PREP Chickens and logistics as we age. (OP Oct 2021)

[Jeff Allen]

At 53, my wife and I have gotten our “you gonna die, but first your life is gonna get hard” memo.

As long term preppers…we are blessed to lack in nothing. So, now we have branched out into fully fleshing out areas for maximum resilience against job loss/injury/sickness etc.

We feel our small flock of chickens (35) is one of our most important “comfort preps”…..keeping them running as normal during an extended shortage event is high on our list of priorities.

Getting out of bags and into bulk feed was on our list this year. I bought two food grade 275gallon totes and installed grain grates I sourced online at Mills Fleet & Farm. Attached pictures show the results.

Please ask questions if I can help you with this.

J

oh bother…can’t get pics off of phone “too big”…so, next post will be pics after I transfer to pc.

 

[Jeff Allen]

 

[mecoastie]

whats the feed mix? How long will that last you?

 

[West]

Ha!

Same age.

We've down sized to about 20 hens and a few roos. Though about 10 of the hens are older birds dieing of old age.

Any way, we get about two to three dozen eggs a week and that works! At least 10 of our birds where layed and hatched by the old hens so that works!

Enough eggs to give a dozen a week to the neighbor who gives us hunting rights to 180 acres.

And keep us flush with eggs.

Its all good! Keep us posted!

And best to you and yours always.

 

[myrtlemaye]

At 53, my wife and I have gotten our “you gonna die, but first your life is gonna get hard” memo.

As long term preppers…we are blessed to lack in nothing. So, now we have branched out into fully fleshing out areas for maximum resilience against job loss/injury/sickness etc.

We feel our small flock of chickens (35) is one of our most important “comfort preps”…..keeping them running as normal during an extended shortage event is high on our list of priorities.

Getting out of bags and into bulk feed was on our list this year. I bought two food grade 275gallon totes and installed grain grates I sourced online at Mills Fleet & Farm. Attached pictures show the results.

Please ask questions if I can help you with this.

J

oh bother…can’t get pics off of phone “too big”…so, next post will be pics after I transfer to pc.

How long do you expect this amount of feed to last your birds? I currently keep the feed for our two ducks, three turkeys and three geese in 55 gallon drums with clamp on lids. I have two drums and when one runs out I fill it (ususally takes about six bags of feed) and feed out of the other one so that the feed is rotated. I used to have fourteen layers but some kind of kinds of predators got them all over time. I have been thinking of waiting until spring to get more chicks. I go through about a drum of feed every 3 -4 weeks. I have traditional feeders but these birds are very wasteful. I haven't any of the feed spoil so far. Have you had any spoilage with your large totes? It is a very viable idea. Thanks for sharing.

 

[West]

Oh, I was going to post that letting the native grasses and wild plants(even the weeds) helps tremendously to aid in feeding the old hens and goats. If you have a the acreage to do so. I bet both the chickens and goats get half their feed from those native plants and bug habitat.

 

[Jeff Allen]

whats the feed mix? How long will that last you?

New Country Organics. Organic, Soy-Free Poultry Layer Feed.

We will carefully log useage, but the goal is roughly a year.

Cost is on the web site. Feed was ground 3 days ago, delivered this afternoon via R&L. Smells divine….



We still have a months worth of those disgusting “layer crumbles”…

J

 

[savurselvs]

When I store crumble like 10 bags at a go. Plus cattle cake (cubes). I have trouble with weavils. I assume from the bag or two of scratch grains from same store.

 

[summerthyme]

Now, that's a great idea! I think I'd paint them black, though- grain *does* go rancid eventually, and heat and light speed up the process.

Also, have you stored the grain from this particular source for a month or two before this? Without bug problems? Tractor Supply feeds may be fairly bug free, but most feed mills give you bugs for free! If you're using it in 2 weeks (most commercial farms have feed delivered every 2 weeks or even more often), you'll never notice. If you store it... the eggs break dormancy, etc.

