An apocolypse herd/flock

[jcf]

Quote:

In case I didn't make it obvious enough, I think that's hilarious.

I'm out to get a big rooster to make more chickens, more vegetable seeds, and a whole herd of yaks!

EXACTLY!

 

[Paganrose]

I would first off move somewhere where There is a community ( I have already been invited to a couple) of people to help share the work. I would also build a natural home, that was passive solar, with a compost toilets, wood stove, cistern, etc....

I would have a large veggie garden w/heritage seeds
I wouls also plant lots of fruit trees, and berry brambles. wine anyone??
I would have a solar dehydrator, a brick oven, compost bins and a root cellar. Veggie scraps go to feed animals or compost.

I would have chickens, ducks and gesse. Dual purpose and broodies. (currently have) extra eggs/meat to barter or feed to cats/dog
I would get shetland sheep. They are hardier, smaller, can survive on less than ideal land, and are multi purpose sheep. wool, meat, milk, fertilizer, lawn mowers.
I would get a small dexter type cow, and raises calfs for meat. Plus milk, butter, chesse, yogurt. Extra milk can be feed to poltury for calcium/protein, or to cats/dog.
I would also have a smaller sturdy horse, mustang, morgan, mini draft????
Cats help keep rodent population away.
The dog helps keep me sane, plus the smell helps keeps predators away, and deer out of the garden.
I would make a top bar bee hive, so we could have honey bees.

We would hunt/barter for venison and turkey, we would fish. All of whcih is plentiful here.

I would not get pigs, my husband doesn't eat pork, and I am not a fan eithier
I don't like goat meat or milk, so those would be pointless
I would not get rabbits for food, maybe for fur. They can be more expensive to feed, and take just as long as dual purpose chickens to reach butcher wieght. I am currently dealing with this with my mom's rabbits. Winter feed for 12 rabbits (one buck, 2 does each with a liiter) was more than 20 chickens, 4 ducks and 2 geese per month.) plus if eating only rabbit can cause severe vitamin deficiancys and causes starvation.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
You know, I read or heard about that years ago and was beginning to wonder if it was really true. I guess it IS!!!

I had thought it was due to low fat. I didn't know.

 

[perchie.girl]

Mann this is a subject close to home. I havent read through the whole thread I did get quite a giggle on some of the posts....

Here is my two cents from a person who had the crap scared out of her in the sixties.

First and foremost Get a copy of the Foxfire books. When I had my first copy there were only four i believe there are over thirty now. If the power grid goes down we all need to be able to rely on reference information that is easily accessible. They cover everything from soap making to wheel wrighting.

Animals to raise:

It really depends on how you are going to feed them. I live in the desert so free ranging without food supplimentation is a no go. The wells here are five hundred feet or more deep so pumping water with a windmill is out of the question (standard windmills are limited to about 250 feet I believe) So I will have to convert the well pump to Solar power, at the very least.

If you are going to live off the grid on land that has ample accessible water and perminant pasture and provided there is no world wide collapse Here is what I would have

Chickens

Goats .... Dairy goats just like cows have to have a baby in order to provide milk therefore you will have to have a Billy or access to one. But a single goat can produce enough milk to supply the family in dairy. They have to be milked twice a day. They are good foragers and have very few health issues. There are some goats that also will provide fiber for weaving. Goats are also more sociable than sheep are. Sheep revert to their wild nature a little too quickly for me. though I would love some Barbados.

Rabbits are good. My grandpa was a sharecropper and he used to raise them in a large pen when they lived in Texas. Fenced off about an acre with fencing dug in about thirty inches deep. They provided shade food and water and the rabbits provided their own housing by by tunneling. Dad said the pen looked almost empty during the hot part of the day. But come feeding time They would come out of their holes for chow. He said they could raise a couple hundred in there.

You can do horses. I spent the last 44 years with horses. There are lots of very hearty dual purpose breeds out there. Some have mentioned Morgans Arabs I am sure others. The hot breeds tend to need more calories to be healthy colder breeds are good too. I have a 2000 lb Percheron mare. Surprisingly she eats no more than a Light horse that may weigh half her weight. (feed measured out in calories) Unless you are experienced with horses I would wait until I got an education with an experienced well rounded instructor to teach you horse husbantry. I do carriage driving and have done some work with horses in harness. This is something you should NOT attempt till you are trained in all other aspect of horses and have a horse that is already trained for this type of work. It takes approximately two years to be come an intermediate novice in my opinion.

