A look at herds / living post disaster (What are your thoughts?)

[Livinwright Farm]

NOT jersey giants however which require WAY WAY too much feed to reach their size)

My JG's thrive on a mix of foods:
(the below amounts are per chicken per day)

1 cup of layer feed
1 cup BOSS
1 cup scratch grain
a multitude of bugs, worms, frogs, salamanders, etc. in the backyard
produce scraps(any & all)

And have been growing beautifully.

 

[patandchickens]

Yes but you could raise more meat weight on that amount of feed with a number of other breeds.

Pat

 

[redtailgal]

..............

 

[Livinwright Farm]

I think I forgot to mention pigs, and enough of them to cook, smoke, & cure.... remember how in the good old days Salt Pork was an every day staple? and BACON is a MUST HAVE item in this house!
redtailgal: ditto on having a Bible!

 

[elevan]

Thank you to everyone for participating. As I said before I think this is a great education / theoretical thread and you've all provided some interesting thoughts.

I just want to comment on a few items that stick out for me and ask for clarification on some of them.

Cattle. Absolutely without question can't do without (unless you are on VERY thin-grazing land in which case might have to punt to goats or sheep, but they have many disadvantages) because not only do they provide meat and milk and good hide, they provide LABOR in the form of training oxen.
`````````````````````````````````
I'd want a couple cattle (including a milk cow but NOT including a bull, that is what neighbors are for LOL)

Any particular breed of cattle that you think would be best?
So, your cattle "supply" would be dependent on working together with your neighbors? Not nitpicking, just asking.
I think some sort of community with your neighbors will be important...if you can trust them.

This is the reason I got animals. Not that I think that the world's going to end, but what if there were interruption in government? Hostile take overs, electricity shortages, gas shortages and such? As a mom, it is my responsibility to provide for my family.

We may be heading for that gas shortage quicker than we think...although not so much a shortage as a "who can afford the price" type of thing...

1. Nigerian Dwarf or mini-mixed goats. Smaller sized so no need to refrigerate the meat

I'm guessing you're saying that your family is large enough to eat the whole goat in one sitting? Or how would you plan to preserve part of the goat? Drying, Salting, Smoking or...

4. Books, how to books, planting guides, animal husbandry books, medical emergency books, herbal cures, how to recognize herbs kind of book. I have a few already and am always looking at the used book store for more.

I completely agree! A decent amount of reference material should be accessible because some things may not need to be done very often and some steps may be easily forgotten. Medical emergency books will be very handy too.

6. Ammo. This is a sore spot with me. I do not have a gun in the house out of fear that my son who is 8 will try to play with it. I do own a gun, it's just not here. I also have a supply of ammo for my gun. I need to consider a bow and arrow, or at least a book on how to make one.

My gun is in a closet on top of the highest shelf at the very back. Not very accessible and well above my head. So I have no fear of my boys getting to it, but it's in the house where I need it to be. Ammo kept separately but nearby. Never kept loaded.

7. Utensils. I have a collection of knives for processing meat. I have a nice collection of cast iron pots and pans. I also have a hand made fire pit. It's a luxury now, but can be utilized to cook on. I also have several trees cut and curing out. I have a nice collection of salt, pepper, and baking soda. It does not go bad, so I add to my collection all the time. Rope, rope, and more rope.

I had completely forgot about rope. Salt is also a must for preserving and flavor.

Skills are the most important thing to have. Theoretical knowledge is better than nothing....but not by much! A lot is left out of books and articles.

Focus on any food source that reproduces....

Know what you can forage in your area and how to prepare it.

Know what your property can grow and how to store it. Do so now, even on a small scale. Growing food is a learned skill a

Practice storage and preservation methods that do not need electricity.

Know how to kill, clean, and preserve your choice of meat animals.

Know a LOT about nutrition so you can stay healthy without medical care.

All very good advice Free!

Hubby and I have talked about this for years. lol. My mom, two brothers, two sisters, and their spouses and children have already told me that they would be coming to live with us. lol


1. What animals would you choose? Be breed specific and why?

`````````````````````````
I would probaly have a couple horses, If I got to choose my horses, I would go with an amish raised warmblood of some type. They have the muscle and stamina to work, the personality that I like, and a metabolism that makes good use of feed.

I would try to find someone near me to co-op a stallion.
``````````````````````````
2. What veggies / fruits / herbs would you grow?

We already have grapes, figs, crabapples, persimmons, blackberries, ``````````````````````
I also have a huge stand of daylilies. The buds are edible and can be canned by waterbath. They taste like green beans.

3. What supplies would you feel you couldn't live without?

My woodstove. (we get a second one if possible for cooking outside in the summer)

