An apocolypse herd/flock

[GhostRider65]

Quote:
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"

Colts foot is salty also salt brush wrapped meat has a salty taste as well there are alternatives if you live to fAR INLAND.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Dang. I forgot the yaks. Add those to the possible list.

 

[DadandJoJo]

Ok maybe I've thought about this abit too much and reading some of the post I'd say some haven't thought about it at all first salt comes from a few sorces but the main easy one if your land locked is a salt mine kansas,utah to name a few. For places that are ideal to live depends on ones abilty to survive kinda like oh I don't know" settlers" chickens, horse or cow and pigs (considered dirty) hunting fresh game and knowing how to process them would be invaluable. A garden is a must and plenty of canning jars, then one would have to consider your home, protection would be first and fore most back in the oldies they had huge families to help with the back breaking work of maunal labor and if worse case protection. I've been playing with solar and wind for a little while now but the sun don't always shine and the wind don't always blow but I can moonshine alcohol and beside the huge headache it can run a generator. I feel sorry for the people in the metros because they will start eating each other within 2 weeks (fact the local stores have less than 72 hours of food supplies in them) My advise to my friendlies in the cities I would be making a boogie kit with someplace outside of the city to take refuge in. You don't want to be the only house on the block with food.

Your most imporant things would be God, a plan, gun, ammo, good seed, idione, salt, lye, hand tools, saws and axes grinding wheel and small domestic animal ie chickens rabbits a good growing area hopefully trees and wildlife to harvest from and friendly nieghbors and a strong will to survive. If that time and I believe it to be closer than one hopes for arrives you won't need to worry about the lastest cell phone or the newest fashion it will be circle your wagons at dusk.

 

[Matthew3590]

I have thought about this some, while me and my family was at Sams club. If it was a disease wiping apocalypse affecting only humans then there would need to be some sort of breeding program to repopulate the earth with humans. Humans will have to live in colonies. Country people will have the best chance of survival for their trade skills will most likely be more valuable. But you will also need to find some really good doctors in the city area and raid the hospitals. You will need chickens, pigs, goats, horses, cows (if it dies meat and hide), learn how to make toilet paper and shampoo. (even in an apocalyptic time you still have to look your best). The idea of what a "safe" food will change. If you are storing food with salt and it has maggots on it. you take the maggots off and eat the meat. still safe.

 

[Mattemma]

In the least I would have chickens and rabbits. Would like something that I could get milk from,but I suppose I could do without it.

Dh was talking about this subject.Guess a talk show the other day got him thinking when they were talking about gold vs. paper money.Then the host said," Sell the gold and with the money buy some guns and bullets to protect your family and supplies!"

 

[KristyHall]

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Native Americans lived for thousands of years very very well without pork beef and chicken. In fact studies have shown that Native grown cops produced far more food than European crops and you are far more likely to have the highest calorie and nutritional value on less acreage without the need of animal labor on purely native american crops than you would on purely European crops.

 

[HHandbasket]

Quote:
Yep.. good point! Wool can go a long way and do many things...
You can also milk some breeds of sheep.

Where we live, there are our chickens, the landlords' alpacas (excellent renewable fiber source... probably *could* eat them if we had to, but really would rather not), and plenty of space to grow basic food needs. Grain, salt, sugar, etc., will be problematic, but we'd probably figure something out between us.

 

[flocksalot]

Ok now that i've had a chance to stop laughing so hard I wet myself, twice, I've got some thoughts on the subject. First I would have chickens. Some Dominiques or Buff Orphingtons or Maybe Wellsummer. I would want a real dual purpose bird (I have RIR and the strain I have has no meat on them bones), but I would want one that also went broody as well as set good. I wouldn't want to be waisting my limited energy trying to hatch some myself (You think my husband would believe me if I sat the eggs to get out of all the work?).

Second I would want a few goats. I would want some of the dwarf milking goats as goats milk is naturally homogenized and is supposedly better for you. The breeding programs that have been done to the cows has reduced their usability and sustainability, It's also harder to come by the heritage breeds that were the stand by of the old farmstead. I would try to come up with possibly one of the Dutch breeds if I could come across one. They have done the same thing to pigs. Pigs now days need to be kept warm (and I'm not talking about the cute little pot bellied ones that just wouldn't feed a family). I would try to find an older heritage breed and start getting them used to the cold weather in the barn/shed. There is no way that pig is gonna be living in my basement (unless that is the only way to keep it from being stolen). My son likes his bacon

and Momma won't let nothing happen to to it. Turkeys! I would have to give up my BBW that I love so much, but there is no way my husband would help me do AI. There is also no way I could handle it my self those are some big birds and if Tommy started thinking of me in that way......well........I just think I would be a bit uneasy/quesy.

So I would have to swith to one of the heritage breeds. Smaller, but there won't be no big family get togethers to worry about. I already raise and preserve much of what we eat I would just have to relearn how to do things like drying, smoking, and salting. I have books on the heritage breeds, but when we sold our house they got packed up somewhere. Once the house out at the farm is built I will find them again. I would keep my three horses, and maybe my husband too. Depends.

OK he didn't like that comment. Guess he shouldn't be trying to tell me what WE will have since he knows next to nothing about rearing animals.

I might let my husband get a dog, but he better take care of it or it's gonna be dinner some day. I would also let my husband have his guns loaded (even with those stupid hollow points), and he can go hunting all he wants after he gets his dog fed.

I know Yaks are supposed to be pretty cool, but I just can't get past the name. Yak reminds me of ralph. Sounds like something that got said after a night out when I was young.

 

[GnarleyDogFarm]

In times of incredible hardship, you and your animals can survive well on corn, beans and squash, "The Three Sisters". Not the sweet corn we are used to, you have to get heritage corns to make meal with. Beans and squash are in plentiful variety, get summer and winter kinds.

I think we all agree that chickens are indispensible. I have been pondering 2 kinds of pigs and yaks, which I discovered are in the same genus as cows. I am pretty much convinced they are the way I'd go, maybe next year.

I have been thinking more about the creature comforts I have come to adore with age. Chocolate would be very hard to give up, so it may be stock pile worthy. hehe. Wonderful butter can be made from the yaks or whatever bovine is chosen. Butter makes everything better, like bacon. Teas can be grown, coffee drinkers may be crushed. Sugar is a nice thing to have around, if you are into that. I have bees, so I'm covered.

OH YEAH, has anyone mentioned honeybees??!! They make honey and pollinate the crops, we can't forget them.

Does anyone have any experience raising cuy for meat? That's guinea pigs, for meat not pets. I am getting into rabbits and I figure cuy has got to be close. I had them for pets as a child, but where there is meat concerned I will not be deterred by that detail! hehe

Turkeys are great, but they have a huge appetite. I like good foragers with not too much bulk. I'm working on a cross of a wild turk and the Midget White. The wild turk brings nice comoflage, good instincts, agility and foraging skills and the Midgets bring a small bird with medium build. Or that's my plan anyway. I am trying about 5 wild breeds with my Midgets to see what happens.

 

[ChickenWisperer]

I'd have dogs for protection, herding, hunting, companionship.
Horses to work, travel, companionship.
Cattle for dairy and meat.
Chickens for eggs, meat, companionship.
"Feral" cats for mousers.
Pigs for meat.
Alpacas for fiber!
Honey Bees....

I'd like to have goats, but since I have dairy cattle not sure what I'd use them for besides fancy pets

And of course a huge garden and whatnot.