Getting the flock out of here - a diary of a crazy chicken man

[perchie.girl]

Good water filtration and water in storage Ideally one could put in a cistern under the house and after it was filled you could draw your water from that... having it refilled from what ever source as you use it. So when the supply dissappears you have several thousand gallons of water on hand for use. Then 1/2 hour showers will be a thing of the past. My grandfather could take a full on shower in five minutes.... learned it in the navy. He said they would wash with sea water and rinse with fresh. Or something like that.

Learning to scrub plates with sand is an option up at the house I have never endiing supply.... LOL. Setting in the sun to heat up too. during the summer. UV is a natural disinfectant.

But storing for an emergency that may last a month is wayy different than water consumption for living self sufficiently.

For instance I have a 3000 gallon water tank for fire support. My livestock are watered by gravity from this tank.. I have had a leak a mere drip drain it of all water in a matter of about two weeks. When everything is going well That should last my animals about two months. That is just drinking and loss through evaporation. It takes my well ten days to fill that tank.

For example A family of four consumes 40,000 to 80,000 gallons of water per year. (moderate water conservation no gardening) Storing that much would be problematic. But if its safe to collect rain water You only need to have enough to last you till the next rainy season.

For instance 1000 square foot of roof during a 1 inch rain fall will collect 550 gallons of water. IN my case I got 3 total inches of rain last year My roof is 2500 square feet (550 x 2.5) x 3 = 4125 gallons per year.... enough to fill my water tank with extra. So I am very very dependant on my well.

deb

 

[ozexpat]

Mrs Oz is off on a whole different type of adventure this morning (Sunday)

She was picked up at the house in Bacolod and taken by a military unit to an Amnesty International sponsored camp and project. It contains a group of New Philippine Army (NPA) rebels that have decided to leave the terrorist communist movement they grew up in and become normal citizens.

She is offering her "therapist" with a small contingency of other psychologists to work through the emotional side of integration.

It will continue for around 3 months on Sunday mornings.

Way back in the early eighties she lived with an NPA group of rebels as part of her political science degree. She got to interact with the leaders of the NPA who all had bounties on their heads. A few months later she was offered a full ride scholarship to Moscow State Institute of International Relations MGIMO.

MGIMO used to have a reputation for being elitist (for example, it is usually considered common knowledge in post-USSR countries that, at least during the USSR times, admission to MGIMO was mostly reserved to children of the Party and government nomenklatura). Many of its current students are from families of political, economic and intellectual elites in Russia. At the same time, it remains one of Russia's best educational institutions as it admits a lot of talented students from all over the CIS and holds high ranks in terms of alumni success and average level of standard test results of admitted students. It is also known for having one of the best teaching teams in Europe. Many of the current professors of MGIMO were ambassadors or ministers.

If she had accepted the scholarship she would be labelled a communist and be banned from ever getting residency in the USA.

Fortunately she was just hanging with the NPA as a study and did not get wrapped up in their indoctrination.

Now it has come full circle.

 

[perchie.girl]

Wow OZ your wife is awesome.....

Its amazing some of the life stories I hear of people I meet.... for instance My Sushi restaurant is owned by a Thai Family.... Such fun people been in the States now 20 years. I asked Her what she did in Thailand and was stunned with her response. She Taught Survival English to refugees from China.

When I asked if she went back to visit... She said yes then she grinned and said she had a hard time at dinner.... she had become accustomed to the way Americans eat.... ""We are a little people.... who eat little meals" and she laughed.... "I had to order more food"

deb

 

[ozexpat]

Wow OZ your wife is awesome.....

Its amazing some of the life stories I hear of people I meet.... for instance My Sushi restaurant is owned by a Thai Family.... Such fun people been in the States now 20 years. I asked Her what she did in Thailand and was stunned with her response. She Taught Survival English to refugees from China.

When I asked if she went back to visit... She said yes then she grinned and said she had a hard time at dinner.... she had become accustomed to the way Americans eat.... ""We are a little people.... who eat little meals" and she laughed.... "I had to order more food"

deb

I talk to anybody and as such people talk to me. Some of the people I have sat next to on airplanes have been amazing. The world is an amazing place.

 

[perchie.girl]

I am the same... one time I was sitting in the Bar in Jaumba. No TV at home so came to have a beer and watch what ever was on behind the bar...

This dusty fellow came up and sat between me and his friend. I knew through the grape vine that he was the Farm manager of an organic greens farm Just outside of town. I was just sitting there enjoying the reprobates and the sillies going on when i keyed into a single word.... Plutonium... coming from the farm manager..... he said "Its true... you can find plans on line to build an atomic bomb...." He went on describing the componetnts and the trigger mechanisms and while it wouldnt be easy but it could be done...." His friend was amazed.... and I chimed in ..... "you forgot the Deuteriium...." He just about fell off his chair. That conversation was memorable.

