To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make both long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug-out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles [1], but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year. We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those — or excerpts thereof — in the Odds ‘n Sods Column or in the Snippets column. Let’s keep busy and be ready!
Jim Reports:
I did some chicken slaughtering and butchering this week. There were six in this batch. Two of those were older “Stewpot” roosters that were quite difficult to skin. I also cleaned up the barnyard and hauled out manure. This time, it went to fill a couple of low spots in one of our pastures.
On Thursday, with the help of a young neighbor farm hand, Lily, I, and our younger daughter pitchforked an entire box trailer load of manure and soiled bedding from our in-barn sheep pen that still holds four rams and ramlings. I’m building another squash mound at woodling on the north side of one of our pastures with that manure
I also helped an ailing neighbor get into town to run his errands.
Now, Lily’s part of the report…
Avalanche Lily Reports:
Dear Readers,
This week the weather was rainy and cloudy with intermittent sun at the end of the week. Temperatures got as high as fifty-four degrees Fahrenheit and as low as twenty-six degrees Fahrenheit with some frosts. The robins are officially back as of last week, as well as the Red-winged blackbirds. The Cooper’s hawk and Merlins are here, also. I heard them both calling this week. The predator bird pressure is really high now. Earlier in the week, when it was beautifully sunny outside, Jim asked, “Why I aren’t you letting the Meat and Fiber Sheep outside with their lambs? I said, “No. They’re too small.” I was in too much of a hurry to say more. Well, a few hours later, while working outside, a bird shadow dropped over me and I looked up to see a Red-Tailed hawk fly really low over our parking area over to the other side of the ranch house porch and make a grab for one of the wild turkeys that were milling around there. I yelled and ran towards the house and up to the porch. It was gone but five turkey feathers were right by the porch and the turkeys were squawking and flying up into the trees with the hawk no longer in sight. I looked around for all of the turkeys but only saw two of the four. I prayed that the hawk had not succeeded. Later that night, I saw all four of them. Phew. I went into the house and told Jim about the Hawk and said to him, “That is the very reason why I am not letting the sheep out, yet.” The baby lambs are far too small right now and would be easy for a bird of prey to pick up. I call those so cute little babies, “My little morsels.” The next day a Bald Eagle was standing down on the ground in the outer meadow. They are so big! When I saw it, I went inside immediately to check on the cats and to do the head count, just in case. All were in the house and accounted for. I had wanted to go out there to see what it might have gotten, but I was too busy with other stuff and I still haven’t looked for the evidence if it had gotten anything?
Jim butchered six roosters this week All of them went into the pots and were boiled for several hours. Then the next day, Jim and Miss Violet deboned them for me while I did the dishes and then started to type this post out. Then I made a soup and chopped up some of the meat for chicken salad and separated the tougher meat for the dog and cats. All of the meat that didn’t go in the soup was frozen.
Well, when we are butchering our chickens, it’s my job to get them for Jim. As I was diving on a roo, in the rather dark enhouse, my hand slammed something in the hen house: the floor or the two by four by the door, I can’t remember which, since I ignored it in my focused intent in getting that roo. I usually shake off bruising and pains. Well, a few minutes later my hand was still throbbing. I stepped outside the henhouse to look at it. My knuckle was swelling with a bit of blood, a very small cut less than a millimeter and a small scratch lower down on my hand. I went to the house and rinsed it off quickly and put silver gel on it and a Band Aid and went on with my day. As the day progressed the pain increased and so did the swelling. I went back into the house and changed the Band Aid and put Silver Sulfonamide cream on it and another Band Aid. Later in the day, I scrubbed my knuckle with vinegar, opening the cut up again, to let the vinegar in to kill any bacteria. Then I soaked it in hot Epsom Salt water for about a half hour and put another Band Aid and more Silver Sulfonamide. In the morning there was no black and blue but it is swelled a bit and hurts really bad to move it. It is moveable, though stiff. It was hard to sleep. I don’t think it’s infected just bruised and swelling from the bruising, but just in case it is infected, I will still continue soak it and treat it as if it is. Injuries happen and they slow me down. Grrr!
Two of my meat and Fiber flock ewes birthed their lambs this week. One ewe who had her first last year a, single, had twin ramlings. She rejected one of them. Probably because she was with the whole flock and the older babies are opportunists. I noticed them stealing milk from her as soon as she birthed. I left them overnight. So I think in all of the ruckus she didn’t get to bond too well with the second or the first one born.
Less than twenty-four hours later, as soon as the morning light came the next day, I separated out the two newest moms and the last ewe that I expect to lamb into their own half of the shed. Then I watched her with her two ramlings, not sure that I was seeing what I was seeing. I thought that if she had a bit more peace she would relax. Welp, she was rejecting that poor little guy. So I have been forcing her to nurse him five times a day this week and occasionally milking mama and giving it in the bottle to him. When the lamb that she accepts is nursing she is much more receptive to both of them nursing at the same time. But since I know that she will allow that one to nurse at any time and I know that the other isn’t quite strong and bright enough to get to her at that moment, I am still helping him nurse for a longer time than what the mama would normally allow. I’ve observed that the newborn babies usually go in for a brief two or three minute nurse and the older ones, only for as long as thirty seconds, but they do that all day long. Also, when I milked mama she only gave less than two ounces of milk, so I surmise that they only give the babies a very small amount at a time and it’s multiple times in a day. Later on Friday, I milked all of my lactating ewes and none of them gave me an ounce of milk. The babies are keeping them dry. Anyhow, in a few more days, she ought to accept him, or he will be strong and fast enough to steal it and I will continue to force mom to feed him for a while longer… I also decided to thaw out some sheep milk that I still had in the freezer to give him some supplement. Some of it l thawed a bit one day when the freezer was left open by accident, but it was still quite cold when it refroze, so it should be okay for a bit. (I hope.)
Two of my dairy ewes are bagging up. I’m happy about this. Any day now, my senior ewe should lamb, followed by the second senior ewe in another week or so, after her.
Yep, we cleaned out the ram pen in the barn this week. I also cleaned up the loafing yard. The ranch is looking really good.
I reorganized the spice, seasonings, and canned fish shelves out in the cold cellar closet.
We received an Azure order this week. I bought a five-gallon container of their Citrus Dishwashing soap as wekk as some Limes, Beets, Brocolini, and Soda Ash for mixing my homemade laundry soap.
Well, since the grandkids came and I was tired and fighting off Jim’s cold, I got out of my exercising routine. At the end of the week, despite my sore hand, I’m feeling more energetic again. My exercise this week was working extra hard on cleaning the barn and the loafing areas.
I read Isaiah 40-46 and Revelation 15-19 this week. I worked on memorizing Psalms 19 and 46 and also read Deuteronomy 32.
May You All Remain Safe, Blessed, and Hidden in Christ Jesus,
– Avalanche Lily, Rawles
o o o
As always, please share and send e-mails of your own successes and hard-earned wisdom and we will post them in the “Snippets” column this coming week. We want to hear from you.