Realistically Raising Chickens for Meat in a Survival Situation, by B.R.

As both an organic, pastured chicken farmer and someone very interested in preparing for any possible future disruption in the food chain, I have given much thought to what it would take to keep my flock going if everything went to heck in a hand basket.

Eggs or Meat?
Over the past several generations, chickens have been selectively bred to either grow fast and put on lots of meat quickly or crank out eggs like a Pez dispenser. The problem with this specialization of breeds is that it has created fragile, problem prone chickens. The modern breeds require high octane specialized feed and even then suffer from leg crippling problems and deformities. Also problematic is the fact that modern meat birds can no longer mate naturally and must be artificially inseminated to reproduce. This is not a good scenario if you are trying provide your family with a sustainable source of fresh meat when you can no longer swing by the grocery store for some plastic-wrapped boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

Ready, Set, Go
To have any hope of realistically raising chickens for meat or eggs in a survival situation there are several factors that must be addressed. Don’t even hope to be able to do any of this after everything goes to heck – you must get started and you must start now.

Survival Breeds
The single most critical factor in your success at putting fresh chicken on the table is the careful selection of breed. You must have a thrifty dual-purpose flock established before everything comes grinding to a halt. This can be three birds in your backyard or thirty birds on half an acre but whatever you do, do it today! Look for birds that can lay eggs but that are also meaty enough to justify the effort of plucking and processing when they are “spent” which is generally at two years old. If you live in colder climates, the heavily feathered Orpingtons are a great breed. In warmer climates, we prefer their heat loving cousins the Australorps. If you are looking online, look for heavy breed brown egg layers. There are many good books written on different chicken breeds and many hatcheries can point you in the right direction if you ask the right questions. Start with “What’s a good, hardy dual purpose breed that does well in (insert your climate here).

Supplemental Feed
The breed you choose should be aggressive foragers but not aggressive birds. Meaning, they will actively spend their day scratching for bugs and seeds but will not try to attack your children when they collect the eggs. Most heritage breed chickens have retained the ability to shift for much of their own food but if you plan on getting many eggs out of them and keeping them meaty, you will have to supplement their diet. The more you can move them to new grass, the less you will have to provide extra feed. Luckily chickens are omnivores and as such will eat almost anything you give them. Any scraps of leftover food especially bits of meat will provide their protein needs. If you catch rabbits, game, mice or rats you can take off the bulk of the meat to feed your family and throw the rest to the chickens. They will pick the bones clean and then you can feed the rest to your pigs or guard dogs. Since you are probably planning to grow your own wheat, barley, corn etc.; set aside a small plot to feed to the chickens or make friends with a local wheat/corn farmer. Once everything crashes and burns, you’ll be able to trade darn near anything for a fresh, whole chicken. As with all of your animals, your chickens will need fresh clean water on a daily basis. Make sure during the summer they never run dry or the stress will negatively impact their health.

No Heat Lamp? No Problem
When everything is working as it should and all is right with the world, you would phone up a hatchery and have them ship some day-old chicks right to your front door. Pop the little peepers under a heat lamp and you are on your way to some tasty eggs and meat. What happens when the hatchery doesn’t answer the call, the phone doesn’t work or the post office doesn’t deliver anymore? How will you get more chicks? The answer is, if you have carefully selected the right breed, and have followed the suggestions so far, you can sit back and let nature take it’s course! Any chicken worth it’s keep will go “broody” meaning she will sit on her eggs until they hatch and then care for the baby chicks. As long as you don’t eat your breeding stock, this will continue to provide nearly unlimited replacements for the chickens that you use for meat. [JWR Adds: As I’ve mentioned in the blog once before: If your breed of chickens isn’t broody, then you can buy a few broody “foster moms” of another breed. Bantam hens are famous for their broodiness.] Although you don’t need roosters to get eggs, you will need some to get more chicks. I recommend getting roosters from at least two or three different hatcheries – that way you can ensure the genetic diversity of your flock if this becomes a long term situation.

Protect Your Flock
Everyone will want your chickens – including hawks, owls, coyotes and raccoons. Unless you live next to a pharmaceutical company and have unlimited access to antibiotics and poultry meds, don’t plan on keeping your flock indoors all the time. Chickens don’t do well in confinement and will peck at  each other out of boredom and become sickly. You can build a shelter for them or buy one of the ready-made chicken houses but either way, they will need a safe place to roost at night. We keep the coyotes and raccoons at bay by surrounding the chickens with portable electric fencing that runs off a deep cycle battery with a solar panel. You can assign one of your kids to watch the chickens during the day and keep the hawks away – what else are they going to do if the Xbox doesn’t work anymore? Make sure the chicken house is closed up tight each night or owls will literally walk in and start demolishing your flock. Have enough chickens so that if you lose one or two before you find out who the new predator is – snake? skunk? opossum? – it won’t be the end of your family’s meat source.

Processing
So now you have raised some chickens, you’ve gotten eggs out of them and they are slowing down production – time for chicken and dumplings. You need minimal equipment to get your bird into an edible form. A rope and sharp knife is all it takes. Flip your bird upside down, tie the feet to something so your hands are free and slit the jugular right behind the jaw bone on each side. While the bird is still warm, pull all the feathers off – cut off the head and feet. Make a slit just above the vent (anus) making sure not to cut into the viscera. Pull out the innards and rinse the bird inside and out. You can see some great videos of this being done on youtube.com – type in “chicken processing” – forget the fancy equipment – it won’t work without some serious power and you don’t need it for a couple chickens a week anyway. It’s not hard at all to process a chicken but you might want to try it a couple times before you have to do it on an empty belly and your hungry kids staring you down. As a fun family project, make a homemade solar oven and see if you can cook up a nice casserole for dinner without using any energy at all.

