what are y'all saving from the wild to deal with coming crisis?

[AquaDuck]

Last year there was drought the entire summer in my country, followed by a month of constant rain in the harvesting period. The result was a serious lack of grains to feed animals. Especially cow- and sheep farmers were affected, as they're big animals. They even had difficulty filling up the silo's with grass, and were resorted to slaughtering their livestock or feeding them substandard feed such as straw through the winter.

There's certainly a good idea to look to other feed sources than pre-fabriced chicken feed. Whole grains can be stored longer than crushed. I've stored for a couple of years without issues. I pick berries in autumn and store in the freezer, I'm given fallen apples from someone with apple trees, and grow a little bit of kale. More of a treat than a substantial food source, though...

 

[Willowspirit]

View attachment 1824251

My 3 girls are ignoring comfrey. My one plant has the most gorgeous leaves, untouched by chickens.

But they love collards. I have multiple perennial collards in my suburban homestead that they (and harlequin bugs)love to devour. The cuttings root very easily and they grow fast in our area in Northern California.

I adore collards myself.

 

[Ra_]

My 3 girls are ignoring comfrey. My one plant has the most gorgeous leaves, untouched by chickens.

Pretty girl.
What variety do you have? True Comfrey?
The sterile Bocking varieties may be more appealing to birds, especially Bocking #4.
They say that some birds don't like the little hairs that grow on the underside of the leaves. Some people recommend wilting the leaves for a day and then tying a few into a bundle and hanging it, so the birds can pull pieces from it.

My birds love the Bocking #4.

 

[ocap]

Law of Non-contradiction
Something and its opposite can not both be true at the same time in the same sense.

It is possible to think that a lie is truth.

If we look carefully we might find a scientist that thinks "global warming" happens and another scientist who thinks that the data is flawed or a normal cycle is happening.

I met a guy on a backpacking trip who said that he could find something in my pack that I did not need and make my pack lighter. He never realized that I could do the same with his pack.

I find it interesting that no one mentioned walking toward the equator until winter heating is no longer required and insects live year-round to feed the flock. I forgot that I will not have a way to kill the parasites that will kill my chickens. Maybe I could cure the problem with suicide, we are already killing our unborn.

 

[ValerieJ]

to feed your feather crew? unless y'all have been on the moon lately{LOL). supposedly earth changes are here and getting worse everyday.
So much rain here in ky. and other breadbaskets areas. people having to sell off their herds last summer because of droughts. now flooding etc farmers fields flooded mud everywhere. other places droughts
Mainstream news is not stressing how bad our food supply is right now and coming. supposedly coming winter is to be worst on record
so what do y'all feel to save back for our feather friends. one chat room suggested grass seeds, wild seeds etc. even box elder. which I haven't looked up yet
the animals around here are acting strange
anyones thoughts?

We live in a heavily forested area, so I would make portable pens and move them around the forest during the day. For us, I have begun to buy canisters of 25 year food at Walmart. I know it sounds gross, and I haven't tried it, but at a time like that, food is food. I worry more about water in the event of an electrical outage, such as an EMP attack. We are on a river, but the water would need to be filtered and boiled, maybe not for the hens, but for us. So, I've been looking up ways to do that.

 

[ValerieJ]

The site (or my computer) is acting strange this morning. I tried to post a reply and couldn't post it. I restarted my computer and came back in. Rewrote the post and then my original post showed up three times. LOL I think I need some coffee...

 

[Ra_]

I worry more about water in the event of an electrical outage, such as an EMP attack. We are on a river, but the water would need to be filtered and boiled

You can get a gravity-fed water filter.
They filter about 20 gallons a day.
Filters last about a year.
You can make an el-cheapo sand filter to pre-filter the water and extend the life of your filters. You can also make your own charcoal.
Activated charcoal has more surface area but they used regular charcoal for filtering for many years. All you need is wood and a barrel with a lid.
Another gravity fed system.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Gearhart. I have a Masters Degree in Biological Science. My husband has a PhD and just retired as a Botany Professor. Science has moved ahead since you were in high school. Trust me. You are criticizing new knowledge with old ideas.

Popular Science may be interesting but it is not peer reviewed literature.

Ps if you took biochem you’d understand how inadequate high school level — actually junior high now — cycles are.

So no degree or education in climatology or the actual carbon cycle? And if you did I would imagine that the majority of those scientists are reluctant to speak the truth. It would take a very brave climatologist to ignore the politics of this issue.

And might I ask why you issued a general denial rather than point out any inaccuracy in what I wrote? I have a couple of scientific papers or presentations at scientific conferences as a co author and one thing I found was universal is that scientists would never attack your opinion using generalities. They would always first ask questions before claiming ignorance or Popular Science articles were the problem.

You could clear that up by addressing particular concerns instead of blanket denials of fact.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Interesting discussion. The main reason I wanted to spend my retirement in a more rural area was to have enough land to raise as much of my own food as possible. And to be close to farms. I only have a little over a half acre but my vegetable garden produced a good amount of food last year and I'm hoping to do as well this year. I have my chickens and have planted a few fruit trees. Last year I canned a lot of my own produce. I too am concerned about the current political and meteorological trends we are now facing. My philosophy is that to be prepared for whatever comes and from wherever, you need to know how to sustain yourself and family if there were no stores to run to for necessities. Learning as many basic skills such as canning food, baking bread, sewing and knitting. It's good to think and plan ahead for the "what ifs" but don't get caught up in the frenzy of fear.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Last year there was drought the entire summer in my country, followed by a month of constant rain in the harvesting period. The result was a serious lack of grains to feed animals. Especially cow- and sheep farmers were affected, as they're big animals. They even had difficulty filling up the silo's with grass, and were resorted to slaughtering their livestock or feeding them substandard feed such as straw through the winter.

There's certainly a good idea to look to other feed sources than pre-fabriced chicken feed. Whole grains can be stored longer than crushed. I've stored for a couple of years without issues. I pick berries in autumn and store in the freezer, I'm given fallen apples from someone with apple trees, and grow a little bit of kale. More of a treat than a substantial food source, though...

Once in a while if you are a business person things will slow down and the first thing a lot of us will do is google something like "sales slowing down". You will always find a thread or forum somewhere where you will find confirmation or someone saying their sales are strong. Same with weather, it is always bad somewhere and the farmers are fat and happy somewhere else.

I think idea of developing sustainable feed and living is an awesome idea and responsible thing to do. Not so much depending upon wild sources because should the doom and gloom folks ideas actually come true there would be a lot of competition for wild resources. During the great depression wildlife was nearly wiped out in a lot of rural areas. There are things like acorns that would require some processing for some critters to digest and even then the mast crop can have bad years. The folks that were talking about landscaping with fruit and nut trees are on the right track and having a bucket of seeds for feed crops is a great and inexpensive idea to put your mind to ease.