For horses for working on the land and for riding to town or other transportation Fijord is a good choice. They are considered Draft Ponies because of their height and stature. A team of Fijords can do most of the tilling and cultivating for crops and harvesting hay. For driving to town they have an incredible mile eating gait. And realize a thirty mile trip will take you two days. One there and one back and only with animals that are fit for the task. Say to get supplies with a wagon.

For working the farm Oxen are also a good choice. Though again working with Oxen takes training and husbandry classes this kind of training is not as easy to find as horse training is. But Oxen are incredibly strong Much stronger than horses. For those who dont know an Ox is simply a Steer that has been allowed to mature, they dont technically become an Ox till their fourth year. I have seen a team of Dairy Cow Oxen over 15 hands tall.

Here is an article from Rural Heritage Website, just like BYC but for farming with animals and an excellent place to connect with people living the off the grid lifestyle. Some farm and log with horses some are hobbiests. Its an extensive site I highly recommend it.
http://www.ruralheritage.com/logging_camp/ox_vs_horse.htm

By the way there is horse powerd machinery available from the Amish.

 

[eskimo]

Red Hen wrote
Chickens, Ducks, Geese (meat, eggs and feathers for blankets, pillows and warmth, and also can use their waste for fertilizer, can also use them for weed/grass/pest control )
Pigs (meat )
Goats *must have* (meat and milk, butter , cheese, and if you get a hair breed, hair for spinning, also for yard weed/woods control)
Rabbits (meat and some have hair you can spin for clothes and blankets) can also use their waste for fertilizer
Quail.. (meat and eggs and feathers, they are ready to eat at a young age)
And if i have enough land.. Cows! ( meat and milk and hides...etc..)

Cattle canned be trained to a yoke, or even harnesses and used for plowing, as draft animals to drag logs, or loads, trained to pull a wagon and so on...much the same as oxen used to be, and still are in some areas. Handling most chores that horses and such would have done but giving the added benefit of providing milk and meat. Since many chores would require a team (or pair) if you get a bull as well as a cow and they are non related they can be bred to get calves to raise for meat while keeping the cow supplying milk. Also, from personal experience. If the bull is raised from a calf, and handled regularly they are fairly tame. They have a reputation for being mean, but the Black Angus my mother raised from a calf was so calm and friendly that when she fed the cows from a bucket, he knew he ate last and would stand behind her with his chin resting on top of her head and waited his turn.

excess milk from cow or goat could be bartered for things you need and cannot grow, or used to help feed the pigs.

By the way, rabbits love grass, so not having commercial food could be replaced with grass.​

 

[jjlunachick]

you can cure with smoke.

 

[calicocallie]

I agree with the Foxfire books recommendation, invaluable sources of information. I'd also include a good book on natural remedies and a field book for plant identification. Another on edible wild foods in your area. Off the topic of livestock, but worth thinking about, a treadle sewing machine. Although I live in a rural area and have chickens and a garden, having a number of useful skills makes bartering for other things you might need an easier process.

We do have a deep water well and one of the first things I did was get a new hand pump and instructions for installing it. Clean fresh water is probably the most crucial component for survival and just no guarantees that streams/rivers will still be viable. Besides, who wants to boil water?

One question though, does anyone know how long canning lids can be stored? Does the rubber ring have any kind of shelf life and what, if any, are the alternatives? No root cellars, etc in Louisiana.
Candace

 

[toby1959]

Currently living as "off the grid" as possible. We raise chickens for meat, eggs, and barter material. Cows for meat and cash sale. Pigs for meat and to clear ground as well as to sell the babies for cash. Raise all my own feed corn as I can't abide the genetically modified < 8% protein stuff sold for feed. Rabbits for meat and cash sale. Garden over a full acre for food and cash sales. Started now with runner ducks for eggs sales and barter as well as Muscovies for meat and cash sales. We have thirty fruit trees planted that we will make wine and fruit products from. We have a lake for fish and we also hunt wild game. I'd probably do some more if I didn't have to work to pay off the mortgage. Once it is paid (six years) it is time to stay home and raise MORE STUFF!

 

[brghtii]

I am new to this self sufficiency thing with animals. We got chickens about a month ago. My ex-sil said she would give me one goat but would have to buy another to go with that one. She has little goats though so not much milk from them. My hubby isn't really ready to have goats though. Maybe starting with the little ones it would soften him up?????

 

[mame1616]

Quote:
Wow! Are you adopting adults anytime soon? I'd like to put my name in.