Cautions
With proper care, sunshine, bugs to eat and grass to nibble on, your hardy dual purpose breeds should have zero health problems and will be a joy to raise and maintain. However, if you ever see one of your birds behaving strangely, off on it’s own, making strange noises, having breathing problems, swollen eyes or any other unusual signs, cull it immediately. Don’t wait to see if it will get “better” remove it from the flock and kill it. Feed it to the pigs and check your flock constantly so that you can catch any other chickens behaving strangely and cull them immediately as well. Don’t take a chance on an illness wiping out your whole flock – healthy birds can fight off most diseases. The ones that can’t don’t need to be part of your breeding stock.

Why Chickens?
On our farm, we raise many animals – pigs, chickens, turkeys, cows, goats, rabbits, ducks, dogs and cats but in a true survival emergency the chicken will be our go-to source of meat and barter. They are easier to process than rabbits, reproduce faster than cows, grow out sooner than turkeys and are simpler to raise than pigs. They are small and kid friendly but provide critical sources of protein and fats. The right breed in the right conditions will have few health problems and will reliably produce offspring with no intervention on your part. Starting a small backyard flock today could be one of the most important steps that you can take toward survival when TEOTWAWKI arrives.

Useful Books:
Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow
Chicken Coops: 45 Building Plans for Housing Your Flock by Judy Pangman
Keeping Chickens: The Essential Guide by Jeremy Hobson and Celia Lewis
The Joy of Keeping Chickens: The Ultimate Guide to Raising Poultry for Fun or Profit (The Joy of Series) (part of the ‘Joy of’ Series) by Jennifer Megyesi and Geoff Hansen
Chickens: Tending A Small-Scale Flock For Pleasure And Profit (Hobby Farm) by Sue Weaver

Hatcheries:
http://www.ideal-poultry.com
http://www.strombergschickens.com
http://www.sandgpoultry.com
http://cacklehatchery.com
http://www.moyerschicks.com/
http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com

Letter Re: Question About Eris (Planet X) Tidal Forces

Dear JWR,  
I will present some facts and allow you to draw your own conclusions.  Having been in Army Intelligence, I am certain that you are capable of analyzing data and arriving at multiple possible scenarios of likely outcomes:

1.)     There are currently 9 [well-known] planets in our solar system;
2.)     According to physicists, objects of greater mass attract objects of lesser mass (same goes for planets);
3.)    On October 31, 2003 a new , 10th planet (Planet X [also known as Eris]), was discovered outside our solar system, but traveling towards it in an elliptical orbit;
4.)    See this NASA web page.
5.)    At first this discovery was heralded with much publicity, then died down… this in itself may mean nothing.
6.)     As our own Moon affects tides and weather on Earth, imagine how disruptive a large mass like another planet traveling close to Earth would become;
7.)    Some people say that the extremes we are currently experiencing in weather and seismic activity is actually a felt influence of Planet X as it currently approaches a closer orbit to Earth.

[some deleted, for brevity.]

Sincerely, Wayne.

JWR Replies: The orbit of Pluto takes 248 years.  Eris (aka 2003 UB313, also aka “Planet X”) is indeed part of our solar system. But it is in a much more distant orbit than Pluto. Its tracked orbital path shows it coming no closer to Earth than the average orbital distance of Neptune. It also has an orbital velocity that is slower than Pluto’s. From what I’ve read in credible sources, there is no evidence that it will ever get near Earth.

As for gravitational perturbations (tidal forces), even when the much-vaunted Grand Alignment took place on May 5, 2000, the tidal effect was so small that it had five or six zeros in front of it. The inverse square law also applies to gravitational forces over the vast orbital distances of planetary space. The gravitational forces exerted by Eris are less than 1/1000th than that of Jupiter, and even those are negligible, here on Earth.

I don’t see any cause for alarm about Planet Eris, even for our great-great grandchildren. It is those large, but as yet un-detected Earth crossing asteroids that worry me.

Letter Re: Increasing Preparedness Planning Through the Rules of Three

JWR,  
SAA Joe makes some good points in his article. He states however that “Hopefully 3 minutes without oxygen is self explanatory.  You have to breathe to survive!” then offers no solutions to a scenario where that may become a problem.   Scenario: You are stuck in traffic on the interstate due to an overturned tanker truck a few hundred feet in front Of you when a cloud of unidentified gas starts rolling towards your car from the overturned tanker. What do you do?   Scenario: You are at home which is located ¼ mile from a heavily used rail line. You hear the sound of a train Derailment and subsequent explosion. Looking outside you see large amounts of smoke and strange colored clouds rolling Towards your house which is downwind from the accident. What do you do?   These scenarios are not farfetched. Some version of these occurs on a regular basis in the United States.   In both cases gas masks stored in an easily-accessible spot in the home or vehicle can be life savers. Perfectly serviceable units are available at reasonable cost from a variety of sources. As with most preparations, discretion is advised when letting Others who may not share your mindset regarding preparations know of you precautions. Better safe than sorry!   Regards, – Jack C.

Economics and Investing:

Bryan E. noted that Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky has proposed a list of budget cuts that will total $500 Billion dollars in savings.

“The Houston Cannonball” mentioned a link at Zero Hedge for a map of the dozens of riots in recent weeks across the globe that can be attributed to price hikes as well as a few price hikes in the US.

Sue C. sent this: Budget deficit to hit $1.48 trillion. The congresscritters in Washington D.C. now have us swimming in red ink!

