Preaching to the choir... PICS

[Carolina Chicken Man]

This thread reminds me why I don't participate in this forum much anymore.

I would think that it was a joke if I had not seen the same thread on here countless times before.

 

[buck-wild-chick]

Its pretty common to in our area to see dead birds on the highway.Its really dangerous,having birds flying at your windshield at 60mph.

 

[Buster52]

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Gee, there's a productive comment.

 

[Le Canard de Barbarie]

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Gee, there's a productive comment.

I reported that as trying to flame, but the moderators did nothing.

 

[PaulaJoAnne]

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Thanks

We also got a wonderful side benefit out of this.
Our yard, which was mostly spindly "grass" and lots of weeds, turned into a lush lawn after the chickens were done with it.
They scratched and fertilized far better then we could ever have done.
We are looking forward to how it looks this spring.

 

[PaulaJoAnne]

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Which is why their access to it needs to be controlled. That's the point of the tractor and/or the netting, so you can rotate their foraging and let areas recover, moving them to good, fresh stuff when needed. Better for the bird, better for the pasture, better for your table.

Why would I control it?
It took them weeks to accomplish this task.
This property was in very rough shape due to the previous owners not caring about it all, so the free ranging was the best thing that could have happened.
By the time they were done, they had turned out property into a lush paradise!

We also let out our layers have the run of our property, and the "tilling" they did for our garden this fall was awsome.
There is a quite a difference in meat taste and texture, between free choice and controlled choice food and pasture. Same goes for eggs as well.

 

[PaulaJoAnne]

.

 

[Buster52]

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I agree with that entirely. In fact, it was my central point.

 

[dancingbear]

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Well actually you still do support this type of farming, indirectly. Especially if you buy any products such as bread, cheese, etc. that use eggs or milk as ingredients. Most people really don't think about where their food comes from.

Yeah, I thought of that, and I do know where my food comes from.

But you can only do so much in a short amount of time. I have prioritized my journey toward self sufficiency/sustainability and decided meat would be the easiest and quickest thing to replace in my diet. Foods that require animal inputs are next.

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I agree. There's no way a person or a family can be totally self-sufficient. There are too many items and skill sets needed. Even in pre-industrial times, very few people even came close. That's why there were always communities, towns, tribes, villages, etc. Because nobody can do everything, or produce everything. In a pre-industrial town or village, for example, there would be one (if you were lucky, or maybe you'd have to go to a neighboring town) blacksmith, (probably with an apprentice or two) for smith work. You wouldn't find that everybody in the community had their own smithy in the barn. Most people had certain things that almost everybody did, like raise a garden, cook their own food, that sort of thing. But nobody would have expected, or been expected to, be able to grow all their food, make their own horseshoes, manufacture weapons and tools, weave and sew all of their own cloth, tan all their own leather and make shoes, saddles, and other leather goods, be a competent physician, and a great hunter, and a great farmer/rancher.....you get the idea. People had general living skills, (usually more so than many people today) and many had something extra they did especially well, some specialized and hired out to others. Nobody was expected to possess all skills.

There are more and more people doing what they can toward that goal, however, and I think anything that people do to increase their food and energy independence is good. Many are beginning to demand accountability from large producers, as well. I think the most effective way to promote change is to vote with your wallet, and tell companies why you choose what you do.

For example, if you object to high fructose corn syrup, or msg, or whatever, in your food, don't buy products that contain it. Sometimes that means making your own, or simply doing without, and choosing to eat something else. (I make my own cranberry sauce because I can't find any without high-fructose corn syrup anymore. Fortunately for me, it's very easy to make.) When you switch brands because of whatever it is that you don't want, call the 800 number on the label, and tell them why. Or send an email. Same applies if you find out a companies uses sweat-shop labor and you object to that, don't knowingly buy their stuff, and tell them why. I say "knowingly", because often, there's no way to know.

 

[foweler]

I agree. There's no way a person or a family can be totally self-sufficient. There are too many items and skill sets needed. Even in pre-industrial times, very few people even came close. That's why there were always communities, towns, tribes, villages, etc. Because nobody can do everything, or produce everything. In a pre-industrial town or village, for example, there would be one (if you were lucky, or maybe you'd have to go to a neighboring town) blacksmith, (probably with an apprentice or two) for smith work. You wouldn't find that everybody in the community had their own smithy in the barn. Most people had certain things that almost everybody did, like raise a garden, cook their own food, that sort of thing. But nobody would have expected, or been expected to, be able to grow all their food, make their own horseshoes, manufacture weapons and tools, weave and sew all of their own cloth, tan all their own leather and make shoes, saddles, and other leather goods, be a competent physician, and a great hunter, and a great farmer/rancher.....you get the idea. People had general living skills, (usually more so than many people today) and many had something extra they did especially well, some specialized and hired out to others. Nobody was expected to possess all skills.

Its what the Austrian Economists (no they are not all from Austria, its a school of economic thought) call the division of labor and it is essential in raising the average standard of living for all humans. You wouldn't be reading this without it.
That said, your decisions of whom you will and won't do business with still carry great weight, until govt steps in and makes all of those choices for you that is.​