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

[perchie.girl]

And there we have it. Many people who consider themselves kind, good, decent and smart are not being any of those things.

Gary

All those things does not automatically include Common Sense.... Good common sense will out perform Brilliance many times over....

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

the famine food search I did on Google mentioned humans eating sawdust in Russia during WWII. Does anyone know of a reason why sawdust would be harmful to chickens if I mix it in their fermented mush mixture?

Yeah and there has also been a proposal to feed cows Chicken manure because it has x amount of undigested calories. Probably already done here in the US.

deb

 

[room onthebroom]

This is exactly why we have decided to homestead. Not because of climate change, as that has been occurring, IMO and according to science and history, since the beginning of the earth, from the separation of Pangea to the beginning and maybe not complete ending of the Ice Age to known polar shifts. I do concern myself with scientist revealing a concern with global governments creating a world war over their mastery of altering regional weather patterns and how their efforts may alter weather patterns in other areas of the globe in a negative way. But our reason for homesteading is to be proliferate while our news refuses to inform us of the global food shortages. It amazes me that so many governments are paying farmers NOT to farm their land. It is almost like they want people standing in line begging them to feed and care for them.

I'm just finding this thread, so forgive me if these things have already been asked. I see you're in GA. I've heard GA can be very hot & very wet. Do you have trouble growing things year round out there?

I'm collecting,and drying redbud leaves for emergency fodder.
The trees grow fast and all parts are edible. They seem to be fairly unaffected by the wild weather too.

My birds love rose petals. Do you air dry them, or dehydrate them, or something else?


My house is in a fire & earthquake state. I have 3 days worth of food for all of our animals, but in a long term situation like you're talking about we'd be in trouble.

 

[perchie.girl]

Sawdust more or less was the key ingredient in light bread. Lots of fiber! I don't believe it could kill them depending on how much they ate but because it is nonnutritive it might kick their growth back which you don't want. If you wanted to add a filler to crumble something like grass hay or even alfalfa might be better.

Alfalfa as a legume is an excellent source of minerals and protien.... There is one caveot thought if they are very hungry they will choose the very fiberous pieces as well....

If feeding fermented feed I would use Alfalfa and or catfish pellets in the mix.

But because I have virutally no green forage here I regularly throw a half a flake in each pen for their amusement....

deb

 

[trumpeting_angel]

We have a batch (50) of cornish growing for our winter stock and sending ( 24) to family down south, as for our hens we will eat our unproductive hens, and have been planting grass seed to withstand "extreme weather" and will start growing perenials to feed our hens so we dont rely to much on feed and will be fermenting to strech it.

You have long winters, though, right?. Are you making hay from that grass? I'm just wondering about feeding chickens over the winter. Our winters are long and growing season short.

 

[perchie.girl]

I appreciate the turn that the conversation has taken. These are good ideas to toss around.

I am one who mentioned guns, although I've never handled or shot one. I think there may be some survivalists who plan to dig in to their bunkers and protect from all intruders, but in our community I expect there will be plenty of sharing. And we are certainly off the beaten track. But it's also not impossible that people will come to steal. Looting is incredibly common after natural disasters, and if we lose our communication systems, lawlessness is a possibility.

I hate thinking this way.

That would be a good incentive to keep the bulk of your Cache in a separate location possibly hidden from view.

deb

 

[ocap]

Sawdust more or less was the key ingredient in light bread. Lots of fiber! I don't believe it could kill them depending on how much they ate but because it is nonnutritive it might kick their growth back which you don't want. If you wanted to add a filler to crumble something like grass hay or even alfalfa might be better.

I considered cutting hay with a scythe until I bought a cow and fed one winter. 20% protein in "perfect" hay. I still have not figured out how to chop it fine enough for a hen.
There are hand balers that looked interesting for small animal survival farms, look it up on youtube.

 

[trumpeting_angel]

I'm going to keep working on my amaranth plan for winter food. Grows all over around here as a weed, self-sows like mad, high protein seed (related to quinoa), and greens are supposed to be delicious to humans and beloved by chickens.

 

[DellaMyDarling]

I've got a crimson clover cover crop.
It's time to thin it down (it regrows) as little plants are shaded out.

Since goats like clover...

What method would you use to dry the clover for goat feed?
Tried giving them snacks of it fresh, they turned their noses at it.

 

[trumpeting_angel]

I've got a crimson clover cover crop.
It's time to thin it down (it regrows) as little plants are shaded out.

Since goats like clover...

What method would you use to dry the clover for goat feed?
Tried giving them snacks of it fresh, they turned their noses at it.

Is that the same as purple clover? It's the Vermont state flower, and grows everywhere. I imagine the chickens will like it.

I had goats years ago, and contrary to their reputation, I found them pretty fussy about what they ate!