat lamps. As with this local blaze, the poultry owners tend to be unaware of the inherent risks that come with using a searing-hot bulb over such combustible materials as straw and pine shavings.

3 Ways to Safely Keep Your Chicken Coop Warm

1. Heating Panels

Infrared heating panels are popular in home improvement because they can transfer heat quietly, without the use of fossil fuels and with no bulbs or filters to maintain. Most commonly found in bathrooms and yoga studios, these panels are easy to use: Mount them on a wall or ceiling, plug them in and wipe them down every so often. These traits make them ideal to use in a chicken coop. Simply position them beside or above your perch, and your birds will keep warm all winter.

Added bonus: The dust in your coop won’t get kicked up because these panels do not blow air in order to heat.

Drawback: The initial layout can be costly. Infrared heating panels can cost from about $100 to more than $300, which can be a little pricey for the debutante flock owner.

2. Deep Litter

A tried-and-true method, deep litter relies on in-situ decomposition to heat the henhouse. As the pine shavings become soiled with droppings, fresh litter is added on top. As more fresh litter is added, the soiled litter is compressed and begins to decompose in place. The decomposition process releases natural heat, which warms the coop and its inhabitants.

Added bonus: When it’s time to clean out the coop come spring, you’ll have plenty of fresh compost as a byproduct.

Drawback: Your coop must have proper ventilation to prevent an accumulation of gases that could be harmful—or fatal—to your flock.

3. Caged Heat Lamps

When used properly, a heat lamp provides an effective source of heat for your chickens. If you use a heat lamp, do some research rather than plunking the first one you see into your shopping cart.

  • Make sure the bulbs are infrared heat-lamp bulbs that are shatter-resistant.
  • Check the wattage: If you buy a 250-watt bulb, for example, you must use a 250-watt lamp.
  • Never exceed your lamp’s allotted wattage, which easily and unknowingly can be done by adding a timer.
  • Suspend your heat lamp from a permanent fixture such as a rafter or stud.
  • Use appropriate hardware to securely install your light.
  • Reinforce the chains with hardware wire so that they do not unlink.
  • Hang your heat lamp a minimum of 18 inches above head level to allow your chickens room to safely jump
  • Do not position your heat lamp above the perch, which will raise the birds to a level too close to the heat source to be safe.
  • Most importantly, use a cage over the face of the heat lamp. This way, should your heat lamp fall, the hot bulb will not contact anything incendiary.

Added bonus: Heat lamps, for the most part, are inexpensive.

Drawback: Heat lamps are also laughably easy to install incorrectly—which is a risk to your flock.

Jae shared our condolences with his colleagues and gently reminded them that I am just a phone call or text message away when they’re ready to outfit their new coop. I only wish they’d called me back in October, when they first hung their uncaged lamp from a cast-iron planter hook. They thought they would provide heat for their hens. Unfortunately, they didn’t realize how much.

This story about a heated chicken coop was written for Chickens magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Categories
Farm & Garden

Using Rain Gardens & Bioswales to Manage Rainwater

rain garden with pollinator plants
Adobe Stock/Maria T Hoffman

Rain gardens and bioswales are gardening options that provide native habitats and manage excess rainwater simultaneously.

What Happens When We Get Too Much Rain Too Fast?

When our gardens get buckets of rainfall dumped on them in a more compressed amount of time, we’re at greater risk for flooding—and greater risk of losing precious topsoil in the process. Rather than slowly penetrating and subsequently filtering through layers of soil to recharge the local groundwater, extreme rainfall becomes fast-moving runoff.

If your soil is really compacted or, like most of us, you’re surrounded by asphalt roads, concrete driveways and similarly impervious surfaces, all that extra rainwater has a chance to spread out and flow even more quickly across these areas. As a result, the runoff remains above ground, making its way into nearby streams and rivers and taking the topsoil and its nutrients along with it.

Fortunately, we can prepare for these extreme weather events and preserve the rich topsoil we work so hard to build. By building bioswales and rain gardens into our landscapes, we can channel and slow that runoff.

Changing Environmental Conditions

No matter where you live and where you garden, odds are you’ve noticed at least some changes in your local weather patterns over the last several years. Throughout much of the United States, for instance, we’ve seen new extremes—more intense rains punctuated by prolonged periods of drought.