Items from The Economatrix:

Mike Ruppert:  The Beginning of Systemic Failure

Regulators Shut Down Small Banks in Oklahoma and Wisconsin  

World Markets Sink as Protests Escalate in Egypt  

Fitch Downgrades Egypt Outlook to Negative  

More Robust Spending Helps Economy Gain Steam  

The US Goes Back to the Gold Standard  

Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large Michael Z. Williamson sent a link to this photo montage: Ancient Defense Tower Becomes a Sleek Home

   o o o

Analysis: Egypt shows how easily Internet can be silenced.

   o o o

Reader J.M.C. sent the CNN piece: Utah Base Lockdown. J.M.C.’s comment: “Scooby-Doo says: ‘Rutro!'”

   o o o

I was pleased to see that SurvivalBlog was just ranked #1, among survival blogs.

   o o o

Chris Matthews: Obama Plans Separate Gun-Control Speech

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"Woe to those that call evil good and good evil; who put darkness for light,  and light for darkness;  who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!" – Isaiah 5:20

Note from JWR:

Today we present another two entries for Round 32 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A 250 round case of 12 Gauge Hornady TAP FPD 2-3/4″ OO buckshot ammo, courtesy of Sunflower Ammo (a $240 value), and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).

Second Prize: A.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $400, B.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and C.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.) , and B.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value.

Round 32 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

The Calorie Content of Survival Foods, by G.C.T.

“Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you’re a thousand miles from the corn field.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower

While I sit and type, the Mid-Atlantic States and much of the rest of the country are locked in a deep freeze.  Wrapped in a blanket and staring at the fire, the furthest thing from my mind is the warm breeze of spring and my summer vegetable garden.  Yeah, right!  The only thoughts that seem to pass through my brain while staring at “the poor man’s television” is TEOTWAWKI, fishing (trout season is just around the corner), farming, and summer.  Just before it turned winter cold, while we were still experiencing the crispness of fall, I dug out my vegetable garden for this coming summer.  I just moved into a house with a yard and room enough to have a small 5’x15’ garden.  For the entirety of my adult life, my living arrangements have never afforded me the opportunity to plant a real garden.  A garden doesn’t grow in a city apartment on the 3rd floor.  So I’ve been using this winter to read, read, and read.  If growing a garden is anything like drowning a worm, I’m certain that more than simply theoretical knowledge will be necessary.  Practical skills are vital, since nature doesn’t always act the way it’s supposed to.  So, while I am chomping at the bit to practice some plans and ideas, I’m still at present just a theoretician. 
 
What, then, are some of my theories?  I have some theories of how TEOTWAWKI will happen. China will begin to dump the dollar at an even faster pace.  The rest of the world will get wise to its worthless reserve currency, then bam…we’re done.  The saber rattling by North Korea turns into a destabilizing war in Asia.  Nukes start flying … then bam we’re all toast.  How about this outlandish one I just came up with… Obama’s birth certificate is never found and it’s proven that he is not a natural born American citizen.  A constitutional crisis ensues throwing our society into political and economic chaos and we are living in a “Patriots“-style post crunch America.  I’ve thought of all these theories, but they are not the ones on my mind while watching the fire.  My thoughts these days revolve around how much land will I need to survive.  What kind of food do I need to be stockpiling and how do I preserve it?  What is the calorie count of those foods?  What is the calorie count of wild game?  Heck, I’ve even thought of the unthinkable, what is the calorie content of bugs?  Let me share with you some of my findings.
Recently, the folks at BackyardFoodProduction.com covered the topic “How much land does it take to be completely food self-reliant?” in their newsletter.  The information was informative to the max and nothing short of spectacularly awesome.  If an EMP were to strike right now and we were forced to revert to a hunter/gather lifestyle, we would need in the range of 10 square miles (6,400 acres) to survive.  And this supposes that you are the only person foraging of the land.  It’s an astonishing number and, with the high population density in many parts of the US like the North East or Mid Atlantic, purely hunter/gatherer survival would be virtually impossible.  If you farm, the research concludes that 5 people can be fed complete diet on 1 acre of land, growing food 4 seasons out of the year.  If you only have 2 growing seasons, double your acreage.
 
That 1 acre of food will produce enough veggies for five people. What veggies are you growing that will satisfy that grumbling belly? Do you know what the calorie count is of some common vegetables? Have you planned your garden with these calories in mind? I for one know that if I simply planted tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, etc. I would starve.  My brother affectionately termed a calorie counting diet the carrot diet. When we are counting calories and snacking all day, we both tend to snack on carrots.  After a day of snacking like a rabbit, I’m so starving hungry, I could eat a rabbit!  When you plan your acre garden, or your back yard 5’x15’ garden, know the calorie content of the produce you are planting and plan accordingly.   I did a Google search and no two web sites had exactly the same numbers.  They always differed by a few calories.  While the numbers I chose might not be scientifically exact, they are most likely in the ball park.  Here is a chart with some of the some of the common veggies:

Type of Vegetable

Amount

Calories

Asparagus

6 spears

85

Broccoli

100g

20

Carrots

1 medium

35

Celery

1 stick

5

Cucumber

1 medium

10

Egg Plant

100g

20

Kale

1 cup

50

Lettuce

30g

5

Leeks

1 whole

10

Peas – Green

100g

60

Potato (boiled)

100g

80

Pumpkin (baked)

100g

120

Squash

100g

105

Sweet Corn (cob)

1 medium

60

Sweet Potato

100g

60

Tomato

1 medium

20

Zucchini

1 medium

30

 

Most Americans are not vegans or vegetarians; we eat meat.  According to Hungry Planet, Americans on average consume as much as 275 pounds of meat per person per year.  Wow, that’s a lot of carne!  When the food chain breaks down, the food riots in the rest of the world move to the U.S., and mass produced meat is not readily available, do you know how to replace those calories with game meat?  Here is a chart of the calories for some of the common game meats hunted in American forests:

100g
Serving

Calories

Protein

Fat

Bear

148

18.6 g

8.2 g

Dove

140

21.6 g

1.7 g

Duck – wild mallard

233

21.1 g

15.8 g

Moose

123

25.1 g

2.5 g

Muskrat

153

27.2 g

4.1 g

Opossum

221

30.2 g

10.2 g

Rabbit

135

21.0 g

5.0 g

Squirrel

115

10.1 g

3.8 g

Venison

201

33.5 g

6.4 g

Pheasant

151

24.3 g

5.2 g

Quail

168

21.0 g

5.0 g

Here is a list of common fish, both fresh water and salt water.  Please note that depending on your locale, there are different names for different fish.