Mixing some diatomaceous earth into the grain solves that problem, and it's a good mineral supplement for the birds. I stored my chicken feed in 33 gallon galvanized cans. I usually filled them in the fall for the winter. As long as I poured a 1/4" layer on the bottom of the can, and then topped it off with 1/2", I never had a bug. Any can without it had webs and moths in weeks.

Summerthyme

 

[Jeff Allen]

How long do you expect this amount of feed to last your birds? I currently keep the feed for our two ducks, three turkeys and three geese in 55 gallon drums with clamp on lids. I have two drums and when one runs out I fill it (ususally takes about six bags of feed) and feed out of the other one so that the feed is rotated. I used to have fourteen layers but some kind of kinds of predators got them all over time. I have been thinking of waiting until spring to get more chicks. I go through about a drum of feed every 3 -4 weeks. I have traditional feeders but these birds are very wasteful. I haven't any of the feed spoil so far. Have you had any spoilage with your large totes? It is a very viable idea. Thanks for sharing.

We anticipate around a year. We will log first use etc. to help with ordering in the future. DW was thinking she could soak the feed to make it last longer as we have had very good results doing that with good grain feed in the past and the chickens waste virtually nothing when its been soaked.
Plus our chickens are kept in a chicken tractor (Which I guess I'll go take pics of after the sun comes up and post here to help folks understand our set-up.) The Chicken tractor and our portable fencing has eliminated all but raptors as predator's (we still occasionally loose a bird to a hawk, think once per year).
As to spoilage, should be none assuming no true disaster, the totes are north facing under the lean too...unless their are significant insect problems we should be good, but its a new experiment for us for sure!
The main things we are going after is ending the constant fight with bags. We have to go get them at Rural King, put them on the cart, then go to the pickup and lug them yet again...get home, lugging them from the truck to the feed room, and then wrestling them around and putting them in the metal drums (we have metal drums with lids that latch on).
Not only was our previous system labor intensive, it made it hard to have much food on hand in case of shortage, so, the logistics puzzle is not only about labor and body saving, but about resiliency as well.

J

 

[Jeff Allen]

Now, that's a great idea! I think I'd paint them black, though- grain *does* go rancid eventually, and heat and light speed up the process.

Also, have you stored the grain from this particular source for a month or two before this? Without bug problems? Tractor Supply feeds may be fairly bug free, but most feed mills give you bugs for free! If you're using it in 2 weeks (most commercial farms have feed delivered every 2 weeks or even more often), you'll never notice. If you store it... the eggs break dormancy, etc.

Mixing some diatomaceous earth into the grain solves that problem, and it's a good mineral supplement for the birds. I stored my chicken feed in 33 gallon galvanized cans. I usually filled them in the fall for the winter. As long as I poured a 1/4" layer on the bottom of the can, and then topped it off with 1/2", I never had a bug. Any can without it had webs and moths in weeks.

Summerthyme

Good advice on painting I think! However in our situation the lean to faces north, so only a bit of reflected sun.

This is our first delivery from this mill, however, any mill at any time can get grain with the little buggers in tow, so I'd never assume bug free from anywhere...and if it IS bug free...probably because of that pesticide folks put in their grain bins to control the bugs. Even as a kid I thought it was a bit insane to pour that stuff on the grain we stored....So, we are hoping this will last a year or thereabouts, bugs or not.

GREAT IDEA on the DE, we will put some in the top tote at least and use the bottom as a control. Do I "want" bugs in our chicken feed? Of course not...but, it is chicken food...and bugs of all sorts are "live food" so...while it will degrade the food quality for the birds, I'm not very worried about bugs for chickens. I'd be much more concerned for Horses or Cows and somewhat for goats...

J

 

[Samuel Adams]

Ha.

Way ahead of all you kids at 54, over here.

The secret to my chicken success (most days) is an enthusiastic 11yo.

