Arizona Chickens

[CaroleW]

You wouldn't need all that, simply control the food and you could control the people

This is one reason for my ongoing Pantry Project - stock up on an extra 10 (or 20 or 30...) easy meals to stock your pantry per week as your budget allows. Food like that is better than money in the bank (unless your home is wiped out). As you build up your reserves tackle different types of items like cooking oils, drink mixes, dry goods, instant powdered milk, first aid and OTC meds, vitamins, seeds (and learn how to grow them before it's critical)...

We also have to be aware of rising chicken feed costs and explore ways to extend, supplement or even grow some of it. I've started to buy some whole seeds (that could possibly grow) and feed that as treats to the chickens. Some of those seeds are not digested and could come out the other end and grow.

 

[BlueBaby]

This is one reason for my ongoing Pantry Project - stock up on an extra 10 (or 20 or 30...) easy meals to stock your pantry per week as your budget allows. Food like that is better than money in the bank (unless your home is wiped out). As you build up your reserves tackle different types of items like cooking oils, drink mixes, dry goods, instant powdered milk, first aid and OTC meds, vitamins, seeds (and learn how to grow them before it's critical)...

We also have to be aware of rising chicken feed costs and explore ways to extend, supplement or even grow some of it. I've started to buy some whole seeds (that could possibly grow) and feed that as treats to the chickens. Some of those seeds are not digested and could come out the other end and grow.

Yes, and don't forget to stock up on the water too. You will need it for all of those dry good's.

 

[springvalley123]

This is one reason for my ongoing Pantry Project - stock up on an extra 10 (or 20 or 30...) easy meals to stock your pantry per week as your budget allows. Food like that is better than money in the bank (unless your home is wiped out). As you build up your reserves tackle different types of items like cooking oils, drink mixes, dry goods, instant powdered milk, first aid and OTC meds, vitamins, seeds (and learn how to grow them before it's critical)...

We also have to be aware of rising chicken feed costs and explore ways to extend, supplement or even grow some of it. I've started to buy some whole seeds (that could possibly grow) and feed that as treats to the chickens. Some of those seeds are not digested and could come out the other end and grow.

So True! I've been noticing my second compost bin is developing very quickly and pondering a hoop house that might later double as a grow out pen (depending on if I can get my current closed flock tested well enough). We've bred our birds for meat size and egg size and productivity, we might have to reverse that a bit so they can do well on free range. Food has gone up, and there've been times when I couldn't get the kind of feed I wanted. BTW, I bought some flax seeds at Winco several years ago. Still good, and I tested recently and a few sprouted!

 

[springvalley123]

No..... I'm not one to entertain that pet idea.

That's good, your chickens would probably eat it!

 

[Hopeful homesteader]

They are being sold at pet stores around here.
No..... I'm not one to entertain that pet idea.

I'd rather leave it be. My husband has had tarantulas as pets before, not this type but we agreed no pets like that while we have young kids. We have housed scorpions and thread snakes that he dug up at work during winter and then let them go in spring otherwise they'd end up dying from their burrows being collapsed. That's all I'll allow is rescues, haven't come across anything else though. They just stay in a tank undisturbed in my closet the whole time with the occasional cricket dropped in. If only there was a way to tell where they are so he could avoid digging them up but I don't see any construction companies bothering to invest in something like that plus hiring people to relocate them.

 

[Hopeful homesteader]

Yes, and don't forget to stock up on the water too. You will need it for all of those dry good's.

Yes, we have 2 water storage tanks that hold 350 gallons each, just add a cup of bleach when you fill it up and then add 1 cup of bleach every 6 months to keep it clean. It's recommended to dump them and refill every 18 months - 2 years. You can't extend storage by shaking up the water every 6 months when treating it but idk anyone strong enough the do that without equipment but stirring is the only thing I can think of to get oxygen back into it. We also have 7 - 5 gallon jugs I store in the house untreated and refill them every 3 months. We have a pool that holds something like 1000 gallons but we never set it up but we figured that could be best used for rain collection. I know it sounds like a lot but we've been talking with our neighbors and were all storing with each other in mind as a community effort. Plus 2 neighbors have built in pools, as long as they are regularly treated with chlorine tabs, it can be boiled to get the chlorine out and made edible or for plant watering. We have 2 wood burning grills and several cords of untreated wood designated for cooking, digging a hole works just as well and throw the grill from any bbq directly over the pit. You can get poisoned cooking on certain wood so knowing what you have is wise. If the water is not running than it's likely the power and gas are off too so be prepared for alternative cooking options as well as a plan to block off your sewer lines as you don't that backing up into your house especially if you live on lower ground.

 

[springvalley123]

Speaking of food shortages, I think I saw a differential grasshopper on my patio. Here are two pictures of what I found, and a picture from the internet of a differential grasshopper:

The grasshopper I found is on a broomstick. I tapped the broomstick with a rake, and it fell to the ground and didn't move very well. what do you think? Ever seen something like the one on my broomstick?

 

[cavemanrich]

I tapped the broomstick with a rake, and it fell to the ground and didn't move very well. what do you think?

Maybe coming to end of his time naturally

 

[BlueBaby]

Speaking of food shortages, I think I saw a differential grasshopper on my patio. Here are two pictures of what I found, and a picture from the internet of a differential grasshopper:

The grasshopper I found is on a broomstick. I tapped the broomstick with a rake, and it fell to the ground and didn't move very well. what do you think? Ever seen something like the one on my broomstick?

As long as they aren't a ton of locus coming in, maybe your plant's and trees might be ok.

 

[springvalley123]

As long as they aren't a ton of locus coming in, maybe your plant's and trees might be ok.

I hope so. The differential grasshopper destroys alfalfa crops. Last year in black canyon city, a blister beetle, which also destroys alfalfa crops, ate all the leaves on my palo verde trees--twice. So I hope that if this is the differential grasshopper, that it doesn't eat any palo verde trees up here. I do have carbaryl and some other pesticides, including permethrin 10.