Category: Chickens

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by J.G. Martinez

Could you live without money? Imagine the struggles of living day to day with little to no money. One of my Patreon subscribers recently sent me a video link of one man who lives without money. Mr. Boyle, the man who started it as an experiment, has lived somewhat comfortably by bartering. 

Before watching the video, I thought to myself, “this guy is merely using excess resources tossed out by the wealthy to make a frugal living.” My reasoning for this is there is usually excess prosperity in wealthy societies in the developed parts of the world. Here in South America, it’s unlikely anyone will throw out a chair in perfect shape. Perhaps sell it, or gift it, but leaving it out for the garbage truck to haul away is rare.

Since the invention of money, people have looked for the means to attain it. Mr. Boyle has an interesting point of view, even philosophically speaking. He believes most people refuse to accept the necessary connection to nature for even the most basic yet vital needs, such as drinking water. Mr. Boyle feels the modern ways we get our staples, groceries, and whatever we need to live more or less decently have to change.

The resources are there, why not use them?

In the book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond, I read a substantial industrial-age egg producer in Australia sent production hundreds of km away so the product would pass through a quality control process and receive an ink mark. I can hardly find any justification for this and feel it is highly inefficient. And, the consumer pays the price for decisions made such as this, not the producers.

My point is, we have the resources necessary to put to good use empty inner-city buildings that currently waste space.

Next to our home, a large property has a few corn plants, but most of its 2500 square meters (over 16000 square feet) are empty. This property is in the center of the town. In the right hands, the property could be a production center with tilapia ponds, beans, greenies, rabbits, and poultry. Sadly, the property owners don’t have that intention. They bought the property to hold until it increases in value. They will sell it in the future for several times the original value. (Even though no one made the necessary service upgrades to the property.) Sure, this is a common practice for those with money in hand. However, doing so creates a shortage of living space, especially in…

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by Aden Tate

Should nations let their enemies purchase land within their own borders? You’d likely give a resounding ‘no’ to this question, correct? 

And yet, a former Chinese general with alleged ties to Chinese concentration camps recently bought an airstrip in Texas. And this isn’t just some random ranch in the middle of nowhere. It is 200 square miles (130,000 acres) of land between one of the most active Air Force bases in the U.S. and the border of Mexico.

As the world is being fear-mongered about “variants,” this is happening right under American noses. 

Who is Sun Guangxin?

Sun Guangxin is a former General of the People’s Liberation Army in China. He owns two-thirds of real estate where the Uyghur concentration camps are located in the capital of Xinjiang. 

Russia had The Gulag. China has the LAOGAI.

The terrors that take place within the LAOGAI system can be seen and read about on the LAOGAI Research website. The pictures and nightmarish stories within will show you the brutal truth about socialism/communism. 

Why Did Guangxin Purchase Land in the U.S.? 

The former Chinese General purchased the land to allegedly build wind farms. The name of the property purchased by the Chinese firm is called the Morning Star Ranch.

Sun Guangxin, who has close ties to the Chinese Communist Party, purchased the land allegedly to build wind farms, Kyle Bass, founder, and principal of Hayman Capital Management and a founding member of the Committee on the Present Danger: China, told Epoch T.V. in a recent interview.

The wind farm project, known as the Blue Hills Wind development, is being managed by G.H. America Energy, the U.S. subsidiary of Sun Guangxin’s Guanghua Energy Company. [source]

Should We Be Concerned About the Morning Star Ranch?

Well. Perhaps, yes. 

“You’ve got a former People’s Liberation Army general billionaire who has bought over 130,000 acres of Texan land, including a giant wind farm in an area where there isn’t particularly a lot of wind but happens to be right beside a very sensitive U.S. military installation,” Bass said.[source]

And the Morning Star Ranch has its own airfield. We’re not talking about just some cruddy dirt airstrip for a Cessna, either. We’re talking about a well-maintained, paved runway that’s somewhere in the ballpark of 4000-5000 feet. Current reports indicate that the former General may have expanded to 10,000 feet. The airfield is listed as permanently closed by the FAA (its call sign is TA81), yet it appears to be well-maintained. 