Serving is 100g

Calories

Fat

Protein

Bass (Small/Largemouth)

104

2.6

18.8

Bluefish

117

3.3

20.5

Carp

115

4.2

18.0

Catfish (fresh water)

103

3.1

17.6

Drum (fresh water)

121

5.2

17.3

Lake Trout

168

10.0

18.3

Brook Trout

101

2.1

19.2

Rainbow Trout

195

11.4

21.5

Perch

91

0.9

19.5

Pompano

166

9.5

18.8

Salmon (Atlantic)

217

13.4

22.5

Shrimp

91

0.8

18.1

If you are really in dire straits and that 1 ounce lead meal you’ve saved still isn’t an option (and hopefully it never will be), insects can be your savior.  There is something to be said for the little bugs.  Some of the Old Testament prophets survived for most of their lives on insects.  Here is a chart that I hope you don’t find too repulsive:

 

Calories

Fat

Protein

Crickets

562

5.5 g

6.7 g

Termites

613

n/a

14.2 g

Caterpillars

370

n/a

28.2 g

Weevil

562

n/a

6.7 g

Grasshopper

n/a

3.3 g

14.3 g

Water Bugs

n/a

8.3 g

19.8 g

Spiders

n/a

10 g

63 g

When my thoughts have run their course, my plow reverts to my pencil, those corn fields are a thousand miles away and it’s still winter outside my door, I’m just the theoretician. 

PlanetScott.com was my source for this chart.  It was the only place I found it so I can’t verify its accuracy with a second source.

Training and Practical Tactics, by Southwest LEO

First and foremost let me say that this is in no way meant as the definitive way to do things. This is only one man’s opinion of things that I have used in my job and have kept me safe over 15 plus years on the job (I am also not a tactical operator–I am just a beat cop). Also know and respect your local laws when training. Safety is also a factor. I have done live fire training and even with all safety being a priority wearing body armor and having an instructor right next to you my pucker factor goes way beyond heightened. I also want everyone to know that live fire training should only be done at training facilities with proper safety procedures in place with professionals.

Tactics defined “is a planned action accomplishing and end or the science for maneuvering forces in combat and also the skills of using available means to an end” as defined by the Webster Dictionary.

Practical defined “is relating to or shown in practice” as defined by the Webster Dictionary.

Also understand the difference of cover and concealment. Cover is something that you use to keep bullets from hitting you. Concealment is something that probably won’t stop bullets but you can hide behind.

So this puts in layman’s terms is a plan that has been practiced over an over again to end a threat. Many times over my career I have had to implement a quick action plan on the spot. No situation ever has a perfect plan to fit every incident. You have to sometimes fly by the seat of your pants so to speak. In saying that, I have also trained for a lot of situations and from that training I have been able to overcome most situations I have encountered by using that training, adapting it and overcoming whatever has been presented before me. I also use everyone’s training and thoughts that was with me. I use each persons strength’s, weaknesses and abilities to achieve the ultimate goal which is to neutralize and bring a safe close to the problem minimizing the risks of life to all.

Example of this is clearing a house. I do this regularly everyday in calls for service. Usually these are mobile homes and trailers which believe me are not easy to do because of space limitations and fatal funnels encountered. We respond to an unknown trouble at a house. Door is open and there is no response inside. Usually we do this with two but three or four is better. The more eyes and hands you have the better the advantage you will have. Take note of all points of likely opposition (POLOs), windows, doors etc. You need to be aware of these as areas of ambush by bad guys or points of escape from victims. If you have the resources available have them covered by someone. Most of the time we don’t have this luxury available so we move on. The door, or the fatal funnel as we call it, once committed to entry it can be the most dangerous part as you don’t know what is waiting for you (remember that this is more than likely someone’s house, someone that knows every nook and cranny, they have the home field advantage here and you know nothing of the layout inside). Usually we have cleared as much of the house as we can from the outside using windows, but again be careful when using these as you present a target and you can also give away your advantage as the bad guy know knows you there and where your going.

You are at the door now and have committed to entering. You must move slowly. Think of it as slicing the pie. Taking each small piece at a time. By doing this you may be able to see a small part of the bad guy and be able to react to the threat. Present the smallest part of you to the bad guy. Slowly you pie the doorway, taking time to observe what’s inside, hallways, other doorways and objects that can be used to hide behind. Once you have done this, you and your partner must communicate your actions to each other. Using hand signals is best I think and these must be worked out ahead of time so there is no confusion. I am usually the shortest in my squad so I take the low approach. As you enter slowly your partner must also enter over you taking/covering whatever side your not. You must both enter at the same time to cover each other’s backs. Remember slowly take one slice at a time so you can react to any threat seen. Once done and making sure entry is safe you enter, each person still covering their are of responsibility. Also if you have an area of responsibility you must stay on it. You must trust your partner has your back. If you take your eyes of this area you may miss something or leave you open to attack.

Once that room is clear (the standard for clearing a building is 1 minute of clearing for every 100 square feet) you begin to search each room and corner. Again hand signals work best, the lead man must communicate to the second what his intentions are and what he’s doing. The second man usually holds on to the lead mans duty belt so they stay in constant contact with each other. Also if the lead man or second see’s or hears something the other does not they can warn the other and stop, back out or address the threat.