A 2019 research brief released by the policy-neutral nonprofit group Climate Central notes that for every degree Fahrenheit rise in temperature, our atmosphere can hang onto about 4 percent more water vapor. That means as temperatures go up, the stage is set for even heavier deluges when it does rain. Climate Central researchers analyzed the rainiest days of the year for 244 U.S. cities and determined that, “Since 1950, the wettest day of the year has gotten wetter in 79 percent of the cities analyzed.

“In addition to getting stronger, extreme downpours are happening more frequently than in the past. In 80 percent of the cities analyzed, the top 1 percent of rain events have been recorded disproportionately recently.” Just how recently? More than 1⁄3 of the cities Climate Central studied set their rainfall records since 1990.

bioswales rain gardens
Studiomiracle/Adobe Stock

What is a Bioswale?

You may already be familiar with swales. They’re long, narrow ditches or shallow basins typically positioned around homes and along roads to redirect storm water. These may be planted with grass, filled with stone, or even made from concrete. But what makes a swale a bioswale?

Modeled after Mother Nature, a bioswale incorporates natural elements that work together to filter and direct the runoff. These may include native perennial grasses and flowers as well as certain soil amendments. In part, the natural elements to be included depend on factors such as soil texture and how quickly water drains through a particular area. The land’s degree of slope matters, too. (Land that is nearly flat or, conversely, land that is very steeply sloped is ill-suited for a bioswale.)

What is a Rain Garden?

You can use bioswales to slow and direct stormwater runoff from your roof, driveway and other impervious surfaces, but where exactly should this runoff go? Bioswales work especially well when paired with rain gardens. Rain gardens are usually located in low-lying areas and include deeply rooted native plant species that, once established, can tolerate “wet feet” and drought conditions.

While native plants do some of the runoff-filtering work, the physical structure and layout of the rain garden are also important parts of the equation. Imagine the rain garden as a kind of basin complete with berms—built-up ridges of land—on all sides except for the side that receives stormwater runoff. 

Water from the gutters on your home and water being directed along any nearby bioswales flows into the rain garden site. The rain garden’s high berms help to hold the runoff in place long enough for it to be taken up by the deeply rooted plants. The stormwater runoff also gradually penetrates and drains through the rain garden’s layers of mulch and amended soil.

bioswales rain gardens
auntspray/Adobe Stock

How Do I Choose Between a Bioswales and Rain Gardens?

Should you choose to install your own bioswale and rain garden, their location, size and shape depend on several factors. Some of these include your current stormwater runoff drainage patterns, the texture of your soil, the rate at which water drains through it, and your growing conditions.

Stormwater Runoff

If you aren’t sure about the path your stormwater runoff currently takes, you might have to wait until the next heavy rain to carefully observe this. Take note of any areas in the yard with standing water as well as any spots that feel extra squishy. Snap some photos or draw a map to help you remember where excess water is going and which areas of your land may be eroding.

Soil Makeup & Infiltration

As for the makeup of your soil, if it is badly compacted or especially poor-draining—think heavy clay—you’ll need to remove and amend more of it than if it is already very light and sandy. Ideally, a combination of well-rotted compost, sand and topsoil is best.

Sometimes called the “soil infiltration rate,” the rate at which water drains through your soil is another critical piece of information to consider. A simple way to estimate this for your soil is to dig a hole that’s about 6 inches across and 8 to 12 inches deep. Fill the hole with water and wait until it has drained before moving on to the next step.

Once the hole is empty again, put a yardstick inside it and refill the hole with water. Make a note of the water level now and then again in an hour’s time. If at least 1⁄2 inch of water has drained, then this might be a suitable spot for your rain garden.

Sunlight

How much sunlight the area gets also matters. After all, this will influence the plants you’re able to choose for any bioswales and your rain garden.

Site Requirements

Finding the Slope

The spot you’re considering for your rain garden should be located at least 10 feet away from the foundation of your home. It should also have a slope of less than 12 percent. You can find an area’s percent of slope by placing two stakes at its highest and lowest points. Run a string from the base of the uphill stake to the downhill stake, making sure that the string is level where it attaches to the downhill stake. Measure the distance from the base of the downhill stake to the top of the now-level string. This is the change in the “rise.” Next, measure the distance between the two stakes. This is the “run.” 

