Category: Livestock, Feed, & Fencing

My First Year Raising Broiler Chickens, by R.W.L.

I’m writing to share stories and lessons from my first year raising chickens for meat for my family and for sale. Knowing the tricks to successfully raising your own meat could really be a game-changer post TEOTWAWKI, so I want to spread this wealth of information I’ve gleaned in hopes that others may benefit.   I followed the model popularized by Joel Salatin where the chickens are put into mobile pens that move along the ground to a new, fresh piece of pasture each day.  Receiving day old chicks in the mail from the hatchery and watching them grow is a …


Preparing for the Aftermath–Lessons from the 1930s, by J. E.

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It’s one or two years after an EMP attack and you are safely tucked away in your retreat somewhere in the middle of nowhere.  Your storage foods have mostly been used and your high tech electronics is useless.   The really bad stuff is mostly past.  Now it’s try to stay fed and alive and pray that civilization as you know it is coming back.  You’re going to have to work your environment to live.  Ever wonder what life might be like?  What would it really be like to have no running water, electricity, sewer, newspaper or Internet?  No supermarket or …


Letter Re: Evacuating Wisely — With Livestock

James, Growing up and living on the Gulf Coast, for about 50 years, has given a lot of evacuation experiences to me. The most educational evacuation for us was Hurricane Rita. We thought Rita was coming inland way south of us. A family had evacuated to our house. Got a early morning call, that Rita had grown and was heading right at us. Visitors were sent on their way and we began loading up. Now loading up is a major logistics operation, as we have a farm. We successfully evacuated 4 equines, 3 dogs, 3 people and 3 vehicles. 7 …


Retirement and Surviving TEOTWAWKI, by Pat M.

All over the Internet are articles on surviving really hard times that are expected.  I note with some humor that most of these articles are talking to about 28-46 years old age groups, at least under-50 somethings.   I have seen nothing directed to the under 26 year-old or much over the 50 year-old.  Considering that we have a problem with what has been termed as an aging society retiring, what about us folks that can no longer throw on a 70 lb pack and hike 20 miles into the wilderness, or no longer have a sufficient income to prepare a …


Our Preps are Portable, by Dan W.

Prepping has a distinct vein that runs through each choice my family has made to better prepare ourselves for the possibility of the social upheaval that seems to be inching nearer each and every day. Our preps are portable. They have to be, due to the uncertainty of where my family will be in the near future. Over the last six years my family has moved six times, as my jobs changed and the family grew. Due to this movement, the rising price of houses in our area, and being at the very beginning of my earning curve made buying …


Letter Re: The Family Cow as a Measure of Wealth

Dear Mr. Rawles: Whether you are bugging out, hunkering down, or just trying to live well in uncertain times, it is hard to beat a dual-purpose meat and milk cow as a portable and productive asset. The family cow has historically been a family’s single biggest store of wealth. Until quite recently, in places like Ireland and Texas, cattle were the primary measure of wealth even for chieftains and barons. Some say that cattle still are the only measure of real wealth. Is anyone going to argue that wealth is better stored in Federal Reserve Notes, pieces of paper representing …


Furry Friend Today: Food Tomorrow, by T.L.F.

As our population continues to increase and expand, the small towns are now big towns, the rural outskirts of town are vibrant mini-metroplexes and quaint little mountain towns are growing communities. With this progression of population and expansion of where we are choosing to live, the fusing of nature and your home is becoming an everyday occurrence. Drive through your neighborhood and you will see the cute little bunny rabbits sitting in the corners of the lawns. How many bird feeders and birdbaths do you see with a songbird sitting on the edge watching you drive by? Watch for the …


Long-Term Preparedness and the Eight Mechanical Arts, by J.D.