As you move slowly you both have to cover each other. So this means if I the lead man am covering the front, the second has to cover any area not covered by the lead man. If you have more than two people this becomes easier as you don’t have as much area to be responsible for. You do this same technique for the rest of the house. I can tell you that hallways and big open spaces are a LEOs worst nightmare. Be careful of light and sound discipline. Stay away from walls. If you brush up against them you can telegraph your location to the bad guy. Also do not constantly use a light source, again your telling the bad guy your right here. This is something that has worked time and time again for me and I have been able to accomplish the task minimizing the threat to me and my partners.

Another scenario that we have trained for is an active shooter. This is a quite different approach. Over the years we have developed reaction plans to this having learned hard and sad lessons from the old approach of waiting for backup. An active shooter posses the most danger and must be dealt with swiftly. On this type of situation you must forget the slow and go. I know this goes against all sound reasoning to any sane person but remember there a sheep and sheep dogs. Sheep run away, sheep dogs engage the threat.

Example, you respond to an active shooter at a school. You must quickly stop this threat to preserve life. You don’t have time to plan out a response, you don’t have time to wait for backup. This means often going alone. You also have to keep in mind that another person may be doing this from another point of entry. Having a rifle greatly increases you chance of winning the fight and being able to engage at a distance. Also everyone is naturally more accurate with a rifle than a pistol. You must listen to the shots, the screams and move to that area, quickly scanning as you go. You must be able to identify quickly friend from foe. You must be at the ready but keeping that finger off the trigger and along the slide so as not to shoot a friendly. Believe me moving your finger from slide to trigger takes a fraction of a second. Once you have located the threat you must engage it and end it quickly, be sure of your target and what’s beyond, remember your goal is to stop the threat and preserve life. Once that threat is neutralized you must secure the area and treat the most severely wounded first.

These are but two examples of a vast amount of situations you can encounter. I practice for these constantly both in training and in the real world because I am presented with these everyday. I have to constantly adapt for each situation and react in seconds. Also remember that real life encounters can be good training also. Debrief each training exercise or incident. Valuable skills and knowledge can be gotten from debriefs. Remember to listen to each person’s view and opinion on your team because no man is an island or knows it all. If you think you know everything than I suggest you retire. I can tell you even the rookie can have valuable insight and make you sometimes rethink a situation.

You must train constantly because like anything if you don’t do it regularly you can become rusty. You must know your firearms, train with them constantly to know your abilities, limitations and the weapons capabilities. If you have a group and want to train use finger guns or paint guns, making sure to wear protective equipment so as not to sustain unwanted injuries. If you have access to a training facility sign up and use it. Make sure though it’s reliable and reputable. You don’t want bad training or to break any laws. Mix up the training have someone plan a scenario then execute it. Try different approaches, go slowly at first, walk through it several times so everyone knows there part. Then start to speed it up and before you know it, it will be like second nature to you. You won’t have to think you will react.

There is no secret formula to tactics. Its training over and over again for something. It’s not rocket science, you don’t have to be a special forces person to do this. It’s common sense tempered with practice.

Letter Re: Two Snowbound But Prepared Elderly Sisters

We are sisters, age 67 and 73  and live in Southeastern Connecticut near the shore on several acres.  We were fortunate that we grew up on a 100 acre Connecticut farm where we grew our own food, farm animals, had a smoke house, three freezers filled with what we raised, three ponds, learned to shoot, trap, fish, and had very capable parents.   

Until several years ago, we lived as most Americans do, on the grid with only a week or two provisions in the home.  I had moved to West Virginia in 1990 (retired early) and lived alone with my many pets on the top of a hill for ten years.  I learned the hard way to be prepared after a major snow storm!  I had a 2,000 gallon cistern, so water was always available, and learned to stockpile.  

About two years ago I discovered your wonderful blog – the first blog I go to every morning.  I told my sister that we needed to be much more prepared.  We already had many firearms and have added thousands of rounds of ammo – this is for home defense.  The doors are always locked, the two cars in the garage and no one gets in uninvited.  We have agreed that we will not cooperate with any would-be intruders, but fight to the death.   We are fortunate that we live in a small low crime town, and as safe as anyone in Connecticut can be.  

We now have a double row of boxes of Mountain House food more than 5 feet high, a hand operated grain grinder, a water filter (there is a small stream that never dries up in the front yard), stockpiles of essentials – including toilet tissue, paper towel, aluminum foil, olive oil, various size plastic bags, paracord, hand crank radio, candles, oil lamps, flints, various knives, many quilts/blankets, liquor for barter, fish antibiotics (my sister was a nurse and she has stockpiled her prescription meds), four ways of cooking food if the grid goes down, a large propane gas stove with three big tanks for heat.  We have more than 150 gallons of water inside the home for flushing/drinking.   We are physically unable to burn with wood and manage a woodpile, and we know that in a long term grid down, we cannot survive more than a few months.  We know how we would painlessly put our cats  and ourselves down if needed.  We cook from scratch so using freeze dried and dehydrated supplies is no problem.  

I am a bibliophile with at least 1,200 mostly non-fiction books in the home, as we are both inveterate readers. My sister quilts and we have extra clothes, fabric and sewing needs.  We have your books, Cody Lundin’s books (98.6 Degrees and When All H*ll Breaks Loose) and other survival manuals.  Our best “survival” tools, are our creative brains and problem solving skills, and I have always prided myself on being a “Rube Goldberg” – a term that means figuring out another way to build, fix, or do something with the items at hand and we have many hand tools, nails, etc.!  I was always unusual for a woman, as in my youth, I learned to weld, work on my 1973 car, was a licensed small plane Pilot with Commercial and Instrument rating,  We are as prepared as two elderly ladies can be which gives us peace of mind.  We have stockpiled precious metals and survival seeds.  We are ready to barter.  