Make sure your rise and run are both expressed in the same units of measure. Divide the rise by the run and multiply the answer by 100. This is your percent of slope.

Finding the Depth

Knowing the slope of a potential rain garden location will help you determine how deep the final product needs to be. As a rule, rain gardens built on a slope of less than 4 percent should be just 3 to 5 inches deep at their deepest points. For slopes of 5 to 7 percent, you’ll need to dig down 6 or 7 inches. Rain gardens built on slopes between 8 and 12 percent should be about 8 inches deep at their deepest points.

Ultimately, the depth of your rain garden, along with the square footage of impermeable surface you have, will influence your rain garden’s finished size. For example, say you have 800 square feet
of impermeable surface and your rain garden is going to be 6 inches at its deepest point. In this case, the rain garden should take up about 40 square feet. But, if your rain garden is just 3 inches deep, you’d need to double its footprint, making it 80 square feet instead.

Set Up Timing

Depending on your rain garden’s size and depth, its excavation and shaping could take several days. So could amending heavy soil with sand and compost. Plan to cover the area with a large tarp between work sessions. (Oh, and don’t forget to ask your local utilities to mark any underground lines before you begin your big dig!) 

What Plants Grow in Bioswales and Rain Gardens?

Plants that perform best in bioswales and rain gardens are clumping, native grasses and sturdy, native perennial flowers with very deep roots.

Some common warm-season grasses that work well throughout much of the United States include:

  • sedges,
  • big bluestem, and
  • northern sea oats
  • river oats

Perennial flower options that can pull their weight in most rain gardens include:

  • swamp milkweed
  • bee balm
  • columbine
  • black-eyed Susan
  • joe-pye weed
  • queen of the prairie
  • cardinal flower

For best results, ask your county extension office or native plant society for rain garden plant recommendations to fit your specific microclimate. Also, it’s worth noting that some city and county governments do offer stormwater project grants for area residents looking to install their own bioswales and rain gardens. If one of your local agencies offers grants, you might be able to use one to help cover labor or plant costs.

This article about using rain gardens and bioswales to control rainwater originally appeared Hobby Farms magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Categories
Crops & Gardening

Popular Popcorn: 9 Varieties to Grow & More

close up of popped popcorn
Shutterstock

Popcorn is as American as apple pie. The bursting sound and wafting smell of salty, buttery, goodness can be found at stadiums, carnivals, homesteads, and most notably, movie theaters.

Archaeological and genetic evidence of the origin of popcorn throughout Central and South America, particularly Guatemala, Mexico and Peru, is extensive. On a recent excursion to Peru, I learned that the country has more than 55 varieties of corn. When I sampled the popcorn, each large flake’s sweet flavor and shape surprised me.

There are two main structures of popcorn: mushroom and butterfly. The 2-inch pieces I sampled are known as mushrooms for their consistent puffball form. Confectioners prefer this variety for its shelf life. In movie theaters, however, butterfly, aka snowflake, is the mainstay for its texture and mouthfeel.

Pop History

To learn more about the history of what might be the oldest snack food, I contacted Dolores Piperno, senior scientist emerita of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

“The wild ancestor of corn is a wild grass called teosinte [Zea mays ssp. parviglumis],” she says. “The earliest maize discovered so far was like a popcorn, and it turns out that teosinte grains can be popped.”

Because both grains have similar types of endosperm, both react to heat the same way.

“Scientists wondered for a long time how teosinte was used as a food by the earliest cultivators of corn, since its kernels were enclosed in the fruit case,” she says.

It appears teosinte was popped in order to be eaten. It wasn’t until later in its evolution that other types of maize, such as field, flint and sweet corn, were bred.

“Geneticists compare the DNA sequences of modern varieties of corn with related wild species that can still be found growing today and that could potentially be ancestral, and the proof is hard and firm,” Piperno says. “Also, importantly, within the past decade or so, geneticists are carrying out ancient DNA studies directly on remains of crops excavated from archaeological sites. These analyses have moved forward our understanding of how corn evolved through thousands of years of agriculture from teosinte.”

kids selling Bubba Bug Popcorn

Pop Stars

Ethan and Natalie Pratt, ages 12 and 10, respectively, own Bubba-Bug Popcorn. Five years ago, they asked their mom if they could open a lemonade stand. She told them that lemonade stands don’t work on an empty country road. So these two inspiring entrepreneurs came up with the idea of selling popcorn. They chose and planted varieties, hand-picked each ear at harvest time, shelled the corn with an old hand-cranked sheller, and packaged it up and delivered it to customers. They’ve been growing their business ever since. Here is some planting advice from these young, but seasoned farmers.

