Category: Livestock, Feed, & Fencing

Letter Re: A Newbie’s Perspective on Raising Chickens

To follow up on chicken coop design article “A Newbie’s Perspective on Raising Chickens“, please consider:  My first coop had chicken wire all the way down to the ground.  The possums would get one on each side at night, bounce the chickens from side to side (chickens are stupid at night) and then they would grab one through the wire and extrude them through the wire eating as they went.  Within a month they were all gone.  The whole thing was very disturbing. My new coop has plywood sides with hardware cloth (1/2″ squares) on the upper part.  As in the …


Letter Re: A Newbie’s Perspective on Raising Chickens

Mr. Rawles and Readers, I would like to make an additional comment on the well written article “A Newbie’s Perspective on Raising Chickens”.  It is true, that most of the hatchery breeds of chickens have lost their inclination to brood, however a few breeds still maintain their skills as good brood hens.  We purchased three Silkie chickens two years ago and I have been amazed at their tenacity toward both laying and setting eggs.  One hen tried for six weeks to set eggs in the pen in the middle of a snow drift in February and March.  She was so …


Letter Re: A Newbie’s Perspective on Raising Chickens

Jim, I wanted to comment on this article.  I thought it was a great play by play of getting chickens and keeping them for eggs. Just a few comments about the article and some tips I’ve learned over the years (mistakes I made myself) that I figure could help Adventane and others reading the article.   1.  It’s common for a group of hens to find a preferred nest and use it as a community nest.  I commonly find two hens in the same nest.   2.  The crumbles are great for smaller birds but unfortunately for larger laying hens …


A Newbie’s Perspective on Raising Chickens by Adventane, in Northern Virginia

More than fifteen years ago my wife and I began collecting a year’s supply of food.  Once we’d collected almost 20 cases of food in #10 cans, we pretty much let the matter slip from our thoughts.  It wasn’t until about six years ago that we began to realize that we didn’t really know what we had, or how long it might last.  That led us to thinking about what else we needed, and eventually we stepped with full intent into the prepping mindset.  We recently moved out of the urban shadow of a major US metropolis and into a …


A Yuppie Prepper’s Guide to Chickens, by Audrey H.

While I am new to the world of prepping; (having just read Discovery to Catastrophe and learned of prepping society), I have lived on a farm my whole life, and have spent the last 16 years home educating and canning my way to heaven.  It appears that my grandmother and mother taught me to be a prepper when I did not even know it and gave me life skills that are severely lacking in America today.  To pay homage to them, I respectfully submit the following essay: Raising chickens for survival is an interesting topic these days when so many …


Letter Re: Cooking the Farmyard Fowl

James, I really learned a lot from the Cooking the Farmyard Fowl article by Irishfarmer.  My chicken flock is reaching an average of two years of age and they are laying fewer eggs.  It is time to learn how to put them into the stew pot. I had two questions raised from that article.  How do you make a killing cone, and how do you kill and process a chicken?  I found good information at the following links: How to Make a Killing Cone  It includes sizing information ranging from bantams to turkeys.  That page referred me to How to Kill …


Packing Horses and Mules, by R.S.

In today’s world most people will never pack an animal to move their goods from point A to point B. However it wasn’t that long ago that animal power was the primary land transport system. In a grid down scenario it may return if only briefly. I offer this article only as an introduction, or primer with a few “how to’s” and a few “how not to’s”. If only one piece of knowledge stays with you, it could be very beneficial.   Many of the things I will cover are the basic principles of packing.  Some of the knowledge may …


Two Letters Re: Advice on Disaster Pet Euthanasia

Hi Jim, A couple of things worth considering for painless pet euthanasia.  This is never a pleasant subject, but: 1. Carbon monoxide poisoning.  People die of this painlessly all the time.   Prepare a setup now to connect to your vehicle exhaust (or any other gas engine exhaust) to an enclosure sized to hold your pet. 2. A person can be made unconscious simply by pressing two fingers against the juggler veins in the neck without any feeling of strangling or otherwise. It’s like going to sleep (the brain is deprived of oxygen and you black out).  A prolonged application …


Letter Re: Advice on Disaster Pet Euthanasia

Mr. Rawles, I am constantly impressed by the wealth of information that I am able to find on your web site and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and all involved for the work you do on this.  I was also wondering if you, or your readers, might be able to help me out with a certain, unsavory aspect of my preps.   Currently, our family is overseas in a country where we are required to maintain an evacuation plan and needed supplies at all time.  I am wholly on-board with this and have done this, …


The Family Cow, by Faith S.

How can a family cow be an ideal addition to your food storage and survival plan? We started our self-reliance plan with gardening.  Then we planted a few fruits and added chickens.   One day we realized that if we had a cow, we could truly be self-sufficient with our food supply.    We now raise family sized milk cows with grazing genetics in Virginia.  This article should persuade SurvivalBlog readers who own two or more acres, of the wisdom of owning a family cow. It should also answer questions we frequently hear. Why a Cow? Owning a cow produces milk, cream …


Muscovy Ducks: Sustainable Food for Post-TSHTF by Joe M.

Finding a good sustainable food supply post TSHTF has been a difficult and long journey. It’s going to be a lot more than storing dehydrated food, water and having some seeds. Eventually you will run out of food and will need a way to feed your family in sustainable way.  What are the best options of doing this? A remote retreat with several different types of livestock and a large garden all sound very nice but is it practical? Let’s go thru all of the options. In a post TSHTF situation we might have to consider mobility. Fire, radiation, large …


How Necessity Became the Mother of Invention, by Sandra W.

I’ve always been a “glass is half full…when life hands you lemons you make lemonade…” kind of person.  So despite a divided nation after this recent election, geopolitical unrest, and our nation on the brink of financial collapse, I still see the silver lining.  My husband and I purchased a small 900 square foot home, because it was all we could afford.  It was near the height of the housing bubble so we bought high.  We then spent the next four years, remodeling the one bathroom the tiny kitchen and living room to suit our needs.  After investing tens of …


Letter Re: Fabric Choices in Survival Clothing

I wanted to make a couple of clarifications to Emma C.’s article on fabric choices in survival clothing, specifically with regards to wool. As a full-time Shepherdess of more than 100 heritage breed sheep, my experience in handling and processing wool runs deep.  It was written that (with regard to socks), Wool does take more care than other fabrics in that it should be washed in cold water and lay flat to dry. While that statement is mostly accurate in general fabric care, there are primarily two things that can permanently change (i.e. shrinkage or felting) wool fabrics: agitation (washing/scrubbing) and …


Letter Re: Prepping with Fangs: Dogs for a Survivalist

Dear JWR: I have read the previous thoughts on this and I see someone has mentioned several different breeds. I would like to add for those considering a dog to also consider Great Pyrenees. These dogs have the very thick double coats that protect them from attacks, are well known for their ability to take down bears and mountain lions when kept in packs, and are some of the best herd dogs on Earth. If you are wanting to breed them you will have to get the dogs about two years before you are expecting to have pups as generally …


Prepping for a Different Herd, by Xaidin

I’m a prepper, however my situation is a little different than most.  I wanted to write an article explaining my unique challenges. My family has a small ranch in New Mexico.  In the old days when it rained more often we ran about 100 head of cattle.  With the drought that has hit the southwest so hard, we’re down to about 50. I know most of you are thinking, oh my goodness this guy is so lucky.  He can eat all the beef he wants when TSHTF.  The answer is yes, and no.  I had about the same initial reaction …