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

[Kojack]

Ladyhawke1... Who do you believe is responsible for "standing on a mans neck? its a rhetorical question.

 

[Kojack]

Now Then Back To Chickens!!!!!!

 

[Kojack]

anybody raise broilers. If so how many do you raise at a time to feed the avg family of 4 without having chicken in the freezer for months on end. I'd rather not have chicken in the freezer for ever. Id rather it be fresh.

 

[hikerchick]

Quote:
I feel a moral obligation to help those less fortunate than myself. It is not my place to sit in judgement of them or decide whether or not they are worthy of sustenance. It is not for me to decide who lives and who dies.

I will share what I have and let a power greater than myself sort it out.

 

[Kojack]

THREAD.......DYE.........ING.....Please..........Back..........to...........chickens...........pleeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaassssse................HURRY........................!

 

[hikerchick]

Quote:
Umm- I am a vegetarian, so no.


But, this reply does pertain to chickens.

 

[Kojack]

Ok then Hiker Chick, thanks anyway.

Now as for the rest of you out there......

See just because we disagree on certain things doesn't mean we cant get back to chickens!

 

[Gomanson]

Original Poster here. Wow! I can't believe how much response this thread is getting. I've been reading posts every day trying to catch up. Of course all your responses have generated dozens of more questions, each one worthy of hours of discussion. So here are some summaries of my responses for what y'all have written:

Books: I just picked up Animal, Vegetable, Miracle a couple of days ago at the recommendations of so many of you. So far, I love it. I've been preaching a lot about local food and nonsustainable communities to friends and familes. As I was writing the original post, I was finishing a book refered to in A,V,M. It's called Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally; by Alisa Smith and J.B. Mackinnon. As I read it, I found myself agreeing with, yet disliking, the authors more and more. It's another good inspiration tale if you can find it. (They also have a website: 100milediet.org) Another book I can recommend is Better Off by Eric Brende, which is the tale of a MIT grad and his family, who decided to live with an extremely conservative community of people he calls the Minimites (He keeps their identities and location annonymous).

Chickens: Since the first few responses to the post, I've been giving my chickens a lot of what was previously thrown on the compost pile. They love the zucchini, watermelon, green bean, cucumber, and radish scraps! They are about a month or two from full maturity, so I assume they are still eating a little more than they eventually will. I haven't been able to tell if the table and garden scraps reduce the ammount of feed they eat, but I can't imagine it not making a difference.

Self-Sufficiency: We live on 0.84 acres which is mostly wooded and sloped. We're not allowed to grow veggies in the front yard, so I have very limited space for a garden. My "garden" is actually several tiny areas wherever I get some sun. I'll post some pics eventually. I'm finding it takes a few years until you get it right; this is the first year I got radishes to bulb out; I'm getting tons of green beans after 2 failed years; tomatoes will come soon; I get a small handful of pea pods every day. And I'm trying to learn seed-saving- a must for self-sufficient gardens. I have a 2 year old compost pile which will be good for next year's garden. My three hens will start laying soon. This spring I made maple syrup for the cost of a large roasting pan- I boiled it all outside on a wood fire. We also get about half of our winter heating (a lot in MN) with a woodstove. I'm going to spend this summer and fall learning a few ways to preserve food, and next year I'll reacquaint myself with fishing, filleting, and frying! I also want to learn how to cook small game and tan their hides (Anyone like squirrel? Come get some of ours!) One last project I've been trying to work on the last several years is making an ice store. I know it isn't feasible in a lot of places but it is here. I think my record is ice at the end of April.

Society, Etc.: Don't get me started

I agree it takes cooperation, especially for things like flour and salt. It is troubling to think about what the millions of city-dwellers would do if it all hit the fan. I could see a war between the country folk who have all the resources and the urbanites who have all the people. Let's hope it never happens, but anything we can do to help ourselves, our families, and those around us will delay such disasters and lessen their effects by lightening the load on the centralized providers.

Questions:
I've read that dog poop contains harmful viruses and shouldn't be used in compost. Why is chicken manure ok? Isn't there salmonella present?

Someone mentioned canning lids and this has always bothered me about canning. What did people do before commercially made lids? The only thing I can think of is a cork seal or something.

Does anyone know where I can find info about keeping ice into the summer? I can only find brief descriptions about how it was done. I find no formulas on ice melting, no explanations on insulation properties of natural materials, and no in-depth instructions or reports of modern attempts.

Thanks for all your responses! Let's keep discussing!!

 

[tasymo]

My feeling is NOW is the time to establish a community of self-sufficient folks with which to co-operate in the event of disaster. Try to find out who lives in your neighborhood who shares your basic interests in this subject. Who is willing to barter for goods and services? Start bartering NOW and you won't have to think about it if and when life altering events occur. There will always be idiots and scumbags out there who try to take advantage of your hard work and it IS important to think about how you will protect your property and family. With an already established community of folks you are familiar with and trust, protecting you and yours should be much easier.
Personally, I am at the stage where I am gathering ideas and information about being self-sufficient. I am trying new things like backyard chickens. So far I have six hens and have gathered almost a dozen cute little pullet eggs! I have a raised bed of asparagus on it's second year, as well as blueberry bushes and strawberries in another raised bed. My veggie garden has sweetcorn, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers in it- and so far everything looks great. I'm also raising sweet potatoes, rhubarb, cardoons, swiss chard and french sorrel in raised beds, and have lots of other perennial herbs (including comfrey) mixed in with my flowers. I want to learn to make pickles (would love any favorite recipes anyone might like to share...) and how to dry some of my produce. As luck would have it, I'm unemployed this Summer, so I've had more time than usual to experiment...
This really is a great topic of conversation and I hope this thread continues for a good long time. Keep the information flowing Folks!!!
Kathy

 

[tasymo]

LOL! I was typing my post at the same time you were typing yours Gomanson! I recall my Mother telling us how they used to cut big blocks of ice from the local lake and store them in the "icehouse" buried in sawdust when she was a kid (she is 89 now). They used them to keep the icebox in the kitchen cold. My Mom grew up on a fruit farm during the depression. Their farm was fairly self-sufficient with chickens, a couple of cows and pigs, a big veggie garden and of course, lots of fruit trees. My Grampa was also a carpenter and built all his own wooden ladders for their orchard, and sold (and probably bartered) them to other local fruit farmers. My Great Grandmother (his Mom) who lived with them, raised herbs, including Ginseng, that she sold to the local doctors and midwives. Mom said she never went hungry during the depression- they went without new clothes and stuff, but always had lots to eat. In fact, Sunday dinner was always open to any family and friends who were in need of a good meal. It can be done, Folks! I do know it is ALOT of hard work, but it can be done.