Great Depression of 2016

[Dwkuska]

They have let this thread continue for a few months now. I think as long as everyone minds themselves and the site rules, that this thread is alright with the Mods.

The real focus is chickens and the important role they play in keeping us happy and healthy in bad times, as well as good.

Bad times need not be so bad, as long as you have good chickens as company.

I remember my Grandmother and Great Grandparents and the stories they told me about their life and times during the Great Depression.

I love reading the insights of others with similar stories and how they made due. As a matter of fact, for persons like myself, being able to weather the bad times ok with chickens is why we decided to take the plunge into chicken ownership.

I hope the Mods can overlook any trouble with this thread and let us steer it back on course, because this is a very relevant topic for many chicken owners today and I am very much enjoying reading over the posts in this thread.

Speaking of... I always questioned the reasoning behind cities banning Roosters. It seems like you could argue that by not allowing roosters your forcing "undue hardship" by making people buy chickens instead of breeding their own. I have heard its a noise thing but atleast where I live that wouldnt hold up very well. I have a rooster(neighbors said I could so

) and he makes far less noise then say the guy down the street with a Harley, or just about any jacked up 4x4 pick up truck. Not even going to touch mopeds or Honda's.

 

[Bluebonnet]

Speaking of... I always questioned the reasoning behind cities banning Roosters. It seems like you could argue that by not allowing roosters your forcing "undue hardship" by making people buy chickens instead of breeding their own. I have heard its a noise thing but atleast where I live that wouldnt hold up very well. I have a rooster(neighbors said I could so

) and he makes far less noise then say the guy down the street with a Harley, or just about any jacked up 4x4 pick up truck. Not even going to touch mopeds or Honda's.

That is why I made sure that when I built my house by myself, that I picked out land that was zoned accordingly and allows for roosters and the animals I want to raise. Unfortunately, many are not so lucky.

I do not own any roosters currently, but I have invested in an incubator and brooder and additional coops in the hope of raising some chickens for meat and some heritage breeds for eggs and to help ensure the long term survival of the breed, which means I need roosters.

Our government switching to GMO foods and mass produced meat fed with the same concerns me. That is why I wanted to get a nice set up on my own, because the foods I like simply are not available in stores. I grow my own, can my own and I'm in much better health and happiness because of it.

I truly believe that our government is not our friend. They are not out to do us any favors. With that said, I can see why they do not want people to keep roosters, that would make people independent and less reliant upon government and they want control of our food supply, because if they own the food, they own us.

How many people went along with the Holodomor or the Great Chinese Famine, just so they could get food for themselves or their families at the expense of their countrymen? Or here in America during the Civil War, when food was not to be found in the cities and speculators bought whatever they could find, charging their countrymen outrageous sums in order to profit from their misery?

I never want to see my family or myself subject to the horrors that can occur from food scarcity or heaven forbid a crisis in this country.

I also do not want to pay $5 for two GMO Honeycrisp apples or Saturn peaches at the grocery store. Nor do I want to pay $10 a bag for chicken manure for my garden or for cheap eggs that come at the expense of the animals, who are subject to horrific conditions from mass producers. I do not want to pay ridiculous amounts for less flavorful chickens or other meat at the store when I can do much better myself for a minimum investment.

When you consider how much we pay over our lifetimes for meat and other goods, the initial investment and upkeep pays for itself many times over, along with increasing your own food security and happiness.

Just yesterday, there were millions of pounds of beef recalled from California. Lettuce, cantaloupes, tomatoes and more are regularly subject to similar recalls in stores due to disease outbreaks.

Who wants to deal with that?

We need to fight for our food security, because no government is capable of providing for us, nor should they ever be, because a government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take it all away from you too.

Politics aside, chicken ownership and rooster ownership should not be infringed, if only because it makes no sense.

Would you say that someone can only own female dogs or cats or any other animal? Of course not! Why are roosters subject to this bias?

 

[Dwkuska]

Well being that you are from Texas your pretty lucky in that it stays warm enough for you to grow just about anything I suspect. Being up here in Washington we do have limits on what can be REASONABLY grown. On my side of the state peaches, canteloupes, Oranges, ect cant be grown so if things got real bad I would have to miss out. Now apples.. Washington does apples real well lol. Surprisingly enough a lot of folks in Washington already grow a good deal of veggies. Even in downtown Seattle the community gardens are hot commodites and you can see tomato plants on the balconies of apartments. So I guess no matter where you live at least some what self sufficient is possible.

 

[Bluebonnet]

Well being that you are from Texas your pretty lucky in that it stays warm enough for you to grow just about anything I suspect. Being up here in Washington we do have limits on what can be REASONABLY grown. On my side of the state peaches, canteloupes, Oranges, ect cant be grown so if things got real bad I would have to miss out. Now apples.. Washington does apples real well lol. Surprisingly enough a lot of folks in Washington already grow a good deal of veggies. Even in downtown Seattle the community gardens are hot commodites and you can see tomato plants on the balconies of apartments. So I guess no matter where you live at least some what self sufficient is possible.