  • Wait to plant until the soil temperature is above 50 degrees and there is no threat of frost. Be sure to plant into a seedbed of fine soil. This might require a couple of passes with the roto-tiller. Keep your rows narrow, and plant at a high population to encourage pollination.
  • We planted by hand for three years, tried to use our grandpa’s corn planter one year and finally purchased a vegetable seeder. We used that this year. Planting was so easy. It ensured even seed depth, spacing and soil coverage.
  • For harvest, wait until the popcorn is dry before picking. Picking too early can result in mold growing on your kernels. It should have a moisture content of 13 to 15 percent. We pick by hand and shuck the ears right in the field.

Find out more about the popcorning Pratt siblings at Illinois Farm Girl.

Popcorn Popularity

The popularity is like the act of popping itself: slow at first, with a few booms, followed by a firestorm of kernels exploding into delightful puffs of air and starch.

By the mid 1800s, it was a prevalent snack food because of the entertainment value of its popping process. In 1885, Charles Cretor invented the first steam-powered popcorn maker. This allowed vendors to sell the snack at outdoor sporting events, circuses and fairs, a large advantage over the potato chip, which needed to be made in small batches inside a kitchen. Street vendors took advantage of popcorn’s appealing aroma to boost sales. The only place popcorn wasn’t available? Inside movie theaters. Imagine an audience full of popcorn eaters, chomping away while watching a silent movie!

ears of heirloom popcorn laid out on a table
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

Most popcorn sold during this time was white because yellow corn wasn’t commercially grown and cost twice as much. However, popcorn vendors preferred yellow corn, which popped more, causing more volume for less seed. The yellow tint also gave the impression of a butter coating. The public started refusing the white variety at markets, requesting “movie popcorn.”

By 1930, nearly 90 million people every week went to the movies. Movie theater owners’ eyes glazed over with dollar signs, as patrons came to the theater with street popcorn in hand. The release of talkies and sound movies also persuaded owners to allow the crunchy snack into theaters.

At first, owners leased space to vendors in the foyer or on the street in front of the theater. By 1945, newer theaters contained dedicated areas for popcorn to be made and sold. At this time, more than half of the popcorn consumed in America was eaten at movie theaters.

a farm bureau photo showing an ear of field corn, an ear of sweet corn and an ear of popcorn for comparisons
Rhodora Collins/DeKalb County Farm Bureau

In 1946, engineer Percy Spencer conducted experiments at Raytheon Corp. with a magnetron. After discovering that a chocolate bar melted nearby, he experimented with other foods. When corn kernels were close, they popped, and the creation of microwave popcorn led to the invention of the microwave. The first commercial microwave measured 6 feet tall, weighed 750 pounds and cost $5,000 at the time (nearly $70,000 in 2017 currency). In the 1970s and ’80s, counter-sized microwaves became widely available.

Today, Americans consume 14 billion quarts of popped popcorn annually, or about 43 quarts per person. Seventy percent is eaten in homes, while 30 percent is eaten in places such as theaters, stadiums and schools.

9 Varieties to Grow

Today, white popcorn accounts for 10 percent of commercially grown popcorn, with yellow being the most popular. Try these varieties to add a pop of color to your homestead.

1. Burro Mountain

This ancient white popcorn produces two to three, 4- to 6-inch-long ears per stalk. It was first found in a pottery container dated to be 600 to 1,000 years old in the Burro Mountains of Grant County, New Mexico.

2. Chapalote

This flint/popcorn may be the oldest corn variety grown in North America. Carbon dating shows that it could be 4,000 years old. Long, slim ears are filled with shining-amber to dark-brown kernels. It also has great drought and heat tolerance.

3. Cherokee Long Ear

This variety produces a beautiful blend of brightly colored long ears, 5 to 7 inches long; they are wonderful as fall decorations as well as popping.

4. Dakota Black

Dark reddish-black ears of corn are quite attractive for fall decorations or popping into delicious popcorn. This variety is easy to grow and does well in almost all growing climates.