This winter of heavy snow – another 16 inches last night – is no worry for us!  We don’t have to go anywhere! –  Anne L. in Connecticut

Economics and Investing:

G.G. suggested: Silver Coin Sales, ETF Outflows Show Divergence In Markets

Jerry Robinson: State of the Union: Four Absurd “Solutions” to America’s Debt Crisis

Foreclosure Document Fraud Drives Notaries to Take the Fifth

Items from The Economatrix:

Paper Money Madness:  Inflation-Fueled Economic Growth Does Not Indicate That An Economy Is Getting Stronger  

Marc Faber Expects 10% Drop in S&P 500  

Market Manipulation, Why Gold And Silver Have Declined  

Roubini Says US Risks “Train Wreck” From Bond Vigilante Wrath  

Financial Meltdown Was “Avoidable,” Inquiry Concludes 

Odds ‘n Sods:

A word of warning for readers in the Northwest who live on the coast: Seismic fault beneath us is ‘fully loaded’ after 311 years

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America Needs Community, Not Collectivism. (A tip of the hat to Susan H. for the link.)

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Reader D.I.W. astutely observed: Amazingly Newsweek declares “the issue at the core” of the Giffords tragedy – in the first sentence of an article. No debate. Nothing other than gun control would have saved the situation. They didn’t even bother to say “the issue he believes to be at the core …” – nope – the “issue at the core of …” is the way it is. Newsweek stated:  “At the beginning of his State of the Union address, President Obama tipped his hat to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who’s now recuperating in a Houston medical facility. But throughout the hour-long speech, he never addressed the issue at the core of the Giffords tragedy—gun control—and what lawmakers would, or should, do to reform American firearm-access laws.” JWR Adds: In coming weeks, look for both new Executive Orders on “non-sporting” firearms and magazine imports, as well as Obama urging congress to enact additional civilian disarmament legislation.

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Mike B. in New Jersey sent this amazing news: Jersey City Council encouraging residents to raise chickens and cultivate bees. Oh, but don’t look for any change on their views on firearms ownership. Their Democrat mayor, Jerramiah Healy (recently convicted of obstruction of justice) is a strident anti-gunner.

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I heard That CampingSurvival.com (one of our loyal advertisers) just received another quantity of Red Feather brand canned butter from New Zealand. Order soon, since it is likely to sell out before it sells out! Don’t forget to use the 5% off coupon code “survivalblog”.

Note from JWR:

Today we present another two entries for Round 32 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A 250 round case of 12 Gauge Hornady TAP FPD 2-3/4″ OO buckshot ammo, courtesy of Sunflower Ammo (a $240 value), and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).

Second Prize: A.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $400, B.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and C.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.) , and B.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value.

Round 32 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Alternative Energy Sources For Emergencies, by Smiledr

Being in preparedness mode opens your eyes to a number of factors, not just Beans, Bullets and Band-Aids. As a battalion coordinator for the Los Angeles Fire Department’s CERT program, I was asked to give a presentation on Alternative Energy sources for an emergency situation. My research into this was very enlightening, and I found a number of great ideas. This does not encompass everything available, but it is fairly thorough.

So, why Alternative Energy? In an emergency, such as a major earthquake, there can be a loss of power, gas and water. If it is a short-term problem e.g. a couple of days, then no big deal. But what if it is two weeks, or even longer before gas, electrical and water services are restored? Being prepared for such a scenario is just one more area that will make our lives, as well as our families lives easier in the event of such an emergency

There are three areas of Alternative Energy that we need to be concerned with in an emergency: Heat, Cooking and Electricity. The first, heat, means staying warm in your home or shelter and is a huge priority. Once you get cold, survival can become extremely difficult.   Wearing warm clothes, wearing layers, and being prepared for rain, are the very basics. Have blankets and well-made sleeping bags for nighttime when the temperatures drop. (Wiggy’s makes a Flexible Temperature Range Sleep System (FTRSS) which is similar to what the the U.S. military uses.)

Fireplaces- These are designed more for show, and traditional open masonry fireplaces should not be considered heating devices. Traditional fireplaces draw in as much as 300 cubic feet per minute have heated room air for combustion, and then send it straight up the chimney. Although some fireplace designs seek to address these issues with dedicated air supplies, glass doors, and heat recovery systems, fireplaces are still energy losers. When burning a fire, you should turn your heat down or off and open a window near the fireplace. 

Fireplace Inserts – Only high-efficiency fireplace inserts have proven effective in increasing the heating efficiency of older fireplaces. Essentially, the inserts function like woodstoves, fitting into the masonry fireplace or on its hearth, and use the existing chimney.  A well-fitted fireplace insert can function nearly as efficiently as a woodstove.  Studies have shown that proper installation of fireplace inserts is very important.  Inserts should be as airtight as possible. The more airtight it is, the easier it is to control the fire and the heat output.

Wood Stoves and Pellet Stoves – Wood stoves are the most common appliance for burning wood. New catalytic stoves and inserts have advertised efficiencies of 70%–80%.  Advanced combustion woodstoves provide a lot of heat but only work efficiently when the fire burns at full throttle. Also known as secondary burn stoves, they can reach temperatures of 1,100°F—hot enough to burn combustible gases   These stoves have several components that help them burn combustible gases, as well as particulates, before they can exit the chimney. Components include a metal channel that heats secondary air and feeds it into the stove above the fire. This heated oxygen helps burn the volatile gases above the flames without slowing down combustion. While many older stoves only have an air source below the wood, the secondary air source in advanced combustion stoves offers oxygen to the volatile gases escaping above the fire. With enough oxygen, the heated gases burn as well.