Who Wants a (Reportedly) 10,000-Foot…

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by Aden Tate

Within the World Economic Forum’s Great Reset, the mantra has come out that by the year 2030, “you’ll own nothing. And you’ll be happy.”

For those of us who haven’t been brainwashed by communism, this likely seems somewhat disturbing. But let us examine just how one can ensure “people don’t own anything.”

Let’s look at what a world without personal property looks like.

Medical Tyranny

“If it were up to me, anybody not wearing a mask when they are out in public would be arrested … That’s an act of domestic terrorism and should be treated like one,” Lancaster, California, Mayor Rex Parris

Let’s start with the low-hanging fruit, shall we? John Locke pointed out that “Every man has a property in his own person,” with Paul Skousen further adding that your body is your first piece of original property that you own. If you are to own nothing, does it not follow that your body will no longer be your own as well?

We already see the fruits of this type of thinking in forced (or coerced)vaccinations for people to work and travel (and not be arrested). We’ve most certainly seen this with mandatory masking. What could be the further logical progressions of this type of thought, though?

Is mandatory sterilization out of the question? What about forced organ donation? Are these indeed that far out of a concept – are they not the next logical step – in a world where you own nothing?

Forced Relocation

“The theory of communism may be summed up in the single sentence: abolition of private property.” – Karl Marx.

You will no longer own your house. And if you no longer hold the right to choice, your body, or your property, then you likely won’t have much of a say as to where you would reside either. Perhaps climate change could be argued as a reason to move all people into cities. Maybe racism/equity could be claimed as to why your home is being given to somebody else.

Regardless of which form it takes place, there are excellent odds that you would not be permitted to live where you want for long.

The Death of the Second Amendment

“The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism.” – Karl Marx

Your right to defend is centered around your right to life and right to own property. As illustrated above, if you no longer own the right to your own body, you in essence no longer own…

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(Psst: The FTC wants me to remind you that this website contains affiliate links. That means if you make a purchase from a link you click on, I might receive a small commission. This does not increase the price you’ll pay for that item nor does it decrease the awesomeness of the item. ~ Daisy)

by Aden Tate

Yet another consequence of 2020 was the growth of public surveillance (aka Big Brother state) disguised under the umbrella of COVID. When you can convince a populace it is dangerous for them to be unobserved, you create the mindset that public surveillance is for the good of all. 

Big Brother is bigger than ever

I work within the security industry.

One newer piece of technology that we can now install is AI fever monitoring cameras. Many buildings throughout the US now have a camera with thermal capabilities monitoring your every move when you walk in.

Should you be deemed somebody with a temperature outside of the preset bounds, the system will use facial recognition to lock onto you. As you travel throughout the facility, security staff/management is notified. 

How is this any different from giving a polygraph to every person without their knowledge or consent? 

Is this information the world at large needs to know?

Must you tell every business owner from here on all your recent health history to be admitted into the building? In the future, do I have to reveal every medical procedure I’ve had? Do I also have to report my sexual history, what foods I eat, and other private information before being allowed inside?

Consider the invasions of privacy that come from the utilization of thermal technology. The front desk staff now knows who has a problem with armpit sweat, how hot your crotch is, and whose butt is sweating.

Do HIPPA requirements apply here at all?

What happens if it’s discovered that heart rate is linked with an infectious disease? Will we then incorporate heart rate monitors throughout our facility? I hope you don’t get nervous speaking to that person you find attractive. What if an employee who doesn’t like you works the cameras? Isn’t that a violation of privacy?

What if it’s determined that abnormal sweating patterns are associated with an infectious disease? In this case, let’s say that it’s a sweaty butt. Are thermal cameras going to monitor everybody’s backsides in such an event?

Do you see how this can quickly grow into a terrifying experience?

Privacy is foundational to freedom

The Founding Fathers of America fully understood the importance of privacy when it came to freedom. It’s for this reason that the Fourth Amendment was written.

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated…”

Is it not a violation of the Fourth Amendment for someone to use…

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By Jackie Clay-Atkinson

Although we have a big freezer, I can up most of our meat. We raise beef cattle, turkeys, chickens, and we hunt, so we have a lot of meat. (Besides that, I am always on the lookout for sale prices on various meats from ham to whole boneless pork loin.) Why the heck do I bother canning it when I have a freezer, plus three upper freezer units in our propane refrigerators? Well, many years ago my fairly new chest freezer suddenly quit working for no apparent reason. It left me the huge job of canning up pounds and pounds of meat before it thawed completely and went bad plus (it seemed like!) tons of vegetables and fruit.

