The Men Who Stare and Goats (and Feed Them, and Water Them, Too!)

Anyway you write it, we’re now (sort of) in the goat business.  We started with chickens.  Small enough, not much trouble, easy to take care of, and they produce eggs and meat.  Not a bad deal.

“Leveled up” in the farming venue to ducks, geese and guineas.  Still not too much trouble.  Then along came the goats.  The first one was Snickers.  We didn’t name him; he came with a name.  He had been de-horned so he couldn’t do too much damage.  He was good with the kids (which I liked), but the previous owners called him “Houdini” because he could always escape any enclosure.

We thought we’d cured him of his wandering when we got him.  Sure!  The first month that we had him we had to chase him down and bring him back at least a dozen times.  He wanted to go ‘home,’ which he believed to be elsewhere.  After he figured out that ‘our ranch was his ranch,’ he decided to roam all over the yard.  He enjoyed antagonizing the dog, eating the grass (we didn’t mind; it saved on mowing), and knocking things over.  We finally got the pasture fence fixed up enough so that he could no longer get over or under it.

Then, during the brutal Michigan winter last year, we lost him.  He was old, and we knew that he would die some day, but it was still sad to find him frozen in the pasture one winter morning.  Just before he died we had been given two small goats, were also good with the kids.  So, we were still in the goat business.  The problem is, I had never raised goats before.  Chickens, ducks, and geese are small and not much trouble.  I’m not so sure about goats.

Goats need a little more tending.  Now we’ve got four. Thankfully, these girls are friendly with the kids.  The ladies have horns, so I’m a bit wary. So far they’ve been good and have not given us any trouble.  I keep thinking I really should read up on how to raise goats, or at least how to properly take care of them.  Maybe this winter when the snow is knee deep and I have some time,I’ll go outside and become one of “the men who stare at goats.”

Hey, that movie opens up soon.  Maybe I’ll go see it and get some ideas!

Internet Movie Database Website link for “THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS…”

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Raising City Chickens–Urban Survivalism!

 The Kansas City Star has a great article today about raising poultry in suburban and urban environments:   Kansas City Star

The perspective of us little survival nuts is this:  Do whatever it takes to feed your family! Grow a garden, raise animals, hunt, fish, gather wild edibles–to survive one more day, a person needs to be adaptable, resourceful and willing to think outside of his or her experience.   

As we quoted on a different page, “The key to survival is mental toughness. The difference between surviving and death is the will to live and a desire to push on.”  –Narrator, Out of the Wild: The Alaska Experiment

Many municipalities have an incorrect view of poultry and livestock.  The officials often think that ‘farm’ animals have no place in a suburban or urban environment.  What they haven’t realized is that chickens are in the same family as parrots, parakeets, and other birds.  The image of a chicken is that it is a dirty, smelly, and unsanitary creature.

 Chickens come in a variety of shapes and sizes.  They can be as large as a small turkey, and as small as a pigeon.  Chickens also come in a variety of colors and temperments.  Some smaller ‘bantam’ chickens look more like a dove than a chicken.  Chickens are not particularly dirty–at least no dirtier than any other type of bird.  If chickens or their nesting facilities are dirty, don’t blame the birds, blame the owner!

So, if fresh, clean, known-source meat and eggs is what you are after, by all means, raise some Backyard Poultry!

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As usual, the news of the day is hyped beyond all recognition. Is swine flu akin to the deadly influenza pandemic of 1918 (Wikipedia: Spanish Flu)?

Or is it just another scare like the West Nile virus or the Avian Flu?

Shock journalism may have cried ‘pig’ one too many times. Hopefully ’swine flu’ will just be another flash in the pan, and there will be no full blown epidemic.

In the following YouTube video, Steven Harris presents a dark and frightening future–a future that started yesterday!

(Continued below…)

While his predictions may be overblown, he does remind us that static situations can change rapidly. Those that are most prepared are most likely to survive.

I have realized in making my preparations, I really haven’t positioned myself or my family to leave our safehaven (’the doomstead,’ as LATOCers call it).

We are going to work on that next…

For swine flu products or other survival gear, visit Nitro-Pak!

An interesting infectious disease tracking site: Health Map

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Our New Baby Gosling!

Last night we had a baby!

Fortunately, no birth pains for mama.

At 4:30 this morning little ‘Peepers’ chewed an escape hatch around the top of his egg, and burst forth into the world!

Technically it isn’t a chick, instead it is called a gosling. For you non-farm folks, that’s a baby goose!

We are so happy to have our very first springtime baby…

I have seen the miracle of avian birth at least one hundred times, but I am still amazed every single time that I see it!

What do baby geese have to do with survival?

Well, we eat our geese and their eggs!

I know, you city slickers are saying, “Yuck!”

But we like Christmas goose!

YEAH!

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