Now if I could just get her to milk the cows, cut the wood, bale the hay, build the sheds and cow barns (and repair)....keep the wolves away from the door, etc., etc.

 

[West]

I think the bugs in most all bagged feed is in the feed from the mills/fields where harvested. The mills also use DE as a anti-caking agent.

But in reality DE kills the bugs that make the caking. I think the bugs eat the feed then when they defecate it creates a mold that then does even more damage. And nothing will eat molding feed, its just nasty!

Still I have not found a way to keep feed vary long. The DE helps the most, but after about half of a year, forget about it, the bugs get to it, and it starts getting nasty.

We live near a working feed mill, hopefully they will stay in business if the SHTF. If not growing our own feed will have to be the solution.

See what happens.

 

[Jeff Allen]

I think the bugs in most all bagged feed is in the feed from the mills/fields where harvested. The mills also use DE as a anti-caking agent.

But in reality DE kills the bugs that make the caking. I think the bugs eat the feed then when they defecate it creates a mold that then does even more damage. And nothing will eat molding feed, its just nasty!

Still I have not found a way to keep feed vary long. The DE helps the most, but after about half of a year, forget about it, the bugs get to it, and it starts getting nasty.

We live near a working feed mill, hopefully they will stay in business if the SHTF. If not growing our own feed will have to be the solution.

See what happens.

Well...we will see how this goes! I'll keep a close eye, as in checking the top tote every couple of weeks.

If I start to see webs, I'm thinking of flooding the tote with nitrogen for a few hours, see if I can't suffocate the lot of the little devils! If I inject gas at the top of the tote (its sealed at the top), excess gas can escape through the grain gate at the bottom front and avoid any sort of pressure danger. I can use an oxygen monitor to see when the oxygen level is gone in the tote. Once mostly removed....I'm thinking that it would take a while for enough oxygen to support life to make its way back in throughout the feed....

Anyone have any experience if DE doesn't control the bugs? I have access to any compressed gas within reason, CO2, N, Argon...

BTW, I'm pretty sure that in my definition of SHTF....there will be no operating feed mills at least for some months...and if we go months, its likely to be years.

J

 

[West]

Think the environment has a lot to do with it as well. High hot humidity lading air means more caking.

 

[Jeff Allen]

Ok, as promised, our setup, but first, feed content:


And, the chicken tractor with the all important portable fence from Premier:


This is all we use to water:

And...this is the thingy the shells are fed out of:

The coop was built on a trailer with a drop down ramp. Super convenient when we relocate! The auto door is an ABSOLUTE ESSENTIAL....you just can't leave without it. Even though the electric fence is awesome...I suspect at night when the pup is in the shop...some hungry critter would still possibly get in and destroy our world. This removes all the concern!

Close up of the laying "boxes" which are just little store bought plastic totes...work great!

View of the other end of the coop


This is our current feeder. Its been here for about a week...thats it for the loss there on the ground!


We relocate this system every few weeks. It used to be week to ten days, but this year we got another length of fence...this is a lifesaver as it greatly reduces the need to relocate. The hens we have in there will probably spend the next 2/3 months here, and then probably back over the garden.

J

 

[marsofold]

My only problem with chickens is that in winter they will need grain, usually corn. So you must grow corn in the event of a total crash. We are inudated with raccoons, so growing corn is risky for us.

 

[phloydius]

Thank you for the thread, ideas, & pictures!

Question:
When I keep the chicken feed (a local different brand of soy-free, corn-free, non-gmo mix) for more than a couple of months it seems to grow mold. Any hints on how to keep mold from growing?

 

[33dInd]

Closed down my chicken coop
Got tired of feeding all the damn coons around here
Long story
But wife is wanting to start it up again

 

[Samuel Adams]

For those storing feed......whole grain or pre-ground.....

Procure some food grade steel drums with rubber seal/clamp lid.....or plastic sealable drums and lids (though a little more caution in order, using plastic)

Fill barrel to 85-90 % capacity and stick a long candle down in the grain so that 2-3” protrudes out.