5. Glass Gem

This variety of popcorn produces translucent multicolored kernels that shine like glass. The 3- to 8-inch ears are decorative but also edible and tasty. Sturdy plants reach 9 feet tall and throw numerous side-shoots where the season is long enough.

6. Indian Berries

three popcorn indian berries sitting on granite table with a blurred background
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

These 4- to 5-foot plants yield as many as four multicolored ears each. The ears are as long as 5 inches and include shiny kernels in red, blue, purple, yellow and white. Ears are produced curiously low on the plants.

7. Mini Pink/Blue

These cute, 2- to 5-inch ears are independently indigo or mauve to rose pink. Plants can reach 6 to 7 feet and yield as many as four ears per stalk. When popped, the kernels have a nutty flavor.

8. Strawberry

This is a popular, cute variety whose little ears of corn look just like big strawberries. The 4-foot plants produce two to four ears each.

9. Smoke Signal Indian

This traditional Native American corn makes a stunning ornamental display and can be dried and popped for a tasty snack. Tall, sturdy plants create a natural trellis for climbing beans.

Other Seeds That Pop & Puff

While popcorn is certainly king, there’s a whole world of popped grains out there. Other grains you can try popping include:

  • Amaranth
  • Barley
  • Millet
  • Quinoa
  • Sorghum
  • Wheat Berries

Growing Advice

Ginger Grubb and her husband Bill began growing popcorn soon after they got married in 1972. They live on a heritage farm in south-central Iowa that has been in his family since 1874. “My father asked if he bought some good tasty seed he had found, would Bill plant it for him,” Ginger says. “We planted a couple of rows alongside the field corn, and we picked it by hand in the fall. The neighbors liked it so well that we planted a few more rows and then a couple of acres. In 2010, a friend of mine and I went into business selling popcorn to a few grocery stores. We were planting eight to 10 acres of popcorn.”

Today, Grubb’s Premium Popping Corn (www.grubbpopcorn.com) plants more than 40 acres.

Once you have selected a variety that is suited to your area, sow the seeds directly into the ground. Several short rows, similar to growing sweet corn, will ensure good pollination. Don’t plant sweet corn in the same area as popcorn as they will hybridize. Water, fertilize and weed regularly.

ears of white and dark popcorn for sale in a wicker basket
Angela N/Flickr

Harvest

“The key to having popcorn pop is the amount of water in the hull,” says Wendy Boersema Rappel, a spokesperson for the Popcorn Board. “Processors dry popcorn to about 131⁄2 percent moisture.”

Allow the cobs to dry in the field as long as possible. When picked, the kernels should be hard and the husks completely dry. Place the ears in mesh bags, and hang in a warm, dry, well-ventilated area. Once a week, try popping a few kernels. If the test kernels pop well and taste good, harvest the rest of the kernels. If the popcorn is tough or the popped kernels are jagged, they are too wet and need to dry longer.

“To get a good crop, we check the moisture levels in the fall before harvesting and pick when it is 141⁄2 percent or close to that,” Grubb says. “If it is too dry or too wet, then it doesn’t pop at all well.”

ears of dried dark red popcorn gathered in bundles on a table for sale
Jim the Photographer/Flickr

Storage

“Storage is important to keeping that moisture in, so keep popcorn in a sealed container, away from extreme heat sources,” Rappel says.

When stored properly, popcorn will retain its popping quality for several years. Make sure the area is rodent-proof. If stored popcorn doesn’t pop, it might be too dry. Add 1 tablespoon of water to a quart of popcorn. Shake until the popcorn has absorbed the water, and attempt a few trial runs.

People have always loved the taste and smell of popcorn,” Rappel says. “Today’s consumer also understands and appreciates the farm-to-table simplicity of popcorn, that it’s a healthy snack fitting current concerns [non-GMO, gluten-free, whole grain, naturally low in fat and calories].” It’s also inexpensive.

While Rappel doesn’t have a favorite variety, she likes to keep it simple using a stovetop with oil and a touch of superfine popcorn salt.

“When I make a treat, my popcorn usually contains melted peanut butter and chocolate,” she says. “Popcorn has been around for thousands of years. Its staying power has a lot to do with its great taste, but also the fact that it’s a bit magical.”

