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Guest Post: Do You Have What it Takes to Raise Backyard Chickens?

From ModernSurvivalOnline.com

by Nate Smith

The simple fact that you even find yourself reading this article probably means that you satisfy the first requirement of raising backyard chickens: desire. Obviously, without a strong desire to keep chickens the occasional hassles and burdens of doing so would quickly become overwhelming, leaving you wondering why you ever got started with such a silly idea in the first place! So let’s go back to assuming that you do at least want to have and raise chickens, whatever your reason may be (and the reasons can be many). There are a few more requirements that cannot be overlooked in this hobby, so let’s take a look at each one and hopefully that will help you to determine personally where you stand.

Do I Have the Time I Need To Devote to My Chickens?

Time is something that you will need to continually have in order to effectively raise chickens. I’m not simply referring to the time it takes to properly set up before getting your first few chicks, although that is something to consider as well. If you are contemplating the idea of building your own chicken coop you will want to make sure you have allotted enough time to have your coop completely finished before the first birds arrive. If you aren’t going to be building your own chicken coop, but instead will be purchasing one that comes already assembled, there are options for that…

My Vacation in War Torn Yugoslavia, by C.N.

From SurvivalBlog.com

My family is from the former Yugoslavia and it had been a family tradition to go back and visit the homeland of my grandparents. Unfortunately for me, by the time I could go, my father had passed and I found only one cousin willing to do it again. As luck would have it, it was the summer of 2000 and I thought the war had been long over. It was only recently I discovered that the horror continued right up until just before my arrival there.
 
After a short stopover in Frankfurt, we boarded a smaller plane to Zagreb. The flight was beautiful, the scenery, breathtaking.
I thought about the stories I was told about this place. My family were farmers there, and I was excited to experience the way of life that used to sustain them. I wanted to see the animals, horses, pigs, cows, chickens, the fields of vegetables, and how they did it all. I had heard about how they would slaughter the pigs, then salt and smoke them, and I really wanted to know how. I don’t know if you’ve had them, but Yugoslavians are famous for their cabbage rolls. I wanted to know how to make the sour cabbage, and how they did all this for ages without refrigeration. I was fascinated with the idea of being self sustaining off the grid, and how they managed even after the war.

We rented a van to get to the tiny village of…

Preppers are winners! Here’s proof!

From The Survival Mom™

image by levaine

It’s true that many of us sometimes wonder if we’re crazy.  Our friends accuse us of wasting money on our freeze-dried food, and sometimes spouses get downright angry at the purchase of a new firearm or more ammo.  It wouldn’t surprise me at all to learn that some preppers suffer from occasional self-doubts.

A friend pointed out an article to  me, “The Seven Differences Between Winners and Losers,” and I started feeling rather good about myself and my Survival Mom activities.  You can read the whole article at the link, but take a look at these statements and see if it doesn’t give a  nice boost to your confidence.

1.  Winners do things losers won’t do.

Yep.  We dehydrate and can massive amounts of tomatoes, herbs, and just about anything else that sits in one place for very long. We build and then stock root cellars.  We put up with cackling chickens who poop way too much just so that we can have a supply of fresh eggs, and sometimes, fresh chicken.  We move to homesteads at the ripe old age of 40 or 50 and learn all the ropes of living out in the country, nowhere near a Starbucks or a Cheesecake Factory.

2.   Winners fail more often than losers.

Have I told you about that entire 30 pound box of peppers that I let rot because I was afraid…

Salt for Food Preservation, by Chef N.D.

From SurvivalBlog.com

One survival item that I rarely see listed in any blogs or survival articles is salt. I know that many survival web sites and forums concentrate on the immediate survival needs of individuals and families, but what would a person do if there really was a long term necessity for survival? How would a father feed his family over an extended period of time? MRE’s last forever, but let’s face it, they are expensive and eventually will all be consumed. How will a mother feed her children when all of the canned goods and stores are finished? When you plant those seeds you stored and produce an amazing garden, how do you preserve the fruits of your labor? In assuming the worst, how do you keep your fresh vegetables edible without refrigeration or freezing? How will you feed your families in the winter when game is scarce and can mean using costly energy to try and hunt in the snow? Even if you are fortunate enough to have a secluded farm where you can raise livestock, how do you preserve the meat before it goes to waste?  My solution is salt.

I am an executive chef at a fine dining establishment in the Northwest. Though I enjoy applying the finer techniques to food, my real hobby and passion is trying to cook like people did 100 to even 200 years ago.  My family and friends consist of a lot of avid hunters and fisherman…

So many chores, so little help

From What if IT is today? – A Survivalist’s Blog

Since it was a three day weekend two of the older grandsons came to work on their truck.  This truck was a pile of junk when it was given to me a couple of years ago but they are diligently working on it. The boys are going to turn 15 and 16 in the next month.  The truck won’t be ready to drive although their mechanic dad said that he’s going to help once summer comes and by the end of summer they will have a running truck.  No more riding their bikes to school if they have their way.  

I did tell the older boy that if he fixed the mess of fruit trees that the oldest grandson “trimmed” I’d pay him. He could earn money to buy more parts for his truck.  No.  He’d rather work on the truck and do yard work for neighbors where he lives.  Those neighbors pay the boys about $ 20 per hour to do yard work.  I pay much less…but I feed them well!  Of course they know they get fed well when they are here anyway. 