In the North, you can do a greenhouse set up, use dwarf varieties and use a temperature control in the dead of winter to grow quite a bit of what many mistakenly believe can only be grown in the South.

Where there is a will, there is always a way!

In many parts of Japan, the growing season is short and the winters cold, yet they grow the most expensive and flavorful melons in the world.

The Saturn peach came from China, where they were restricted for consumption by the higher classes.

Look into the Washington Navel Orange.

If you want to grow those things, there is no reason why you can not do so and do so very well.

Honeycrisps are not zoned for my area, but I altered my land to take advantage of a cooler patch of land and with some effort, they are doing just fine here, along with Elephant Heart Plums.

 

[rufus]

Here it is a lot cheaper to buy vegetables in the store. The water is so expensive. Most people just have dirt or gravel lawns. I have three apricot trees that I water judiciously. Every drop must count. If I miss a day, they really suffer. I have seven citrus trees. I always wanted to have an orchard, and now that I do have citrus, I cannot eat it because I became diabetic. So, I give the oranges away.

Water has always been a problem. When I was a kid, bath water was used to mop the floor, and then it went out to my mother's rose bush. The challenge is not so much finding more water, it is reusing what we have as many times as possible. Water is never used up, it is just dirtied up and sent on its way.

 

[Bluebonnet]

Here it is a lot cheaper to buy vegetables in the store. The water is so expensive. Most people just have dirt or gravel lawns. I have three apricot trees that I water judiciously. Every drop must count. If I miss a day, they really suffer. I have seven citrus trees. I always wanted to have an orchard, and now that I do have citrus, I cannot eat it because I became diabetic. So, I give the oranges away.

Water has always been a problem. When I was a kid, bath water was used to mop the floor, and then it went out to my mother's rose bush. The challenge is not so much finding more water, it is reusing what we have as many times as possible. Water is never used up, it is just dirtied up and sent on its way.

I am so sorry to hear of your misfortune with diabetes.

If water is a problem, is it a possibility in your area to haul water in or to keep some rain barrels on the property? I know some areas have ridiculous laws where gathering rain water is illegal. I hope you are not in one of these areas.

I have a water storage tank, the ability to haul water in, rain water barrels because I use the water to make homemade old fashioned soap and I'm considering installing a functioning well and have it stylishly designed as a wishing well.

I want to install a real pond on my land that would support ducks and geese, but that is a work in progress.

Water is vital. If you are not water secure, in a crisis, things are going to be really ugly. It might seem like overkill, but you can not live without water.

You can get food grade rain barrels for under $100 each and a tank for $2,000+. Well prices vary on local laws and how deep you have to drill to hit water and the materials you use to construct it. Ponds are also law dependent and variable in terms of cost to establish.

Just a thought, if water is that precious where you are, you can get a plastic zippered greenhouse that traps the humidity and moisture in for about $100 as an initial cost with five shelves for growing. Water conservative and will net you good vegetables. Indoor growing space and lights might be another water conservative option.

 

[rufus]

I can't remember the last time it rained here. The rain barrel would not be of much use. We only get about eight inches of rain in a lucky year.

 

[Bluebonnet]

I can't remember the last time it rained here. The rain barrel would not be of much use. We only get about eight inches of rain in a lucky year.

That is depressingly sad and scary at the same time.

In your case, storage and conservation is everything.

Is permaculture an option? A well planted landscape, with the right water retaining plants, can go a long way. If you can make use of clay pots, bricks, shade tree plantings and establish a some good ground cover, you might be able to alter your landscape and create a microclimate with plants to match.

 

[cupman]

I feel like Obama is going to be most disappointing to y'all when he doesn't try to take over the world and you guys don't get to hang out in your bunkers and eat all that canned food you maxed your credit cards on six months ago.

 

[Bluebonnet]

I feel like Obama is going to be most disappointing to y'all when he doesn't try to take over the world and you guys don't get to hang out in your bunkers and eat all that canned food you maxed your credit cards on six months ago.

You make it sound like we expect Obama to actually achieve something other than bankrupting our country, oh wait...

Why do you assume that we have bunkers? We are ordinary folks, some with children and elderly dependents, average families who are concerned about our well being. You make it sound like we are on the lunatic fringe for wanting to be prepared for both good times and hard times.

I find it pretty rude that you would make such an outrageous comment, when there are Veterans, children and elderly in this country who are going hungry every day. What part of 47 MILLION Americans on SNAP benefits do you not comprehend? Our people are suffering because of Obama's failures.

This is not some sort of joke, these are your fellow Americans who are not able to put food on the table and if another Great Depression hits, do you think our government is going to give them a bail out?

Also, what makes you think someone prepared enough to afford things like ample food storage makes them maxed out on their credit cards? Maybe you should think about what that statement implies, that food prices are so high, with 47 MILLION Americans on SNAP benefits, that they would practically have to max out their cards to afford something as simple as food security.

I do not find this a laughing matter in the slightest.