Working on SHTF plan..need advice

Sherry in Iowa · #1 09/30/12, 08:24 AM

Okay..hubby and I are really into the SHTF mode now. Looking to buy up some feed..we want the feed to be duel purpose. Need to feed goats (milk) and chickens (laying). Would have to keep it simple..don't mind top dressing separately.

Okay gals/guys whatcha got for us?

Alice In TX/MO · #2 09/30/12, 08:49 AM

Don't know of anything that would work for both. Different species, different digestions. Never have heard of chickens fed oats, which would be my recommendation for the goats.

If the SHTF, you aren't going to be able to get oats and Black Oil Sunflower Seeds anyway. Do you have enough land that both species can free range?

Sherry in Iowa · #3 09/30/12, 08:59 AM

Thanks for chatting with me on this Alice..we appreciate it. The majority of the goats will be on hay, minerals and pasture. The drought has us dry as a bone though. The Dexters will be on hay and minerals. The chickens free-range.

I am going to be looking for a tested milk goat, hopefully 2, in the near future and the grain would be for them. So, if anyone has a couple of milk does..even if they are aged..and due to kid in the next few weeks..I would love to "talk" to ya!

bluefish · #4 09/30/12, 09:02 AM

I can get wheat and peas here locally so that's what I have. My goats and rabbits get alfalfa hay and a little wheat. The chickens get the wheat and peas. Both goats and chickens also free range the pastures. My goats only get a little wheat on the stand. I look on it more as a treat. The chickens also come in the goat pen and scrounge through the wasted hay, especially in the winter. I'm sure everybody will tell me that I'm killing both animals, but the goats are healthy and give lots of milk and the chickens are healthy and give lots of eggs.

The goats also get mineral and the chickens get the occasional rabbit and meat scraps throughout the winter. You'll just have to experiment and see. Look at what grows local that you could still get easily in a SHTF.

wintrrwolf · #5 09/30/12, 09:06 AM

OMG I can't figure it out am completely brain dead today what does SHTF stand for?

Sherry in Iowa · #6 09/30/12, 09:07 AM

WOW Thermopkt..that's exactly the kind of info I was looking for. Thanks so much. Any one else?

This is a recipe I found online:It's from Sandy Lane Dairy

160 lbs of Steam Rolled Barley
160 lbs of Oats
10 lbs of Black Oil Sunflower Seeds(BOSS)
5lbs of Redman Salt(if you free choice salt, then don't add it to the feed)
1lb of Brewers yeast
25 lbs of Wheat Bran
We feed this mix to all of our goats, dairy and meat, dry does, milking does and bucks. We have found that the mix has to be half barley half oats otherwise the girls don't milk as well. Barley=milk. I know it is only 13% protien, but we have been using this mix for 2 years now and have had great success with it. Our kids have very fast weight gain, our milkers consistently milk a gallon + a day, and everybody stays in great condition. We also free choice water, alfalfa/grass mix hay, goat minerals, kelp, baking soda and salt. For feeding, we feed 1 lb of food to milkers for every 3 lbs of milk they produce, plus 1 lb for body condition.

Sherry in Iowa · #7 09/30/12, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wintrrwolf

OMG I can't figure it out am completely brain dead today what does SHTF stand for?

Poo-Poo hits the fan

Hard times..can't buy stuff

CaliannG · #8 09/30/12, 09:24 AM

Sherry, it is a one-way street.

Chickens can eat, and thrive on, anything you give your goats. Oats, wheat, barley, BOSS. Chickens are amazing waste disposals.

However, goats will get the runs, and sometimes get really sick, if fed commercial chicken feed.

If you go for real grain, rather than pelleted feed, (crimped or whole oats, corn, barley, wheat, rye, sorghum, etc.) then you can feed the same thing to your cattle, goats, chickens, rabbits, etc. and not worry about it.

It is when you get into the pelleted feeds, or the "for X animal" feeds that you run into problems, as those often have antibiotic or hormone additives specifically for that animal.

Sherry in Iowa · #9 09/30/12, 09:41 AM

Thanks CaliannG! We want to use whole grains, no soy, no corn.

chickenista · #10 09/30/12, 09:54 AM

Another way to be able to use whole grains easily on bird is to sprout the grains.
No need to worry about how to crush/roll them after SHTF.

I love feeding sprouted grains to the birds. The protein and enzyme and other good stuff count goes way up once that grain sprouts.

I use a 5 gallon bucket system. One bucket with holes drilled all over it as the rinse bucket, one is a normal bucket and the rest have holes in the bottom.
It is a 5 day system.
Day 1 you soak, then pour them into the rinse bucket.
Then into a bucket with holes and wet them down everyday.
Day 2 you start another bucket.
Day 3 you start another bucket
etc..
then after about 4 or 5 days you have a bucket of grain sprouts that the birds will attack with gusto!!
You just keep the grains wet down and shaken or stirred up a bit and start a new bucket everyday and feed a bucket everyday.
You can sprout oats, wheat, barley, peas/beans..anything at all.

I have stopped because the stupid birds kept finding a way to get to the buckets. I need a bucket cage of safety out near the hose.