Light candle.

Seal barrel.

Candle burns all oxygen out of barrel and contents, leaving CO2 and N remaining......then candle goes out.

Repeat every time you open, save on those frigid winter days when sub-freezing takes care of business.

When using plastic lids, allow plenty of space between candle flame and lid, or tape several thicknesses of aluminum foil ( see Weird Al Yankovich video, “Foil”, available in “Unexplained”) on the underside of the lid in a large square to reflect the heat while the candle burns out.

Years of experience talkin’, here....


ANNNND.....

Same method can be used storing oatmeal, rice, beans, whole grains, etc., etc., for human consumption.

 

[summerthyme]

Thank you for the thread, ideas, & pictures!

Question:
When I keep the chicken feed (a local different brand of soy-free, corn-free, non-gmo mix) for more than a couple of months it seems to grow mold. Any hints on how to keep mold from growing?

How do you store it? And what is your climate like? I suspect your supplier may be selling feed that's a bit too damp. We had a couple times when layer mash developed mold throughout- the mill was having problems with a leak roof and morons for help!

Summerthyme

 

[Samuel Adams]

Well, for those who haven’t been paying attention, leaky roofs and morons now rule the world !!!

 

[Jeff Allen]

My only problem with chickens is that in winter they will need grain, usually corn. So you must grow corn in the event of a total crash. We are inudated with raccoons, so growing corn is risky for us.

So, your post brings me to the "every prepper on a homestead MUST raise chickens" rant.

Why? Well, first off, chickens are literally the easiest of all livestock to care for...at least as easy as a cat or dog, and I'm never planning on eating cats or dogs!

BUT, they need protection from critters...see above as how we, who live literally SURROUNDED by forest, and hundreds and hundreds of critters who want to eat our chickens, have protected our flock.

Once you sort out protection, they provide a continuous supply of precious eggs that make all of your prep food taste SOOO much better! Unless you are raising cattle/goats, dairy is out in a SHTF event, but eggs are in my mind sort of "1/2 way there"...so, while still not cream for my coffee, at least I have eggs with my toast, and that is enough to keep my spirits up!

In the spring you should be hatching chicks like mad and the old hens will be retired for food in the fall and winter while the young hens provide eggs till January and are back laying by March. We never go to "zero" but out of roughly 20 hens we do get down to the point of very few eggs during winter. Enough, but not much surplus. Right now we have dozens of eggs in surplus.

Our chickens will greatly expand our preps...by literally years assuming we are able to keep them going. Speaking of which, those with chicken experience know you can keep them going with little/nothing for a while at least. They will eat any kitchen scraps you have in winter, or, you can provide them will a very small amount of grain. Again, in a SHTF situation, you aren't overwintering 200 birds, more like 10-20 for a group of 10 people. You won't be getting fat, but, you won't be starving either and making allowance for your birds is a huge part of making so you don't have to store tons and tons of raw grains/beans/rice!

So, this year we raised sweet corn for the first time in years and boy did the critters come in and slap us!!! So, the day we realized we had waited "one day too long" we quickly moved the chickens into the corn patch and saved 90% of our corn...and man was it delicious!!! Anyway, this is a perfect example of function stacking and we had fantastic success with our corn being protected while at the same time the chickens did a great job of insect control for us and fertilizer as the cherry on top!



Yes...took that picture through a screen, lol. No more critter issues after the electric fence surrounded our precious corn! DW planted the sunflowers to provide a little extra interesting food for the birds. As we moved into fall and the sunflowers matured, we just laid them over one at a time to let the birds eat out the sunflower seeds.

I gotta say, our eggs are delicious.

J

 

[Jeff Allen]

Thank you for the thread, ideas, & pictures!

Question:
When I keep the chicken feed (a local different brand of soy-free, corn-free, non-gmo mix) for more than a couple of months it seems to grow mold. Any hints on how to keep mold from growing?