Things went well the first day. And night. But by the second day I was getting tired, racing to save our much-needed food. At that time I had eight kids at home and not a whole lot of income. By covering the chest freezer’s top with heavy quilts and only opening it to yank out a new box of half frozen food, I managed three days and nights of canning. But by the fourth day I was exhausted and the food was getting past prime. We carried out buckets of soggy vegetables and fruit to the pigs and chickens. But I had saved nearly all of the meat. It took me a week to recover and I swore that would never happen again. So I started canning my meat. Once it is well sealed and in the jars, that meat is good for decades. No more worries about freezer burned food, power outages, or defunct freezers for me!

Venison canned in chunks and ground

Another advantage is that canned meat is very tender, tasty, and handy. You don’t have to plan your meals around the freezer. If you decide on having a roast beef dinner, you just head to the pantry and pull out a quart or two of beef roast, some potatoes, onions, and carrots or other vegetables, dump them in a covered roasting pan and turn on the oven. In short order you have your dinner, fit for surprise company or your family who has been working hard all day. So easy!

And, best of all, canning meat is very simple. You just need your basic canning equipment and supplies: canning jars, lids, rings, a pressure canner, lid lifter, jar lifter, and canning funnel. Don’t forget, most important of all, your canning book! Even though I’ve been canning all my life, I look at the recipes and instructions every time I can anything.

Luckily, nearly all meat with the exception of fish and seafood is canned about the same way so, in order to save space here, I’ll just give you some general directions on canning meat so you’ll get the hang of it and see for yourself just how easy it really is.

No matter what anyone says, you must…

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By Jackie Clay-Atkinson

As winter approaches, we all are thinking of ways to make our livestock and poultry as comfortable as possible when the cold weather hits. Visions of blowing and drifting snow swirl in the backs of our minds. But even in the coldest areas of the country, our chickens can remain comfortable and happy even when blizzards rage outside and the temperature drops.

Because I’ve lived most of my life in northern climates and have always had chickens, I’ve learned a lot about keeping them safe and contented during winter months. Let me say, it is amazing how much chickens enjoy going outside on sunny days, even in the middle of a sub-zero winter. Just like the chickadees in the pines, our hens sunbathe against the south wall of their coop, singing and cackling happily just like it was summer.

But they do have a few needs that should be met to keep them healthy.

Our chickens happily sunbathe outside even when it’s sub-zero.

We like bedding chickens with wood shavings. It insulates the ground and is easy to clean out come spring.

Housing

In extreme northern, cold climates, it’s best to provide the chickens with an insulated coop. It need not be fancy but adding a few inches of foam board insulation to the walls and ceiling of the coop really helps keep the birds warmer, especially when icy winter winds blow. This insulation does need to be covered with something such as plywood, OSB, or boards as chickens will pick and eat this insulation. It really isn’t good for them, and having big, gaping holes in the insulated walls does nothing to keep the chickens warm.

Or, like a house, you can use fiberglass insulation between the wall studs and rafters. But, again, you do need to cover it with siding or the birds will peck and pull it apart. Besides, it becomes a great attraction to nesting mice.

Ventilation

Do make sure the coop has ventilation, however. You do not want to create an airtight building because moisture buildup, due to breathing and manure, can create respiratory problems such as pneumonia and disease. A simple crack on the down-wind side of the coop which can be covered with a flip down board in storms is adequate.

A south-facing window will not only let in the sun’s warmth during the winter but also light to keep those girls happy and singing all winter long.

Yes, chickens can and do live happily in uninsulated coops but breeds with combs will sometimes have their combs frozen during cold spells. The combs will swell and darken and finally fall off. It doesn’t seem to bother the chickens but I don’t like to see that happen. Having breeds with rose combs, which lay tighter to the head, will prevent this as will having an insulated coop.