Pellet Burning Stoves – Pellet fuel appliances burn small, 3/8–inch (100–254 millimeter [mm])-long pellets that look like rabbit feed. The pellets are made from compacted sawdust, wood chips, bark, agricultural crop waste, waste paper, and other organic materials. Some models can also burn nutshells, corn kernels, and small wood chips. They are more convenient to operate and have much higher combustion and heating efficiencies than ordinary wood stoves or fireplaces. However, they do require a supply of pellets, and electricity.  A pellet stove is often cheaper to install than a cordwood-burning heater. Many can be direct-vented and do not need an expensive chimney or flue. As a result, the installed cost of the entire system may be less than that of a conventional wood stove. Pellet fuel appliances are available as freestanding stoves or fireplace inserts. Freestanding units resemble conventional cordwood heaters in that they generally heat a single room well, but not adjacent rooms unless you use a fan to force the warm air into those other spaces. There are also fireplace inserts that fit into existing fireplaces. Because they require electricity for their pellet conveyers and for their fans, pellet stoves are NOT a good choice for disaster survival unless you have a fairly capable alternative energy system with a battery bank and have the dry storage space for a large stockpile of pellets.

Space Heaters – There are 3 basic types of space Heaters:
Electric Space Heaters, Propane (or natural gas) Space Heaters and Kerosene Space Heaters.
Electric Space Heaters are the most commonly seen by most of us. They do a pretty good job at heating up a room.  The problem is that you have to have back up electricity of some type to make them run. They are good for the short term if you have a back up system, but can be draining on back up batteries. Next are the Gas or Propane Space Heaters.  They run on Propane or White Gas and don’t require any electricity. They will run on your barbeque propane tank, or other sources of natural or propane gas. These heaters have to be properly vented, and can be very dangerous used indoors without proper venting.

The last type of Space heater is the Kerosene Space Heater. It uses a wick that soaks up kerosene (only K-1 kerosene) from a refillable tank.
These heaters have double the heating capacity of an electric heater — ideal for heating large areas. You should look for a model with an automatic shut-off feature

Space Heater Safety – When using space heaters, it’s important to be aware of the risks involved and how to prevent accidents. Here are some guidelines to follow to maximize your safety:  Select a space heater with a guard around the heating area to keep children, pets and clothing away from the heat source. Keep all flammable liquids away from the heater. Place the heater at least three feet away from bedding, furniture, curtains, or anything else that could fall on the heater and cause a fire. Never leave the heater unattended. Look for a heater that has been tested and certified by a nationally recognized testing laboratory such as Underwriter’s Laboratory. This way you can be sure that specific safety standards have been met.  If you use a heater that burns kerosene, LP, natural gas or wood, make sure you have a carbon monoxide detector installed on every floor of your house.  When purchasing natural gas or LP heaters, look for a model with an oxygen depletion sensor feature. These sensors will automatically shut the heater down when it detects the air is low on oxygen.

Cooking – Alternative methods to cook food and sterilize water may become necessary.
In the event of a major disaster or other Emergency, there may not be availability of gas or electric for cooking addition, due to possible water supply contamination, it may be necessary to boil water for drinking and possibly laundry.

There are a number of possible solutions to this problem. We will start with the simplest, and work from there.

Soda Can Stove – A beverage-can stove (or pop-can stove) is a homemade, ultra-light portable stove. The simple design is made entirely from cans (typically soft drink or beer cans) and burns alcohol, typically denatured. Countless variations on the basic design exist.  A ring of holes is pierced into the top with a pin. Parts are glued with high temperature epoxy or sealed with thermal foil tape. The total height is less than two inches (50 mm), though dimensions can be increased to hold more fuel or decreased to take up even less space.  This can be made by yourself, or purchased online for very cheap.  Another Alcohol Stove Option is the Vargo Titanium Alcohol stove which comes with a built-in pot stand. Note that these must be operated outdoors or in a very-well ventilated area!

Propane or White Gas Stoves – These are lightweight camping stoves that run on propane, butane or white gas.  They can be found online or at most backpacking and camping stores such as REI, Adventure 16 or even Sports Chalet or Sports Authority. These types of stoves rely on canisters of gas to work. My Favorite Mini Stove is The Jetboil, It is an ultra compact 1 liter unit that can quickly heat water for dehydrated or freeze-dried meals. The JetBoil Personal Cooking System (PCS) weighs about a pound.  It lights with the click of a button. It can bring two cups of water to a boil within two minutes (at sea level). Jetboil also makes the larger Group Jetboil system. This is sized for small groups of 2 to 3 and has a 1.5 liter fuel capacity.

Volcano II Collapsible Stove – This is a Tri-Fuel Stove that can use Charcoal, Wood or Propane for cooking. It is a very versatile cooking system: You can grill right on the stove or use a skillet or pot or even a Dutch oven. You can cook a meal with as few as 12 Charcoal Briquettes. A 20 lb bag of charcoal will cook 1 hot meal per day for several months. Overall, a really great, compact system. Note that these too must be operated outdoors or in a very-well ventilated area!

The Solar oven – For those who are very patient with a solar oven, if the sun is shining, you can cook.  Solar cooking is clean, it keeps the heat out of your kitchen, and it uses a free source of energy…the sun.  With solar cooking, you can’t start dinner at 5 pm because you’ve lost your source of fuel. Your best cooking hours are during midday. You may want to do what our ancestors did; have breakfast in the morning, a big meal in the afternoon and a light snack before bed. See SunOven.com for more information

Electricity – Keeping appliances going, lighting at night, Radio and television for information. If the grid goes down during an emergency, It could last an hour, 24 hours or weeks.
Power may come back on then go off again, as in a rolling brown out scenario.
It is important to have a number of alternatives for electrical needs.
You need to evaluate what it is you simply cannot do without that uses electricity, and plan accordingly.

