Managing flock in Collapsing Economy: Bye Bye Birdies.

[brandislee]

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Is that what you call it? Well, here I've been farming flies in my summer garbage bags for years and never knew it.

That will be a good one to tell my husband next time we get a maggot-infested garbage load to take to the dump: We're fly farmers.

Doesn't happen real often, but I remember last summer a bag dropped and fell open as I was trying to haul it to the car to go to the dump, and maggots everywhere. Totally freaked me out. With chickens come flies, and with flies come maggots... But, from now I'll look at them as a protein source for the "girls". Ha.

I know! I don't think I'd have to "learn" to grow flies here, at least in the summer! I once put some chicken skin in the trash and forgot it was there- a few days later I found little maggots on my floor (not sure how they got out of the trash...) and was like "what????" And then in the winter I could just gather up all the stinkin' boxelder bugs that share our house with us... I even considered getting a house Silkie to control them (I know they don't do anything, but they bug me because they remind me of

cockroaches), but I think if I brought a chicken into the house to live my husband would kick me out of it

BUT I had never thought of maggots as a protein source for chickens, so I'm really glad someone mentioned it- note to self, if we come on hard times and can't afford chicken protein, farm some flies!

 

[Msbear]

Quote:
Is that what you call it? Well, here I've been farming flies in my summer garbage bags for years and never knew it.

That will be a good one to tell my husband next time we get a maggot-infested garbage load to take to the dump: We're fly farmers.

Doesn't happen real often, but I remember last summer a bag dropped and fell open as I was trying to haul it to the car to go to the dump, and maggots everywhere. Totally freaked me out. With chickens come flies, and with flies come maggots... But, from now I'll look at them as a protein source for the "girls". Ha.

The same thing happened to me last fall. The old Erin would've been totally grossed out BUT the new, thrifty, economically conscientious Erin thought... hmm.... "CHOOK CHOOK CHOOK CHOOK" and I stood back and watched the insanity!!

 

[Wifezilla]

To the OP, your thinking is 180º out of phase. Owning a self replicating food source is not a drag on your finances, it helps you survive bad times. Your flock might not be as big as you would like and you will have to base the flock size on available resources, but your yard CAN produce enough to support a few chickens.

desperately poor people are provided with chicks, chicks that change their lives for the better and not only provide them with food, but provide them with a product to sell or trade.

Exactly.

There are lots of things that we can harvest and freeze, can or dry for the birds during the winter, including lots of edible wild weeds

Dandelions and plantains are VERY nutritious. I gathered a bunch from a vacant house across the street from me last year. The plants were HUGE and the neighbors appreciated my taking what could have ended up seeding their lawn. My ducks LOVE them and I even brought some to some chickens I was sitting.

One way of putting up good nutritious food for your animals is the ancient art of making haylage or silage...
http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=004qk9
I haven't tried it yet, but I think it would be a good experiment.
http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/archive/index.php/t-39841.html
http://forums.homestead.org/forum_posts.asp?TID=13000&title=home-grown-chicken-feed

Another possibility is mangle beets...
http://forums.sustainablecountry.com/forums/showthread.php?5619-Livestock-feed-growing-your-own

This year I am growing amaranth and quinoa in my suburban garden.​

 

[Wifezilla]

Forgot to add that I have ducks, not chickens, but I think some of the things I did last year will translate.

BOSS (Black oil sunflower seed). Plant some! They grow like crazy. I got a volunteer last year out of a bag of wild bird seed. If your chickens (or ducks or quail) wont eat them, use them for bait to catch other wild edibles like squirrels and bunnies (I think bunnies can eat the stems too).

Kitchen Scraps: Rather than dumping bags of excess zucchini on neighbor's porches and running away, shred and freeze any excess for your animals. In winter, add the shreds to some hot water for a tasty "soup". Ducks diving in a water bucket for spaghetti squash is actually pretty darn funny as well as good for the birds.

Ponds: I have a preformed pond liner. Last year we stocked it with rosy minnows and duckweed. The rosy minnows live on mosquito larvae, and duckweed reproduces like mad. So as the duck weed starts to take over, you scoop off the excess and feed it to your critters. The minnows will also start to breed and are a great source of protein. When the population of the fish booms, just net some of the fish and feed those to your birds. So you get 2 food sources and you don't even have to provide feed for the fish. Nature does that.

Squash: Grow it or buy in bulk at farmer's markets. They store for months! Break one open for the animals as needed.

Grape vines: Grape vines can serve several useful purposes. They can provide much needed summer shade, tasty greens AND fruit for you and your birds. I have 2 grape vines growing up and over my duck pen. As leaves poke through their side of the fence, the ducks nibble on the leaves and tasty shoots. They also get shade in the summer when they need it and I let them grab the low hanging fruit. I get the stuff up higher

 

[new chick 203]

I'm cautiously optimistic about the future. But i agree with everyone who says we'll be better off with chickens if it gets nutty. Here's an ad from WWI that says the same thing.

 

[mmaddie's mom]

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It's all in your attitude! OP needs to work on a little attitude adjustment!

 

[mmaddie's mom]

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like this list...
but would add my dog and my guns & ammo!

 

[CountryPantry]

like that list

 

[Msbear]

Wifezilla, I always enjoy your posts. I think very similarly. We're planting everything edible this year... the early white blossoms and red fall foilage are just an added bonus but going out and collecting the bounty in your backyard is going to be the real treat.

I throw ALL of my kitchen scraps out including chicken, beef, etc. I have a reserved area that I toss this stuff in. If the cats don't eat it, the chickens, turkeys and ducks will. If they don't the scavengers birds will. If they don't the slugs and worms will

P.S a chicken's favorite food is... you guessed it! CHICKEN!! The just love it and it's excellent protein. My bantams feather in so quickly and I have had folks buy black rosecomb bantams from me and call and say the tails on their males just aren't long and beautiful like mine. I say... it's the chicken

..my secret supplement..

 

[NHchicks]

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That is a really funny poster, especially considering all the problems some folks have keeping chickens in their HOAs. It's downright unpatriotic not to have at least 2 chickens, and that poster proves it. I'd keep that one for posting on the HOA bulletin board (and bringing to town zoning meetings).