An apocolypse herd/flock

[Illia]

Ah yes, Heirloom varieties. Now I think it would be downright silly to be in an apocalyptic environment and not have heirloom varieties of vegetables and the sort!

I know I for one already have just bucket-loads of different seeds, and a whole huge room full of plants ready to go out to the greenhouse. . . All heirloom.


That's another thing I think is a BIG must. If you consider, whatever happens, there is very likely (and for us West Coast people - already is) Radiation to be known of going around the globe. In that case, a greenhouse or two or three is a MUST - Not only does it allow plants you normally can't grow in your area to survive, but also allows you to eat food without getting radiation poisoning.

Out here in the northwest there's no way I could get such a harvest of tomatoes, melons, peppers, tomatillos, and tropical fruit without my greenhouses. . . But still, that aside, there's many more pros about them than just housing hot-climate plants.

 

[Duker17]

Sounds like we all need to be stocking up on goats, seeds, and yaks...where do you get a yak??

I think we would be alright, I've got enough chickens, ducksand turkeys to eat for a year, have a garden and our best friends (that conveniently live right by us) run a dairy and beef cattle herd. We've got horses for transportation/ work and 3 dogs for protection, although 2 of those dogs are chicken killers so that may pose a problem. I REALLY want goats and pigs, maybe I should tell DH we need them in case of the apocalypse??? Hmmmm....Think that will work?

Perhaps I should start stocking up on salt and water...

 

[GnarleyDogFarm]

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You are right, but I just don't like the taste of lamb or mutton. I want to get a few, but sort of pointless in no one would eat them.



Unless I could trade them to someone for beef or something else I can't raise here. hummm

Hair sheep don't have the muttony flavor that wool sheep have because they don't have lanolin. And some breeds are leaner than others. I am picking up my starter heard of Barbados Black Belly sheep in 2 weeks. I chose them because they can live off pasture and don't ever need to be de-wormed and they are very lean. They don't grow as fast as the commercial breeds, but their hardiness makes it worth it for me. So they are my apocolypse meat source. Them, and chickens. And I am also growing catfish in my ponds. So I'll have sheep, venison, chickens and fish.

Exactly! That's why I raise the Katahdins. They have the Barbados in them. I have several throw-backs in my flock. Katahdins have no horns (naturally "polled"), require no tail docking, are resistant to parasites (but should be regularly wormed, I use natural stuff, like garlic and diatomaceous earth for my animals), require no additional feed besides the pasture/forage (they can eat anything, they even eat scotchbroom), average twin lambs when birthing, taste mild and are lean, etc.

Catfish! THX, I had not thought of that yet for the pond. DUH! Ever had a catfish eat your waterfowl?

 

[GnarleyDogFarm]

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I see yaks on CL sometimes. Sounds like a great idea to me, them or Dexters I always think. We have a game farm out here with them. Pretty neat! They are a managable size and produce fatty milk. I had a roommate who was a Tibetan Monk in exile whose mother was a nomad. Her home was a yak hide yurt that was dismantled and moved with the herd. So maybe yaks are better than Dexters?

 

[carolinagirl58]

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I never even heard of Barbados sheep until a couple of months ago. Someone sent me a link to them and I was so fascinated by their history and uniqueness. So now I am a member of the Blackbelly sheep association and am getting my stock from a fellow member who has only registered animals. I think they are simply gorgeous animals.

My catfish are raised in cages for now.....easy to harvest....but they do require commercial feed. If commercial feed was not available, I'd turn them lose in the pond and let them fend for themselves, harvesting them by way of a fishing pole if I was hungry. You can stock a 4' x 4' s 8' floating cage with 1000 fingerlings and raise them to harvest size over the summer! lose in the pond, they won't grow as fast and would eat all the small bream in there and other fish but I doubt they would bother waterfowl.

 

[GnarleyDogFarm]

When they get big they will eat birds. I'd drop them in the pond and let them do their thing. Where are you gonna get catfish feed when the sh** hits the fan? I never thought about raising them in a cage! Great idea, though, since we can still get our hands on feed.

 

[Illia]

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http://www.iyak.org/yak-breeders/usa-yak-breeders/


A directory by state for breeders. We've got I believe 2 here, but only 1 is actually active. I got my current bull from him. If your state does not have any, some breeders do ship, such as DelYaks - Probably the largest supplier of yaks out there.

 

[KristyHall]

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I've thought about this before:

chickens, geese, ducks
sheep, meat and for the wool
pig

easier to keep,breed, process, can handle weather extremes. heritage breeds of course, those that have not been 'improved',

no beef type cows, they eat to much. hard to keep, with a milk cow almost the same and you need both sexes of course

as for 'B' the only difference is the sheep,

I wouldn't deal with wool sheep. they need constant worming, don't forage well, and are finicky things that have to be mulesing, pampered and over all watched constantly from predators. Want something tough get some sturdy hair breeds like katahtans. They do n't have wool but they are pretty durable, much less likely to get worms and disease, get fat easy, don't need to be mulesing, and I've seen a protective mama run off a good boarder collie with a strong bite.

 

[KristyHall]

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What a great idea!

The big question for me would be..where to go? What place in the USA has ideal conditions to be able to get everything we would need to live? Grow food, raise livestock, fresh water, Grow sugar cane (hey, I like my sugar!

) Salt? that one would be hard. Where do they get salt from? ok..so somewhere by the ocean so you can fish as well. Not everything grows well in all areas
Citrus does well in Florida Potatoes in Idaho Stone fruit in Cali and washington .... I can see we are going to have big gaps in our diet here people! I want to live in a commune. Or own lots of Communal land. Nobody gets to live on it unless they can bring usable skills to benifit everyone!

"says to self...stop dreaming"

Given the 2 options of devolving into an every-person-for-themselves kinda thing, or the communities... I'll take the communites! I know I could use some help, regardless of my very high degree of self-sufficiency. And I know I could help others who really need it. That presupposes that there are enough of us to form these communities. LOL.

Salt exists in pockets around the country and at the coast. Fishing seems like a good way to survive, unless the destruction comes via nukes. Then I don't want to eat the fish anymore. We wll be back to hunting and gathering, which works fine if you know what to eat and medicate with.

I have a collection of seeds and I make more every year. That's my veg, my meat seeds are kept in animals. hehe.

I'm staying right where I am! I can grow everything I want and have enough natural resources. The only way I am screwed is if we have a polar shift (every 26,000 yrs), and my spot is no longer at the same place in relation to the equator. As real a possibility as any other apocalyptic theme, IMO.

I'm ready.

just pick your community carefully. in a disaster the fanatics crawl out of the woodwork and scared people , even reasonable people, are more likely to listen. it is what has allowed things like Nazi Germany, which trials, and other horrors to happen. People get afraid, starve, or desperate, and do stupid things and allow themselves to be led by other equally hysterical people or sociopaths with a charming smile.

 

[KristyHall]

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now you know what to do with your culled birds. throw them to the cat fish