And they may start to smell a bit soured in the summer, but the birds don't mind.. think leftover sourmash leavings etc... they seem to like them even better when they are funky.

wintrrwolf · #11 09/30/12, 09:56 AM

Ohhhhhh I get it!!
So this is the recipe you have been using..and it should work for all? I have the diary goats, horses, chickens, ducks, and rabbits...

Alice In TX/MO · #12 09/30/12, 10:10 AM

It's not kidding time for most dairy goats. That comes usually after January 1. Most (not all) dairy goats breed in the fall. Kidding comes five months later.

A few folks use hormones to cycle their does at other times of year.

Yes, you need to look for tested, disease free goats. It will save you time, money, and heartache. Don't buy any unless you SEE the test results.

Alice In TX/MO · #13 09/30/12, 10:15 AM

By the way, I highly recommend that you read "One Second After." It's a post nuclear pulse novel that really opened my eyes. Read and take notes.

If the SHTF happens that way, you won't be getting any shipments to your feed store of anything.

One Second After: William R. Forstchen,Newt Gingrich: 9780765317582: Amazon.com: Books

Sherry in Iowa · #14 09/30/12, 10:22 AM

Thanks Alice..yeah, we're changing over to propane appliances or duel fuel appliances this month. Gathering up our food stuffs and the animal's food stuffs. Gonna hunker down and see what happens.

I actually think that it "might" be a fiscal cliff that we go over. If it takes a wheelbarrow of money for a loaf of bread..nothing else will be affordable either. And, the drought in the U.S. continues to widen and continues in it's severity. If Brazil has a bad crop this season..yikes!

Sometimes people kid in the fall/winter..lol..accidents happen or they are thinking about keeping a doe in milk for a continuous supply. I don't even care if it's an aged, healthy milking doe. We seem to be great with the geriatric bunch..lol.

Thanks again..are others on this forum getting ready too?

Oh..just an aside..hubby is a lineman..all of a sudden HE is highly motivated..just sayin', don't know what it means..but it is not a usual event.

Alice In TX/MO · #15 09/30/12, 11:03 AM

The book is about what happens after an almost world wide high atmosphere nuclear electromagnetic pulse.

In that case, there won't be bread deliveries, and money would be useless. Trade items in the novel are bullets and meat.

Yes, others are prepping. When my good friend died, I was faced whether to sell his property (I had bought it a couple of years ago, but he lived there for that time). It's in the Ozarks, remote, not visible from a road. BOTH sons (mid-30s) said KEEP IT; we may need it as a retreat. Both sons are involved in military/DOD careers, so that got my attention.

The question, of course, is whether they could GET here.

Otter · #16 09/30/12, 01:37 PM

Whole grains are the way to go - IF you can get them. Locally, I'm having a hard time finding them. The closest I can get are steam-crimped oats, and they are buggy.
I would love to feed sprouted grain to everything, but I can't find sproutable grain.

The plan now is to find a way to get just one pound of oats, barley (that I can get at the grocery store) hard wheat, soft wheat, millet (parakeet seed, too many of the big bags of wild bird mix are heat treated so they won't sprout) and each will get at least a 4x8 bed in my garden.
That won't even begin to supply my needs, but it will be enough to teach me about growing small grains, what works best on my particular farm, and even a dismal failure should at least supply me with enough seed to do it again next year.

It is mostly the goats I'm worried about, as chickens will eat anything. Absolutely anything. In fact, instead of worrying about what they'll eat, worry about fainting in the chicken run.

Dusky Beauty · #17 09/30/12, 03:37 PM

If you're concerned about keeping up protein in laying birds, you might consider raising meal worms in tote bins on some of your household food waste.

mekasmom · #18 09/30/12, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaliannG

Chickens are amazing waste disposals.

However, goats will get the runs, and sometimes get really sick, if fed commercial chicken feed.

I agree. Just buy for the goats. Chickens eat anything. Goats can actually die on the medicated chicken feeds.

jwal10 · #19 09/30/12, 04:06 PM

I have always bought whole oats right from the combine. I can get heavy screenings from the seed cleaner free also. The chickens get it sprouted or as mash with left over milk products, heated in the winter....James

Cannon_Farms · #20 09/30/12, 04:30 PM

Oats, oats and more oats, they keep well without great loss of nutritional value providing they are left whole. I would do that and alfalfa pellets as they have a longer shelf life plus even if they do loose some nutrition its still probably better than anything else you can get. Alfalfa hay is hard to store but if you can the goats can live well just off it if they are not super milkers.
Oats can also be used by you if the need comes about.

Chickens can do well enough off milk from the goats and oats mixes mine have lived off it for years only adding into free range whatever they can find. I have solid hard shells and plump chickens.

Do not stock up on sweet feed or any pellets as they only have a shelf life of three months in cool conditions, dryer pellets are 9 months.
We have goats and chickens for the sole purpose of being able to survive, we would have to downsize drastically and learn to dry goat meat but it could be done. The chickens are going asap I can buy free range organic for what its costing me to feed them plus a few dozen so they are becoming impractical and Im tired of stepping in chicken poop.