This story about popcorn originally appeared in Hobby Farms magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Categories
Crops & Gardening

How to Grow Begonias From Seed: Get Started Early

flowering pink begonias that were started from seed
Jessica Walliser

Advice for how to grow begonias from seed is simple: get started early. While prime seed-starting time is still weeks away for most parts of North America, there’s one plant that requires a bit more time to grow. Begonias are beautiful annuals that are both shade-loving and deer-resistant and they make a beautiful addition to almost any landscape. If you want to grow some of your own, you might be surprised to learn that, unlike most other annual flowers, mid to late January is the perfect time to start begonias from seed.

Why Start Begonias From Seed

Annual flowers are definitely not the most expensive plants at your local greenhouse, but if you grow (or sell) a lot of them, starting your own from seed can save you a ton of money. While starting marigolds, cosmos and salvias from seed is as simple as can be, when you start begonias from seed, it requires a bit more time and effort.

As with many other plants, starting begonias from seed, rather than buying transplants from a grower, means you’ll have a better varietal selection to choose from and you’ll get a lot more bang for your buck. Most commercial growers focus on growing just three or four popular types of begonias, but there are dozens of selections you can choose from when growing begonias from seed.

How to Grow Begonias From Seed: Four Steps

Begonia seeds are extremely tiny. In fact, each seed isn’t much bigger than a speck of dust. Handling these miniscule seeds can be difficult, though you can purchase pelleted seeds to make the job a bit easier. Add that to the fact that begonias take a very long time to germinate, and that’s probably why most folks shy away from starting them from seed. However, once you get the hang of starting begonias from seed, you’ll discover your efforts are well worth it.

1. Keep Things Sterile

Use new seedling trays or flats to plant begonias from seed. The plants are prone to developing fungal diseases, including damping off and botrytis, so new or disinfected seed trays are a must. You’ll also need new sterile potting soil that’s formulated specifically for seed starting.

2. Planting the Begonia Seeds

Once your seed trays are filled with sterile potting mix, it’s time to plant your begonia seeds. Begonias need light to germinate, so simply broadcast the seeds across the surface of the potting mix and press them against the surface of the soil with your fingertips or a flat piece of cardboard. Do not cover the seeds. Try to distribute them evenly across the soil, but it’s okay to have them spaced fairly closely. Begonias always need to be transplanted when they’re young, so if the seedlings end up too close, it’s no big deal; you’ll be separating them later anyway.

3. Watering the Newly Planted Seeds

When I start begonias from seed, I water the newly planted seeds in with a mister, rather than a hose nozzle, to make sure they stay in place and don’t float away.

4. Germination & Growth

Cover the seeding tray with a sheet of clear plastic or a humidity dome, and place the tray under grow lights that run for about 14-18 hours per day and stand about 2-3″ above the tops of the trays. Put heat mats under the trays to improve and speed germination. Some varieties of begonias can take weeks, if not months, to germinate, so don’t give up on them even if it seems to be taking forever. Make sure the seed flats don’t dry out; water them with a mister or spray bottle whenever necessary. Remove the plastic or humidity dome as soon as the seeds start to germinate. Raise the lights as the plants grow.

When Is the Best Time to Transplant Begonias Started From Seed?

As soon as your begonia seedlings develop their first true leaves, it’s time to transplant them. Use a spoon or spatula to lift a section of young plants up out of the tray and then use your fingers to gently tease them apart. Once separated, replant the begonia seedlings into nursery 4 packs or small plastic pots of new sterile potting soil.

Keep the pots or nursery packs well watered and continue to keep them under the grow lights for 14-18 hours per day. Once the danger of frost has passed, it’s time to begin to move your begonias outdoors for a few hours per day. Gradually increase the amount of time they spend outdoors over the course of two to three weeks until they are outdoors full time. This process of hardening off means a reduced chance of transplant shock and sunburn once your begonias are planted outdoors permanently.

Which Begonias Should You Start From Seed?

There are many types of begonias you can start from seed. Some types, like rex begonias, are easier to grow from root or leaf cuttings, but the experience of starting other types from seed is lots of fun. When trying to start begonias from seed for the first time, I recommend beginning with wax begonias, Dragon wing begonias, Angel wing begonias, cascading begonias or tuberous begonias.

This article about how to grow begonias from seed was written for Hobby Farms magazine. Click here to subscribe.