`````````````````````
horse drawn equipment for haymaking, and general gardening.
( dont already have this, but would get this with the horses)
```````````
chalkboard and chalk to use in educating children.

Good idea, we could all look to the Amish for ideas (both livestock and domestic) as they already live off the grid in a modern world.

Crabapples are often overlooked - I have a tree of them too. And I had no idea that daylilly buds were edible.

A wood stove or fireplace or firepit would be a necessity and would pull / hand equipment. Our gas powered equipment would only last until we ran out of gas and even then we'd want to use the gas for very important tasks and ration it as best we could.

I can't believe that we've forgot about education of our kids. A chalkboard and chalk are a great addition to the list.

 

[Livinwright Farm]

speaking of resources... here is a link to go to and print off a recipe for cured goat or beef.
http://italianfood.about.com/od/curedmeats/r/blr0883.htm

 

[freemotion]

NOT jersey giants however which require WAY WAY too much feed to reach their size)

My JG's thrive on a mix of foods:
(the below amounts are per chicken per day)

1 cup of layer feed
1 cup BOSS
1 cup scratch grain
a multitude of bugs, worms, frogs, salamanders, etc. in the backyard
produce scraps(any & all)

And have been growing beautifully.

That is a LOT of food per bird! I feed more like half a cup per day per bird. Total. Less in summer. For large breeds of laying hens, however. We eat the roosters.

 

[Livinwright Farm]

NOT jersey giants however which require WAY WAY too much feed to reach their size)

My JG's thrive on a mix of foods:
(the below amounts are per chicken per day)

1 cup of layer feed
1 cup BOSS
1 cup scratch grain
a multitude of bugs, worms, frogs, salamanders, etc. in the backyard
produce scraps(any & all)

And have been growing beautifully.

That is a LOT of food per bird! I feed more like half a cup per day per bird. Total. Less in summer. For large breeds of laying hens, however. We eat the roosters.

I should have stated that those are the over winter amounts of feed/grains/ seed... in summer they get much less, as they do not require the extra fat & protein contents to stay warm and comfy. In the summer I do not really measure what I toss out for them in the backyard... I take 1 chicken feeder(not sure if mine is the 7 or 10 lb) and fill it, with 26 hens & 1 rooseter, and 50-60 chicks it takes roughly 3 days to be emptied in summer.... late spring they bulk up on frogs & toads... mid summer they feast on all sorts of insects(no more ticks on the dogs!!!)... in mid to late fall I start giving them the "insulating" feed mix again.

PS: I only have 1 Black Giant hen now... we sold the roo to a farm in RI early this past winter... I tell you what though... the first roo to become dinner here, will be Sour(splash laced red wyandotte)... that sucker ir just barely a year old and he waddles when he walks... he HORKS anything you put infront of him... I would love to find out how much he weighs! my pre-weighing guess on him is roughly 8-10lbs(live weight obviously). I plan on giving him as much as he wants to eat of HIGH protein foods to get him ready for an end of summer bbq!

 

[patandchickens]

Any particular breed of cattle that you think would be best?

Not Holsteins LOL

So, your cattle "supply" would be dependent on working together with your neighbors?

Well, yes, in all sorts of respects, not just bull-sharing

There is just no way to get around it. And heck, even if you DO have the resources to waste on housing/feeding a bull 365 days a year just so it can jump yer cows once a year, what happens when/if something bad happens to that bull, or when you get too much inbreeding? You are not going to have a self-sustaining herd of just a few cattle, can't be done, going to have to involve other people at SOME point no matter HOW you slice it.

Pat

 

[elevan]

My JG's thrive on a mix of foods:
(the below amounts are per chicken per day)

1 cup of layer feed
1 cup BOSS
1 cup scratch grain
a multitude of bugs, worms, frogs, salamanders, etc. in the backyard
produce scraps(any & all)

And have been growing beautifully.

That is a LOT of food per bird! I feed more like half a cup per day per bird. Total. Less in summer. For large breeds of laying hens, however. We eat the roosters.

I should have stated that those are the over winter amounts of feed/grains/ seed... in summer they get much less, as they do not require the extra fat & protein contents to stay warm and comfy. In the summer I do not really measure what I toss out for them in the backyard... I take 1 chicken feeder(not sure if mine is the 7 or 10 lb) and fill it, with 26 hens & 1 rooseter, and 50-60 chicks it takes roughly 3 days to be emptied in summer.... late spring they bulk up on frogs & toads... mid summer they feast on all sorts of insects(no more ticks on the dogs!!!)... in mid to late fall I start giving them the "insulating" feed mix again.

PS: I only have 1 Black Giant hen now... we sold the roo to a farm in RI early this past winter... I tell you what though... the first roo to become dinner here, will be Sour(splash laced red wyandotte)... that sucker ir just barely a year old and he waddles when he walks... he HORKS anything you put infront of him... I would love to find out how much he weighs! my pre-weighing guess on him is roughly 8-10lbs(live weight obviously). I plan on giving him as much as he wants to eat of HIGH protein foods to get him ready for an end of summer bbq!

It does seem a lot of feed per chicken even in winter to me...but then I try to feed "the old way" as much as possible. Free range. Scraps go to the pigs and the chickens.

Livinwright - A lot of what you feed seems dependent on buying from the feedmill. What would you feed if you no longer had access to mixed or bagged feed? Do you grow your own BOSS? Layer feed is commercial feed...so what would you substitute? And scratch grains is a mix of 7-10 different grains cracked and mixed...would you grow, crack and mix your own? Or would you switch to something else?