Lighting – There are a number of options for your lighting needs.
The simplest solution to lighting issues is the use of candles. 120 hour emergency candles are a great start. There are also liquid candles, propane lanterns designed for camping and Kerosene lanterns.  Be sure to take appropriate precautions to avoid fires.

Flashlights and Batteries – Multiple flashlights are a good idea. LEDs will last much longer than traditional filament bulbs, and draw less current per lumen. If you have any lights with filaments bulbs, then sure to have plenty of spare bulbs. There are also LED lanterns available which are very convenient.
It is also a good idea to have a head lantern, this will allow you to work with both hands, so you don’t have to hold a flashlight.  Loads of batteries are a must.

Rechargeable Batteries – After much research I recommend the following: The Sanyo Eneloop battery comes fully charged up upon purchase and even after hundreds of charge-discharge cycles; it will retain 85% charged up capacity after 12 months. This means that you can charge up these batteries, put them away in your drawer or cupboard and in a year’s time when an emergency occurs, you can whip them out and they will still be charged up to 85% capacity. As well as this, Sanyo claim 1,000 recharges are possible before deterioration and the Eneloop is renowned for its long life even when consistently used in high drain devices such as digital cameras and transmitters.

Battery Charger
The ultimate small battery charger is the La Crosse Technology Battery Charger is a “smart” charger. It has sophisticated monitoring circuitry that controls the charging process, and it is also capable of “renewing” batteries by running full controlled discharge-recharge cycles. The charger shows battery voltage and charge status on its digital display.
It has four separate charge channels so you can charge one, two three or four batteries at a time – even on individual charge programs. This allows you to test one battery while charging the others. The package deal comes with four AA and four AAA batteries, four battery adapters (which convert AA sized battery to C and D sizes) and a carry case.
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Generators – Before you buy a generator, you need to figure out how much wattage you really need. You also need to decide where you are going to run the generator; it has to be in an open area. Having done some research on this I can give a couple recommendations. For a large generator, I’d suggest the Powerland Portable Generator.  It has 10,000 Watt Surge/8,000 Watt Continuous duty capability.  It is mounted on a steel frame with four point isolated motor mounts and has and oversize a muffler to reduce engine noise. These have a typical small power panel with a “low oil” warning light. They have a key start switch voltmeter circuit breaker and power outlets. Like most other generators, it has an idle control that holds a constant RPM.

On the smaller, quieter side is the Honeywell HW2000i Generator. This generator uses an inverter, which keeps voltage consistent and reduces the risk of damage to electronics such as computers and televisions.  It’s great for emergency scenarios because it’s relatively small, lightweight (58 pounds) and quiet. Two AC outlets and one DC outlet are included. But if you don’t need to power electronics, you can get about twice as much power for the same price with a standard (non-inverter) generator.

Gas Generator Problems – Gasoline is not a fuel that professionals ever choose to use on emergency generators.  Hospitals and other large facilities “never” install gasoline powered emergency generators.  They always use natural gas or diesel.  Gasoline has a very limited shelf life and will actually cause engine failure.  Worst of all when power outages occur due to ice storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and all other disasters, the first commodity to be hoarded is gasoline.  The hurricanes that hit Florida were sad proof of that.  Propane, and especially natural gas, were more plentiful and just the ticket to keep the lights on and the crews working.    Unfortunately, as some have learned the hard way, if not used often enough, gasoline will gum up the carburetor and will render an engine on the emergency generator useless. If you have invested in an emergency generator, make sure that it runs when you need it the most.  Modify your emergency generator to run on propane or natural gas or even keep the gasoline option if you like and have the option to run all three fuels on the same engine

How to build the tri-fuel generator – Buy a Coleman Powermate Emergency Generator – (6,875 Watts Peak) or a similar generator.  Then buy a Low Pressure Tri-Fuel Type C Kit priced for most engine brands up to 12 h.p. These cost $187. They are available from Propane-Generators.com. Propane and natural gas can save you time, money and aggravation.  This do-it-yourself change over kit allows you to run your gasoline emergency generator on propane (LP Gas), natural gas, or all three. 
Propane and natural gas are truly backup fuels for a backup emergency generator.  Your engine will last longer, start better in cold weather and even start next year when you go to use it in an emergency.  The best part is, with one of these do-it-yourself kits you can change your engine from gasoline to propane or natural gas all by yourself.

Why use propane or natural gas to power my generator?
If you have propane available you know you can store propane for years because it does not gum up, or go bad like gasoline does.  You can use the 100# (24 gallon) cylinders, little barbeque grill type 20# cylinders, which is equivalent to 5 gallons of gasoline, or big tanks like 250, 500 and 1,000-gallon ASME tanks. If you have natural gas available you would certainly agree that it is probably the most dependable fuel on earth and virtually an unlimited supply.   It does not gum up or go stale like gasoline. 

Solar Panels – Photovoltaic panels with battery banks, charge controllers and inverters are available from a number of vendors. [JWR Adds: Be careful to size your system to match your power needs and be sure to do some thorough comparison pricing. Unless it you are buying a specialized transportable PV system, the bottom line is the cost per watt. There is at least one vendor that heavily advertises nationally using the phrase “Solar Backup Generator” that sells packaged systems with a very high price, per watt. The good news is that there are many reputable vendors out there that offer high quality equipment at competitive pricing. Some of these vendors advertise on SurvivalBlog.)]

As you can see, there are a lot of options out there. I haven’t covered everything, such as DC appliances, propane refrigerators, or making your own Bio diesel fuel. With a little research, you can set up a back up system for all of your energy needs.