Come to find out he was an EX VP at Litton industries back in the day when they were developing techniques to grow synthetic crystals for making integrated circuits. The beginning of the Cubic Zirconia industry. Multiple PHd's Chemestry, Physics, Mathematics..... He burned out. Packed up and eventually wound up in a part of the world that would leave him alone. Designing Organic chemical compounds that would kill pests and disappear within minutes..... Farm was bought by a developer Hes now making Pic-nick tables in his wood shop.

deb

 

[scottcaddy]

Good water filtration and water in storage Ideally one could put in a cistern under the house and after it was filled you could draw your water from that... having it refilled from what ever source as you use it. So when the supply dissappears you have several thousand gallons of water on hand for use. Then 1/2 hour showers will be a thing of the past. My grandfather could take a full on shower in five minutes.... learned it in the navy. He said they would wash with sea water and rinse with fresh. Or something like that.

Learning to scrub plates with sand is an option up at the house I have never endiing supply.... LOL. Setting in the sun to heat up too. during the summer. UV is a natural disinfectant.

But storing for an emergency that may last a month is wayy different than water consumption for living self sufficiently.

For instance I have a 3000 gallon water tank for fire support. My livestock are watered by gravity from this tank.. I have had a leak a mere drip drain it of all water in a matter of about two weeks. When everything is going well That should last my animals about two months. That is just drinking and loss through evaporation. It takes my well ten days to fill that tank.

For example A family of four consumes 40,000 to 80,000 gallons of water per year. (moderate water conservation no gardening) Storing that much would be problematic. But if its safe to collect rain water You only need to have enough to last you till the next rainy season.

For instance 1000 square foot of roof during a 1 inch rain fall will collect 550 gallons of water. IN my case I got 3 total inches of rain last year My roof is 2500 square feet (550 x 2.5) x 3 = 4125 gallons per year.... enough to fill my water tank with extra. So I am very very dependant on my well.

deb

And is this is without keeping/caring for any handy-to-have-around critters? Like chickens and large dogs and horses? I have lost power for several days at a time and know how much water a small place takes to keep everybody watered (not bathed or cleaned). I had to buy a generator to run the well if not the other nice to have stuff.

Scott

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote: My Horse drinks probably forty gallons of water per day.... the goats 80 gallon tub seems to last about four days.... Two Nigerian Dwarfs and one Pygmy. The chickens about five gallons per two days-+.... three five gallon tubs each with about ten to fifteen chickens on them... figureatively because I had guineas total of about forty birds.

[Gallons] x[refills per week appx]=[gallons consumed per week]
40x7=280 gals week horse
80x2=160 gals week goats
15x4=60 gals week poultry

So 500 gallons per week for livestock..... never worked it out.... 3000 gallons should last six weeks... close.

Mind you its hot and dry here in the summer and cold and dry here in the winter.... water consumption is higher because all feed is dry.

When my well pump went out I was hauling about 150 gallons every two days. the tote holds twice as much as that but the weight and movement of the water was a bit much for me to handle driving down the freeway.... 300 gallons of water weighs close to 2400 lbs.

deb

 

[scottcaddy]

Quote: My Horse drinks probably forty gallons of water per day.... the goats 80 gallon tub seems to last about four days.... Two Nigerian Dwarfs and one Pygmy. The chickens about five gallons per two days-+.... three five gallon tubs each with about ten to fifteen chickens on them... figureatively because I had guineas total of about forty birds.

[Gallons] x[refills per week appx]=[gallons consumed per week]
40x7=280 gals week horse
80x2=160 gals week goats
15x4=60 gals week poultry

So 500 gallons per week for livestock..... never worked it out.... 3000 gallons should last six weeks... close.

Mind you its hot and dry here in the summer and cold and dry here in the winter.... water consumption is higher because all feed is dry.

When my well pump went out I was hauling about 150 gallons every two days. the tote holds twice as much as that but the weight and movement of the water was a bit much for me to handle driving down the freeway.... 300 gallons of water weighs close to 2400 lbs.

deb
We used several 50 gal. pickle barrels no more then about 3/4 full, (to keep the CoG and slosh factor down) I know what you mean!!

 

[ozexpat]

So I have spent my down time researching and reading blogs on peoples attempts to bring their gardens with them to the tropics.

I have developed a list to work off. There are great choices and good subsitutes for some things we cant get. Celery and french beans grow in the Phils in the mountains. Garlic, Onions and Potatoes are common place so I will add them later

A-Z List Of The Tropical Garden
· Amaranth (use leaf amaranth like spinach)
· Ampalaya – bitter melon
· Arugula (rocket)
· Asian Greens – Mustard greens, bok choy, Ceylon spinach
· Beans – Chinese long beans, lima beans, mung beans
· Cabbage
· Cantaloupe
· Cassava (starchy tubers)
· Chard (silverbeet, similar to spinach)
· Cucumbers
· Eggplant (aubergine)
· Endive
· Kang Kong (water spinach)
· Lettuce
· Luffa (angled luffa is a great zucchini substitute)
· Okra
· Peanuts
· Peppers: Bell, Serrano, Jalapeno, Thai birds eye
· Pumpkins
· Radish
· Squash
· Sweet Corn
· Sweet Potatoes
· Tomatoes
· Water Melon
· Zucchini

 

[ozexpat]

THE NEW CHICKS at 3 days old




Caprino and his concubines' new digs. I wanted the floor 6 ft odd the ground but that got lost in translation when I said build it the same style as coops 1-5