We are learning as we go...don't know, but if anyone resurrects this thread or PM's me in a couple of months I'll be happy to share what we are learning!
DW and I chatted about this issue...and have both been feeding livestock since we were each about 10 years old...so, 40+ years of experience in the midwest climate. Grain, prior to milling, is quite robust if stored in an area it does not get wet, either through roof leaks or condensation. Historically that meant wood. Now that we have plastic totes as a insanely cheap alternative to a wooden storage bin I think condensation is the largest threat. We store all of our feed under roof, but in something, either 30 gallon steel barrels, or, now these totes. The totes are our first attempt to store chicken feed for longer than two months. At two months we never, even once, in 20 years have had any issue what so-ever with moisture, mold or insects. Rodents...yes, but we have cured our rodent problems 100%, but thats another thread I'll start if someone cares.

J

 

[WalknTrot]

Please keep us informed as to your success. The big plastic totes are pretty much available everywhere.

Personally, I never found storing large amounts of bulk grain to be worth the risk of loss in this (N MN) climate because of the wild shifts in temp and humidity that we can undergo just within one day, let alone a season. Steel or plastic storage completely inside a building is still not airtight, and the continual cyclical condensation is the enemy.

If it all comes falling down, my chickens are going to have to scramble for themselves (with very close supervision because of all the predators here) eat alfalfa hay and scraps to overwinter. It's either that or to the canning jars with 'em.

 

[Jeff Allen]

Closed down my chicken coop
Got tired of feeding all the damn coons around here
Long story
But wife is wanting to start it up again

Please don't give up on chickens!

We have been learning how to live in a forest surrounded by critters for over 20 years. See above for what we ended up with.

I've tried it all...extermination...(after somewhere north of 20 raccoons and possums...I decided I better get smarter than the critters as its clear I'll not be able to spend the time to guard birds forever)....fences (they get dug under and the coop area gets gross and nasty).

We do still use our fixed coop as a brooder house and have something like 12-15 hens in there right now that we hatched out this spring.

Again, I view chicken tending as a vital prepping skill for ALL who live in a place its possible. Once the SHTF....its long ago too late to start...and the food they produce in comparison to the effort they take is an amazing ROI all things considered.

A few chickens well managed are equal to tons of stored food IMO.

J

 

[Samuel Adams]

Also.......for those looking to increase sustainability and greatly extend food supply.....for any livestock.

Get into sprouting.

Statistics have it that sprouting whole grains can increase food quantity and nutritional value to human and livestock, by up to ten times.

Call it an extra chore that pays back in spades.

 

[marsofold]

We tried chickens, geese, rabbits, and hair sheep. Chickens only make eggs productively for three years max and cannot live on grass (a big deal). The geese can live on grass, but only make eggs for three months in the spring. We dumped them because we discovered that they were sharp-eyed enough to selectively eat ONLY the grass, which led to weeds completely taking over in their paddock (perhaps a mix of goats and geese?). Rabbits were too high-labor, too vulnerable to heat, needed breeding boxes to reproduce, were prone to respiratory deaths, and rabbit meat is very low in taurine - which is bad for heart health if used as the main meat supply. So we went with beautiful pure white St. Croix sheep. No wool to shear, 2.5 babies per birth, no horns to be gored with, uniquely almost totally immune to worms, and can live completely on grass. Gotta have high fences though, since the coyotes also have a high opinion of them.

 

[marsofold]

If you gotta have chickens, then trap the raccoons, then butcher them to be used as chicken food!

 

[summerthyme]

It is possible to raise a livestock guardian breed pup to love/protect chickens. We used to have a member (?Fred? From Alabama? Been a few years) who had huge predator problems in his free range flock, including hawks, until he got a pair of Great Pyrenees...

Our English Shepherds over the years have protected both chickens and crops...