It’s one thing to prepare for an unexpected event that you can ride out in the course of a week or two; secure, defensible shelter that functions without the grid, a store of food and water, and stockpiles of essentials such as ammo and medical supplies may be more than enough to last until the disaster passes and social order is restored. But what about long-term survival in the face of TEOTWAWKI?  I’ve always found it instructive to study how we lived before 20th-century innovations such as electricity and refrigeration and potable water piped right into the kitchen. It wasn’t …


The Second Wave: Survivalist Turned MZBs, by Dave in Florida

For many years I have been working towards self-reliance. I like to use the older term self-reliant simply because I feel “survivalist” doesn’t describe the lifestyle properly. I don’t intend to just “survive” but “thrive” – would that make me a “thrivalist?” Yes, I know that was a bit corny. In all seriousness, let’s assume you are an average Joe living in perilous times. What I have to say is speaking to a revelation I have had over the recent years based on my over confidence and belief that somehow I was different than the average Joe just because I …


Letter Re: Hiding Livestock and Gardens

Hi, I just wanted to bring up something after reading article about hiding gardens and animals in rural areas, recently linked in SurvivalBlog. Something that people might want to consider, that we have done. We chose to build a barn rather than a house. And I know you can quite often find properties that already have a barn or large outbuilding. We have a 46′ x 60′ pole barn. Within that we framed in about 900+ square feet for our home. The rest is divided up between stalls, a run in area for large animals, and a shop. One of …


Lessons from Eastern Siberia, by S.P.

Lessons from Eastern Siberia, by S.P. When I was 18, I spent six weeks in the Sakha Republic (or Yakutia) of Siberia. It is roughly three times the size of Alaska yet has a population of less than 1 million. With the Arctic Circle bordering the north of the Sakha Republic and the Lena River winding its way through it is a largely rural population of self sufficient farmers, fishermen, and reindeer herders. My time there was spent living in a soviet era apartment in either Yakutsk (its capital) or Moxogolloch (a small port town along the Lena River) or …


Food for Long-Term Survival, by Sheila C.

Many food strategies have been discussed in preparation for a TEOTWAWKI scenario: beans, rice, MREs, coupon-based purchases and heirloom vegetable seeds, just to name a few. However, there are certain limitations to a food-storage-only strategy. MREs, for instance, are quite expensive and only provide one meal at a time. They would be great for an emergency G.O.O.D. situation, but not long-term sustainable when you are packing everything you have in the world on your back. And beans and rice are wonderful staple foods, but what do you do when you run out of them… or worst case scenario happens and …


Community Crisis Planning for Societal Collapse, by J.I.R.

I believe that in a severe crisis, most of the problems are going to have to be solved at the local level. State and federal government are too big and dependent on technology to survive a severe crisis once the grid drops and all services start to erode. Local governments, too, are ill prepared to assume this crushing responsibility, but they are much more resilient because their scope of control is smaller. Most of them have never even considered what they would do. This article is a discussion piece to stimulate thought on the subject of small community recovery after …


Livestock Breeding and Plant Propagation, by Mike O.

Propagation is a great and cheap method of producing offspring in both plants and animals.  Propagation is usually thought of in the context of plant, so let’s briefly cover animals first.  I read recently with sadness about readers on survivalblog having problems with their rabbits being good mothers.  This is the first characteristic I look for in a new breed of livestock.  Modern breeds of cattle and poultry, in particular have been specialized for particular traits and mothering ability has taken a back seat.  This is one reason I prefer heritage breeds listed through the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.  These …


A Survival Suburban Homestead:  A Prepper’s Twist on the Homestead Movement – Part 1, by D.M.T.

As a member of the architectural profession, I am acutely aware of the multitude of sustainable issues emerging within our own society and the civilized world in general.  Urban homesteading is beginning to emerge because many people are beginning to come to the realization that there could be a major economic crash, Natural disaster, etc that could result in a disruption or failure in our food distribution chain emerging as directly applicable to many concerns facing many preppers regarding any failure or crises resulting in a disruption or collapse of the food distribution chain. But, urban homesteading is not the …