The roosts are best constructed of round poles, about an inch and…

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By Terry Hooker

Everyone who homesteads has hit that point where they decide to be more self sufficient. Sometimes it’s from life circumstances and sometimes it’s a conscious choice. For me the moment came after my husband left me and I lost my job. I had a four-year-old and was hanging on to the house by the skin of my teeth. My neighbor was aware of my circumstances and after long days of job hunting or picking up substitute teaching jobs, I would come home to find fresh eggs or vegetables left on my doorstep. Yes, I was grateful, but I also knew then that I really needed to be able to grow my own food.

Even though eggs and the meat from chickens provide a lot of food, I was not ready for chickens even though that seems to be where a lot of people start. I didn’t think I could afford the chicken food since I couldn’t really afford food for us. I was also concerned about where to keep them. I have a small barn on the property but I was not ready to convert it to a chicken coop. Then there are the predators. We are located in a rural area between two large nature preserves. We hear the bull alligators call at mating season, have seen large bobcats as well as panthers. Coyotes roam the cattle fields close by and there are black bears in the woods. No, I was not ready for chickens, even though the fresh eggs from the neighbor were feeding us.

A garden

I decided to start with a small 5×5 garden bed. I was so proud of building my first raised bed. I painted the boards purple and started to plant. But the soil here is sand. I mean sand! We call it sugar sand because it looks just like sugar. So that was one problem. The second problem was that I grew up in the Northeast where I learned to garden, but I am now in Central Florida. Big difference in planting seasons! My garden was not successful at all. Nothing grew, not even weeds.

So I started to watch my neighbor since she was born and raised in the area. She brought in soil and composted the chicken manure. She planted year round and made sure to water regularly and use pest control. Also if the seed packet said the plants needed full sun, she often put them in partial sun. I got up the nerve to ask her for help and she taught me how to grow a garden in Florida. She taught me how to find plants that would grow in our climate and soil. She read every seed packet to see if they would grow here and would only buy plants from local nurseries, none from the large box stores. I followed her example and the next planting season I had a beautiful garden. Many of the plants I grew that first year were not…

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(Psst: The FTC wants me to remind you that this website contains affiliate links. That means if you make a purchase from a link you click on, I might receive a small commission. This does not increase the price you’ll pay for that item nor does it decrease the awesomeness of the item. ~ Daisy)

by Joanna Miller

Growing a successful garden can be hard to achieve depending on where you live. I began gardening in the Chicago suburbs, a wonderful place in which to grow things. The seasons were regular, the rain was abundant, and the soil was fertile.  

However, much of the country is not like that.

When I lived in the Houston suburbs, the summers were too hot for fruit to set. On the High Plains in Colorado, our weather is wildly unpredictable. May can bring 80-degree weather or snow. It’s not unusual to have both. To deal with this, I’ve learned to love season extenders. As we’ve discussed on this website, becoming productive is more important than ever.

Successful Garden Tip 1: Keep your plants warm with straw

Commercial growers in my area have hoop houses, the kind you buy from places like FarmTek. I flip through their catalogs and dream about future projects. But I’m also a fan of simple, and for simple cold protection, you can’t beat dirty animal bedding.

I usually plant peas, potatoes, and leeks in April because the very hard freezes are generally over by then. However, last year, in mid-April, we had a week of January weather. The highs were only going to be in the 40s, and the nights were dropping to between 10 and 15 degrees.

I didn’t want to lose my seedlings. So, I buried them in about a foot of soiled straw from my goats and alpacas. Then I topped it off with some pine needles I’d gotten from friends living in the suburbs. When the weather warmed up a week later, I uncovered the plants, and they were fine. They were definitely ready to see the sunshine again, but they survived. I only lost a few days of growth, rather than three weeks, if I had to replant.

Successful Garden Tip 2: Cloches

Not everyone has access to soiled animal bedding. A technique more popular with suburban gardeners in my area is to use cloches. Cloches are any small, transparent covers you can use to protect young plants from frost. You can probably buy them.

In my area, people reuse gallon milk jugs as cloches. Take an empty gallon milk jug, cut off the bottom, and then partially bury the jug around each plant so it won’t blow away (I live in a very windy area, so this is important).