Summerthyme

 

[Wolfcreek Farm]

Now, that's a great idea! I think I'd paint them black, though- grain *does* go rancid eventually, and heat and light speed up the process.

Also, have you stored the grain from this particular source for a month or two before this? Without bug problems? Tractor Supply feeds may be fairly bug free, but most feed mills give you bugs for free! If you're using it in 2 weeks (most commercial farms have feed delivered every 2 weeks or even more often), you'll never notice. If you store it... the eggs break dormancy, etc.

Mixing some diatomaceous earth into the grain solves that problem, and it's a good mineral supplement for the birds. I stored my chicken feed in 33 gallon galvanized cans. I usually filled them in the fall for the winter. As long as I poured a 1/4" layer on the bottom of the can, and then topped it off with 1/2", I never had a bug. Any can without it had webs and moths in weeks.

Summerthyme

What is your favorite feed mix for your chickens? We try to mix in the DE with the grain when we store it.....bird get to free range during daytime.

 

[Jeff Allen]

We tried chickens, geese, rabbits, and hair sheep. Chickens only make eggs productively for three years max and cannot live on grass (a big deal). The geese can live on grass, but only make eggs for three months in the spring. We dumped them because we discovered that they were sharp-eyed enough to selectively eat ONLY the grass, which led to weeds completely taking over in their paddock (perhaps a mix of goats and geese?). Rabbits were too high-labor, too vulnerable to heat, needed breeding boxes to reproduce, were prone to respiratory deaths, and rabbit meat is very low in taurine - which is bad for heart health if used as the main meat supply. So we went with beautiful pure white St. Croix sheep. No wool to shear, 2.5 babies per birth, no horns to be gored with, uniquely almost totally immune to worms, and can live completely on grass. Gotta have high fences though, since the coyotes also have a high opinion of them.

It sounds like you found livestock that works on your place! Bravo!!

I should amend my "chicken rant" to reference your experiences to find out livestock that works at your location and with your schedule/life.

In 1929 everyone who lived in the country had some sort of livestock. This provided a tremendous buffer against the shocks of the economic crash. This is no longer reality in our country, and I think we do our entire nation a disservice by not working hard to do what you and your family and many others have done to work to be resilient in the face of job loss/sickness/adversity of whatever sort.

J

 

[phloydius]

How do you store it? And what is your climate like? I suspect your supplier may be selling feed that's a bit too damp. We had a couple times when layer mash developed mold throughout- the mill was having problems with a leak roof and morons for help!

I store it in large metal can, almost identical to the one in the link below (but a different size). Each can holds about one 50lb bag. Each bag lasts me about 2 to 3 months for my 12 birds. Near Austin, Texas. The weather goes from freezing to 100F+, and from comfortably dry to extremely humid. But most of the year the average humidity is about 65%.

I previously was using "layer" old fashioned (crumbles mixed with whole grain). I've switched to scratch (which means I have to do some other things because, layers) and it seems to last a lot longer.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/behrens-31-gallon-galvanized-steel-utility-trash-can

 

[Jeff B.]

Great and informative thread. I love the bin storage mthod and hope it works out well.

I also wasn't aware that there's so many 50 YO whippersnappers on the board. I thought we were restricted to old cooters!

Jeff B.

 

[marsofold]

When we raised chickens (black Austrolorps), we had a flock of 11. Ten hens and a rooster. They ate 2.5Lbs of feed per day. Over the coldest six months of the year in Pennsylvania, it was almost 500Lbs of feed. If you want a dozen chickens and don't have serious acreage for them to forage for bugs, you are looking at a half-TON of feed per year. Something to consider if you plan to grow your own feed. We too used 31 gallon galvanized garbage cans to store feed bags. They easily hold two fifty pound bags and keep the mice from eating it.

 

[Bubble Head]

Where did you get the automatic door shutter? I have been looking for one. Got hit hard by predators this year. Bears just tear the doors off but they don’t like electric fence.