Adding two more mouths to the table, especially teenage boys, was only a slight challenge.  I decided I wasn’t going to use any more meat than I would have for the three of us.  That meant the meals would be stretched by vegetables, rice, or pasta.  Last night’s dinner was almost completely home grown and what…

What to do with all these eggs?

From The Survival Mom™

Guest post by Justin Doody who blogs at Emergency Homesteader.

When you have chickens, you soon realize you can have eggs coming out the wazoo. Once you figure out you can’t give away any more eggs and you’re still sitting on an overwhelming amount, you need a way to use or preserve them. Preserving them is easier than you think, and people have been doing just that in other countries for a millennia. My mother has had this problem for a while until she learned this trick.

When a chicken lays an egg, it has a natural coating on it known as the bloom. This bloom is a layer of protection for the egg which keeps out oxygen as well as harmful bacteria and germs. It’s very, very common for those who raise chickens for their eggs to collect them and then keep them on the counter until they are ready to use—not put them in the refrigerator.  In fact, the majority of the grocery stores in the world don’t put their eggs in a refrigerated environment. When they’re ready to use the eggs, they either wash them, which eliminates the bloom and any bacteria or germs, or they crack them open, as is, but take care not to do so over food that they are going to eat. Instead, they crack them into a separate dish or into a clean hand, but never over the food. Also, in order to not…

SHTF “Go To” Gun photo contest: Entry #47, #48, #49 and #50

From ModernSurvivalOnline.com

The exquisite display of armageddon armament continues………..

The legendary Mr. Choate sent the following…….

Its a Sun Devil AR, the receiver and upper are machined out of solid Billet Al. It has an ACOG TA33-8 scope on it with Diamondhead flip sights, ERGO grip and Choate Telescoping stock. The selector says SAFE and ZOMBIES which I thought was cool. I have shot this rifle in several rifle and 3 gun matches including the Arkansas Section Multi Gun Championship. I have run a couple thousand rounds through it with out any malfunctions, its one of the few guns I would trust the life of my family to. Its setting on my B.O.B, I carry both the bag and rifle in my truck all the time and if I ride with someone else I take them with me. It is very seldom that I am more than 100 yard away from them at any given time.

 Guy sent the following……

 Dean is prepared with……..

…

More yard work and the ebb and flow of prepping

From What if IT is today? – A Survivalist’s Blog

Of course yard work never ends.  It doesn’t end for people with postage stamp sized lots, I don’t know why I’d think it would ever end here!  We got 1/3 inch of rain last night which gave everything a really good soaking.  Maybe the lawn seed that I threw out last week will grow.  I hadn’t watered it I just spread it around the yard.  I also hope some of the oats and wheat grow.  Again, I didn’t plant them the proper way which would have meant disking the soil prior to throwing the seed out or using a plug to plant the seed into the ground.  No, I just threw out the seed and hoped for the best. 

We are missing one of the two chickens that I put out in the front pasture.  I have a feeling that it got carried away by a hawk or something.  Yip-yip can’t get in.  There are no feathers showing evidence of a struggle by some other creature.  It’s not walking around the neighbor’s yards.  It just disappeared.  The other chicken is lonely. We are going to get some new chickens this year in addition to what’s in the coop.  I was thinking about putting the older chickens out front and keeping the younger ones in the coop as my new layers.  Can chickens survive ok if they’ve lived their lives in a coop and then you let them go?  Will they know…

Guest Post: Can I Keep Chickens in My Backyard?

From ModernSurvivalOnline.com

If you have made the decision that you would like to try your hand at keeping some chickens in your backyard, there are a few considerations that you might want to make first, and although you have probably thought of some of these, there just might be a few that might come as a surprise.

Legality of Raising Backyard Chickens

Probably the very first question you should ask yourself about raising chickens is, can I raise chickens in my backyard?’ You know, legally. I know, I know. If you are slightly stubborn like I tend to be you are probably saying to yourself, ‘this is my property, so surely I can do whatever I want on it’! Am I right? If that thought crossed your mind, or anything at all along those lines, trust me, I know where you’re coming from. Here’s the deal.

If you live within the boundaries of a city as most (but not all) of us do, you will want to start out by getting info on whether or not you can even keep chickens in your backyard while staying within the confines of the law. The last thing you want to do is to build or buy a chicken coop, purchase a few starter hens, buy some food, get the entire family excited about the adventure that lies ahead, only to have a bureaucrat pay you a visit and let you know (kindly or otherwise), that…

Making lemonade but getting nothing else done

From What if IT is today? – A Survivalist’s Blog

We were invited to a birthday party and that took up most of the day.  It rained for a little bit today so before we left for the party I took the 8 raspberry plants that I haven’t yet planted and put their pots right at the edge of the eave of the house.  That way the rain could come off the roof and land in their buckets.  Then I wouldn’t have to worry about watering them. 

Once we got home I checked on the chickens and also the sheep.  We had one ewe up at the barn with her new baby.  It was still wobbly; she had it while we were at the party.  That makes 6 lambs, although one didn’t make it so five lambs that all appear healthy.  One more ewe is pregnant.  She should pop that one out any day now. 

I checked on the transplanted blueberries.  They looked good.  I took a look at the broccoli plants and one had been dug up by something.  I dug another hole and placed the plant back into the ground.  The onions have grown a little since I put them into the ground.  I went into the barn and got an on/off valve that goes on the drip hose.  It’s still attached to an old piece of hose but I cut it into a small size and brought it into the house.  I’ll cut off…