How to become self-sufficient (kinda) with chickens.

[lavacaw]

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We had a super wet spring a couple of years ago and everything was getting blossom end rot...All the nutrients were being leached out of the soil. I dug down around the roots of the squash plants and worked in a bunch of bone meal since I didn't have any egg shells. I think I like the idea of the powdered milk too. It seemed to work because I started getting squash and they continued fairly well on into summer. By mid July here, gardens are pretty much finished because of the intense heat. Good luck with whatever you decide to try.

 

[Kojack]

I understand that it may be difficult or inconvienient to become self-sufficient. And I don't think I found anyone on this thread that claims to have fully achieved it. What I have found is that we are all trying to accomplish some level of sufficiency. If living in an apartment is keeping you from a goal, Move. If a job keeps you from moving , Find a new job...Etc. If those are actions you are not willing to take then you may not cry foul on those who have sacrificed convenience to accomplish a goal. That goal, being self-sufficiency, may be for different reasons... It may be for living "green" or health, or cost, or Economic failure,War, famine or even the "ZOMBIES" some have spoken of. What-ever the reason, they have chosen a goal and taken steps to achieve that goal... So Please don't ask for pity because you have not taken a step yet. If the goal is important to you you will go for it. AND PROTECT IT!

 

[hikerchick]

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I am not asking for pity. I live in a large house on three acres that I bought by myself. I have a garden, livestock, and a place to store food. But I also recognize that there are others who have not had my educational opportunities. It is so cavalier to say,"Move" ,"get another job" to people who have lived in inner city poverty all their lives. It is not about "difficulty" or "inconvenience". It is about not having access to resources that other people take for granted. Many of these people can't even find jobs. It is arrogant to assume that you have prospered due solely to your own efforts and that the same opportunities exist for others. They do not. All I am asking is that some acknowledgement be made that there are people who are less fortunate. Self-sufficency may be out of reach for those who are mentally or physically handicapped. Should we just shoot them?

 

[LaSombra]

not to mention that if everybody moved, there would be competition wherever they're moving to. You can say, "hey, you don't like where you live? move" but then, if you said that to everyone, it just wouldn't work that way. Early bird gets the worm?

Look at the Dust Bowl of the '30s. Those people were so bad off in the mid-west that they decided they had to move west, looking for opportunities to prosper. What did they find? Everyone else looking for the same thing and so much competition for the same jobs that there were not enough jobs to go around. The pay was forced so low that even those who found jobs starved.

People need to help one another, not just keep in their own cave and say "keep out. I've done my bit"

 

[featherpants]

I agree with you Hikerchick.. People can't just "go out and get another job". In this day and age, you're lucky to have what you've got.. Lucky that you haven't been laid off. And for us to just get up and move, to change our situation to become more self sufficient, we'd have to sell everything we own, and then just take the next step out into the unknown, with absolutely no resources to fall back on. It's not like we have a nest egg, as it is now. So, we have to build on what we've got, and hope it will eventually make us more self sufficient. We have a shared garden, and at least one of my hens is laying on an everyday basis.. It's a start. Meager, yes, but a start, nonetheless. My daughter also has a garden, and when it's time for harvesting, when all those delicious veggies ripen, we are going to have a canning party. ^^ Since she, nor I, have ever canned before in our lives, it should be interesting! And yes! We have books! lol

 

[Kojack]

My argument is that since we all live under the same rules then we all have the same opportunity. If the drive to become self sufficient is strong enough then take a step towards it. And yes we do live with the same opportunities. I am living proof of that. Without airing my "laundry" where I don't believe it belongs... I can tell you that someone CAN come from less than meager beginnings and a non-existent family structure that included some of the worst Society has to offer, and have everything they want. We just don't need people telling us we can't or letting us use excuses. Life is what you make of it, not what others let us have.

As far as mentally or physically handicapped... C'mon you know that I wasn't speaking of that... lets use honesty in our disagreement. Besides If they were in need I'm sure that 99% of the good people in this forum would offer anything they had to help. I'll include you in that too! I can tell you are "good people" But I wish people would quit making excuses for those who had nothing and lived in poverty. But that was My Parents choice not mine, not my sisters. We could argue these points all day. And its my fault for taking it there.

But I really want to get back to the chickens and more ideas for calcium intake in their diet.

Anyone?

 

[Ladyhawke1]

Quote:
I am not asking for pity. I live in a large house on three acres that I bought by myself. I have a garden, livestock, and a place to store food. But I also recognize that there are others who have not had my educational opportunities. It is so cavalier to say,"Move" ,"get another job" to people who have lived in inner city poverty all their lives. It is not about "difficulty" or "inconvenience". It is about not having access to resources that other people take for granted. Many of these people can't even find jobs. It is arrogant to assume that you have prospered due solely to your own efforts and that the same opportunities exist for others. They do not. All I am asking is that some acknowledgement be made that there are people who are less fortunate. Self-sufficency may be out of reach for those who are mentally or physically handicapped. Should we just shoot them?

I agree whole-heartedly. How easy was it for most people to get out of the way of Katrina? NOT! No car, no money, no food. This was not because of any deficit on their part. Most of us live only one paycheck away from disaster. There is never any extra left at the end of the month or week for some of us.

A society that thinks it needs to stand on a man’s neck in order to get ahead is kidding it’s self. One becomes so busy holding another man down that we as a society are unable to move forward thus condemning all our efforts at progress.

I am not afraid of other people different from myself. I would rather offer my hand and help other people up, and by doing so I help myself. In times of disaster, I would hope to become a beacon and not a person hiding in fear.

I am not sure where we go when we die, but if I was to meet my maker and I am asked the question, “Woman, what have you done for my people?”….you know something…..I feel had better have a darn good answer to that one.

 

[Wifezilla]

Since when did trying to take care of yourself become putting someone else down? They are NOT the same thing.

 

[hikerchick]

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no, I think it was the part about shooting rather than sharing that brought this reaction on.

You can't take care of yourself in a vacuum. Either we all survive, or none of us do.

 

[Wifezilla]

I will just have to disagree and leave it at that.

As uncomfortable as it may make people feel, there are those in this world that are parasites. I am under NO OBLIGATION to help those who do not at least attempt to help themselves.

There are people I will help at the drop of a hat. There are others I wouldn't spit on if they were on fire.