 

[Freeholder]

It is possible to raise a livestock guardian breed pup to love/protect chickens. We used to have a member (?Fred? From Alabama? Been a few years) who had huge predator problems in his free range flock, including hawks, until he got a pair of Great Pyrenees...

Our English Shepherds over the years have protected both chickens and crops...

Summerthyme

I was going to say, get a livestock guardian dog. They do have to be taught not to chase chickens, just like any pup does, but once that's been accomplished, they can be great poultry protection. They'll also keep the racoons and deer out of your garden and orchards, and will help protect your home and family.

Electric net fencing is great, too, but eventually we may not be able to replace batteries or damaged netting. Dogs replace themselves (if you keep an intact female, be careful what breeds her -- you do NOT want to allow a non-LGD to breed your LGD; the natural guardian characteristics are bred in and will be lost in very few generations if you aren't careful). They do need to be fed, and eventually it may make sense for several neighbors to share one big dog, since the LGD breeds naturally want to protect quite a large area.

Back when they were encouraging everyone to have a Victory garden, they were also encouraging people to keep chickens. Two laying hens per person in the family was considered a minimum, and also the number that might be fed mostly with kitchen and garden scraps, plus a bit of grain (purchased or grown on site). That will give each person one or two eggs per day, most of the time (less in winter). It's a good idea to mark your hens, so you can better keep track of their ages and other factors that may influence whether or not you want to keep, or breed from, them.

I think that one thing that sets both preppers and farmers apart is the necessity of planning ahead. Not only how much food is in the pantry, but how am I going to keep having food in the pantry? Thus, you have to plan the saving of seeds, and the breeding of livestock.

Kathleen

 

[buttie]

Well...we will see how this goes! I'll keep a close eye, as in checking the top tote every couple of weeks.

If I start to see webs, I'm thinking of flooding the tote with nitrogen for a few hours, see if I can't suffocate the lot of the little devils! If I inject gas at the top of the tote (its sealed at the top), excess gas can escape through the grain gate at the bottom front and avoid any sort of pressure danger. I can use an oxygen monitor to see when the oxygen level is gone in the tote. Once mostly removed....I'm thinking that it would take a while for enough oxygen to support life to make its way back in throughout the feed....

Anyone have any experience if DE doesn't control the bugs? I have access to any compressed gas within reason, CO2, N, Argon...

BTW, I'm pretty sure that in my definition of SHTF....there will be no operating feed mills at least for some months...and if we go months, its likely to be years.

J

Not only does DE keep the bugs out of the food, it kills the fly's that lay egg on their poop. Been using it for years.

 

[Jeff Allen]

Where did you get the automatic door shutter? I have been looking for one. Got hit hard by predators this year. Bears just tear the doors off but they don’t like electric fence.

Chicken Doors .com

We have two, the oldest is right at 8 years old I think, zero problems. Both have the solar add on, just put a $20 battery from batteries plus or interstate in there every few years and all is well!

With the light sensor the door opens and shuts at the correct time. To our knowledge never once has a chicken been stuck outside, but we did have one bird die outside last year (she was the favorite pet, and quite old), during the brutal cold, but we don't know if it was daytime or night.

J

 

[buttie]

At 53, my wife and I have gotten our “you gonna die, but first your life is gonna get hard” memo.

As long term preppers…we are blessed to lack in nothing. So, now we have branched out into fully fleshing out areas for maximum resilience against job loss/injury/sickness etc.

We feel our small flock of chickens (35) is one of our most important “comfort preps”…..keeping them running as normal during an extended shortage event is high on our list of priorities.

Getting out of bags and into bulk feed was on our list this year. I bought two food grade 275gallon totes and installed grain grates I sourced online at Mills Fleet & Farm. Attached pictures show the results.

Please ask questions if I can help you with this.

J

oh bother…can’t get pics off of phone “too big”…so, next post will be pics after I transfer to pc.

Do you have a link to these grain grates? Already have some nice totes.