This week:

Chickens and chicks (chooks) are all doing fine, 

Pigs ready to farrow, 

Late spring snow storm, 

The hoophouse is filling up with seedlings. 

In the The Coopcast Community:

Global reviews on iTunes - how cool!, 

The Urban Farmer for a Green Sustainable Living Community, 

Guineas, guns and Doug from the Michigan DNR. 

On Farm U:

Planning the sequence and timings of starting seeds for production, 

Planning the frequency and quantity of CSA harvests, 

Tips, tricks and tools for starting seeds and know when to harvest the plants.

This week:

An aerial assault by a Harrier Hawk on the chickens, 

Moving pigs to new pasture, 

Gardening update in the greenhouse, 

A system for planting the right seeds, 

Observations about what engages people with regards to farming. 

In the The Coopcast Community:

Preventing foxes and other predators from getting into a chicken pasture pen, 

Growing your own pineapple, 

Listener recommendations for great movies to watch about the food movement, 

When it comes to food, "Does voting with my wallet work?". 

On Farm U:

Moving livestock and chute design, 

What NOT to do, 

Types of chutes and materials for construction.

This week:

Locally acquired chickens (support a local business), 

Around the farm updates, 

Preparations for pig farrowing, 

Limping Andy and animals on concrete, 

Pasture to Plate simple dishes.

 In the The Coopcast Community:

Chicks in a brooder - Use a red bulb in your brooder, 

What is the best breed of pig? 

A gift book and visit, 

A listener "uses" his broody hen. 

This Week, In The News:

The FDA decided to "recommend" that no on farm antibiotics be used without a vets prescription. 

While this sounds like a great thing, with less than 10000 large animal vets in the country, what's the real impact to small farms? ( discusses antibiotic resistance in the Farm U segment)

On this coopcast:

Listener feedback on YOUR farming projects (cool!), 

Chicken coop chicks updates, 

Pastured chicken pre-orders have started, 

Status of the gardens and seeds, 

The peas are in - must mean spring in NY, 

Knitted farm animals (Indigo Moon's Chicken Thistle Farm Collection), 

Sugar Mountain Farm's Kickstarter Project - here, 

Prepping for piglets in 21 days! 

On Farm U:

What is High Tensile fencing, 

Basic fencing design, 

Electric fence energizer basics. 

Other notes: Up until now we have been publishing the coopcast/farmcast/podcast every week in both m4a (Apple's format) and mp3 (the worlds format). The challenge is only one version can be included in the "feed" and recently we have had several requests for the mp3 to be in the feed. Given that, we are switching to mp3 and unless anyone speaks up we will be dropping m4a altogether starting with this coopcast.

On this coopcast:

An update of Nugget and other incubating eggs, 

Managing pigs in unexpected heat, 

Warm spring and it's effects on the gardens, 

Soil block frustrations (again)! 

A new segment called Questions, Conversations and Rumination:

What is a farm? 

And in this episodes Farm U segment:

Portable pasture netting for poultry, 

Management of netting, 

Energizing the netting, 

Where to find the netting.

On this coopcast:

Managing a farm while you are on vacation, 

Buying produce from the store (gross), 

General farm updates, 

The adventures of "Nugget". 

And in this episodes Farm U segment:

Buying / selling meat chickens, 

The importance of good "forms", 

Pricing of chickens.

On this coopcast:

Updates on the coop hatched chicken named "Nugget", 

Grade School Science Fair, 

Some good listener questions. 

And in this episodes Farm U segment:

Small farm tractors, 

Brands and dealers that matter, 

Types of tractor tires, 

Size and selection.

On this coopcast:

Thanks for all the reviews and feedback - keep it coming - a great community of listeners, 

Andy is losing the guinea discussions, 

A soil block love affair, 

Good eats with pork steak and preserved vegetable stir-fry, 

A new firearm comes to live with us, 

Hatched in the coop chickens. 

And in this episodes Farm U segment:

Final part of our Cornish Cross (Cornish X) chicken discussion, 

Putting the birds on pasture (tricks and tips), 

Pasture pens, Water, feed and other considerations for the pastured Cornish X birds, 

A consumer's perspective on pastured chicken.