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

[kagedgoddess]

i too saw the backyard homestead book, didnt get it tho cuz i love the internet and theres a plethora of info there. my dh is more worried about zombies than a nuclear apocolypse. so in that event we are headed to the jungle where the Z's will decay quicker and we'll just eat the abundance of oranges and fish in the amazon and live in the trees. haha. seriously tho, i am interested in the homemade feed, for my dogs too, apparently most of the dog food is mainly chicken feathers? i have those!!!

 

[fiberart57]

I'm with CallyB57 and her ex in regards to catastrophic events.

I have the knowledge and ability to grow my own food, spin, weave and make garments and, if I really had to, kill something for food. But I don't really want to. I like the idea of a cooperative whether or not the apocalypse comes. The reason why I think we should strive for more self sufficiency is to decrease the carbon footprint generated by factory farms, imported foods and the use of petrochemicals to facilitate food generation. A bonus is that buying less takes away some of the power that the huge food corporations have. It would seem that it would be possible to mix your own chicken feed and share it in a cooperative manner if enough people with the correct ingredients were involved.

Thanks,
Mary

 

[tackyrama]

Great topic! I am well on the way to self sufficiency if I ever desire to want that. I have a coop/barn I built last year that is capable of sheltering 100 meat chickens. I have 80 some right now. I live in central MN and have 20 acres of mostly wooded land which provides my free range a wide choice of food. I offer them calcium but they seldom eat any. I'm not sure where they get their calcium but it must be from all the bugs, plants, etc. they eat.

My next project is still in the planning stages. I am adding a lean to type shelter on the back of my coop/barn for several pigs and cattle. I have enough open pasture for several cows and will be able to pen raise several pigs. As for produce I started a large garden this year since I finally have manure for fertilizer. I have posted several times about using comfrey for livestock/poultry feed. I won't go into it in detail here but I will say that there is a strain (bocking #14) that was developed for livestock. It is very productive and easy to grow with 3 to 5 crops per year. I is very high in protein. There are good websites describing bocking #14 comfrey if you would like more information.

I too feel good about my situation should something really bad happen. I only wish I could have set this all up when I was younger. Oh well, better late than never. At least I can provide my family and friends with some quality, organic, old fashioned food. Good luck OP.

 

[3KillerBs]

Fascinating topic.

DH is interested in self-sufficiency (though living on a half-acre lot in town makes things trickier).

I'm looking forward to reading more.

 

[Wifezilla]

There is a sister forum to BYC that deals with this issue a lot...

www.sufficientself.com

One thing I am trying to do is get a good duckweed culture going in my pond (not working so far...LOL) and also get a stand of red clover established. These are great forage items for ducks.

Dandelions are a good source of calcium actually. So are plantains (the weed, not the banana thingies).

 

[crazyhen]

I think this is a great topic. I grow and can a large garden each year, use the manure for fertilizer plus some other to give a boost once in a while. I make home made bread, can, preserve and pickle. Like some of the others here I wish I had started younger. I am 63 years old and find the work to really help with my body and outlook too. I wish more knew how to take care of themselves and animals to eat. If I were younger I would be learning to care for a goat and making my own goats milk soap. As well as getting that wonderful rich milk. I live in the mtns and find the land challenging for sure. While on the coast the heat was more of a challenge. Advice from an old woman ,learn everything you can. You will never be sorry of learning anything just what you did not learn. Gloria Jean

 

[WestTexasFarmboy]

Funny this should be posted now. I have been preparing for an experiment this year where for 3 months, I will try to self-sustain. Basically, I want to try to live grocery store free for 3 months. If it goes ok, I want to try it for a year. My chickens are only 4 weeks old, so the experiment starts when I get my first egg. From that day, for 3 months, I am on my own. Should be about end of October I think, which will be good timing because hunting season starts around then. I plan on using 5 store bought items; salt, pepper, vinegar, sugar and flour. Everything else I produce. Some things I have learned how to do:

Cure and smoke deer hams (they are delicious)
Cure and smoke wild hog bacon. Not as fatty, so obviously not as good, but beats nothing.
Make bread
pickle veggies
can veggies
I started an herb garden so I can cook with flavor

Some problems I have encountered:
Rabbits have been beating me in the garden, I finally used old tree containers to grow onions, beans, cabbage and peppers. There are about 15 cottontails living in a brush pile, which after the first freeze, will go into the freezer.
I love cheese and am concerned about calcium since I do not have anyone with milk cows nearby. I want to get some goats, but won't have the fencing by the time this starts. I will miss my cheese.
I hope to sell enough eggs to pay for feed, if not, well I will chalk that up on the what I failed at side, but I will still buy the feed. I hope I can trade eggs for something I cant produce.
I wanted to learn how to make beer, but never got around to it, so there will be one more store bought item . I aint CRAZY!

Hopefully I can make a stab at this, my g/f thinks I am crazy, but she isnt too big on the chickens yet either. Maybe brooding them in the house was not my best PR campaign. If anyone wants to follow along, I will post a blog or something on my BYC website when I get closer.

 

[The Zoo]

What a fantastic topic!
The hubby and I have been attempting to be as self sufficient as we can too. We have terraced vegetable beds built on our slope and my husband's work has a community garden where we just planted winter squash and beans. Now I just have to figure out how to store all the potatoes and squash - no root cellars in the Bay Area! Too many earthquakes

I think it's ok to buy dairy products (if you don't have goats or sheep) and I couldn't live without tofu, being a vegetarian. But we try *really* hard to use very little from the grocery store and nothing processed. It feels *so* good. We make our own bread, pasta, can, preserve, dehydrate, etc. Pick wild blackberries in summer for freezing and using all winter long...I'm only 40 but there's something wonderful about being self sufficient and doing things the way my great (and great-great) grandmother did them.

There are two FANTASTIC books to read
'The New Self Sufficient Gardener' by John Seymour has become my gardening bible

'Animal, Vegetable, Miracle' by Barbara Kingsolver is just inspirational

http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/

 

[The Zoo]

My husband makes beer - it's actually *really* easy and once you have all the things you need the cost of buying the ingredients isn't that expensive. Find a good homebrew supply place and get them to show you how. If you brew this weekend it should be ready for drinking by the time your hens are laying actually....

 

[tackyrama]

Quote:
Great post Gloria! Great attitude too! I am 62 and I hope I will never stop learning. Why not a goat? I am guessing your health may not allow you to do all you would like. I am finding that having a big network of friends is an invaluable rescource. Everybody helps each other. Be it auto problems, plumbing, gardening or whatever it seems like someone is always willing to help. All you need do is ask. I didn't need much help with my barn/coop but since my wife can't do much I did need help with the rafters and standing the walls up. All I had to do was ask. Perhaps with a little help you might find yourself able to accomplish more than you ever imagined.