It’s not unusual to see milk jugs all over people’s properties this time of year. The nice thing about milk jugs, too, is that you can leave…

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By Jackie Clay-Atkinson

We have had at least one cat in our home ever since I was a young child. So it’s no wonder we truly value our feline friends. Not only do they provide entertainment (much more interesting than television), comfort, and companionship, but also help keep down the vermin around the homestead.

When Mom and Dad came to live with us here in Northern Minnesota, they also brought their three remaining old cats, Mimi, Texas Joe, and Monte. As the years passed, so did Mimi and Texas Joe, dying from old age. But Monte still hung in there. And boy did he hunt! First thing every morning we’d turn him out so he could hunt. He often came to the door with a fat mouse, ground squirrel, or vole. But when he finally died quietly (after a morning’s hunt), Will found his “trophy room” up in the hayloft. There was a pile of tails — a big pile! No wonder our gardens flourished so well.

It’s amazing how much damage voles, mice, ground squirrels, and chipmunks can do to your crops. They girdle fruit trees in the winter, eat into melons and squash, nibble the inside out of tomatoes, and dig up corn just after it germinates just to eat the seed below ground. And these critters are also very prolific, often having several big litters of young in one summer. Without a cat around we’d soon be run out by these little varmints.

When Monte passed away, we were left with no more cats. Soon after, Will and I stopped at our neighbor’s yard sale. We browsed a bit and the wife told us she had two kittens left to give away. Will asked to see the male. It was love at first sight and he tucked Mittens right into his shirt to stay warm.

That was years ago and Mittens is still with us. She hunts on and off all day and is a very effective hunter. “He” became a she when she went into her first heat. (Hey, we never looked!) So far, she has brought home countless mice, voles, ground squirrels, chipmunks, two big snowshoe rabbits she dragged down the driveway between her front legs like a lion, and seven weasels.

I’ve had several chickens and a whole pen of fancy pheasants killed by weasels so they’re on our hit list. They’re pretty tough customers too. That’s why we were very impressed when Mittens presented us with her first one.

Cats can be a terrific homestead help.

A good mouser won’t only get mice, but she’ll also hunt ground squirrels, voles, and chipmunks which can do a lot of damage to your crops.

Basic cat selection

We’ve found it best to get a kitten. When you raise a kitten, you can quickly correct any bad habits like getting on the counter, scratching furniture, or climbing the curtains. They quickly learn to use an indoor kitty litter box while…

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By Lisa Nourse

I love summertime — I love the green of the trees, the warm weather, and growing my own food. I especially love growing vegetables that will store well and provide that great summertime flavor in the middle of our gray and dreary Pacific Northwest winters.

We can a lot of our summer crops but canned vegetables just don’t retain that fresh-picked flavor. So we use a variety of means in order to enjoy fresh vegetables year-round. By overwintering some crops in the garden (Swiss chard, kale, and spinach), growing microgreens inside, and growing crops that will store for long periods of time, we manage to keep a variety of fresh vegetables in our diet throughout the winter months.

Winter squash is one vegetable that stores well so we grow a few different ones for use during the colder months. Stored correctly, some winter squash (Hopi Pale Grey, Blue Hubbard, and sometimes Butternuts) will keep until the next season’s crop is ready to harvest.

Many vegetables and fruits prefer cooler temperatures for storage but not winter squash. I find that they keep better stored at room temperature. Winter squash come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. They are beautiful to look at so you can store them in plain sight all over the house. Arrange them in a corner next to a potted plant, make a table display, fill a wire basket or old wooden box, put them in a child’s wagon, line them up on the fireplace mantle — you get the idea.

Here are a few of the different kinds of squash and pumpkins I like to grow.

Growing winter squash

Winter squash are fairly easy to grow but they require quite a bit of space. Fortunately, if you have a smaller garden there are some bush and semi-bush varieties that can be grown.

In addition to being delicious, most bush varieties mature faster than the larger vining types. A bush squash typically only takes up a 3×3-foot space. So you can fit three hills of squash (with 2-3 plants per hill) in a 6×6-foot area.

Semi-bush squash take up more room than the bush varieties but their vines remain shorter than the larger vining squash. They also have a tendency to produce a lot of fruit in the small amount of space they use.

If you are short on space think about growing a bush or semi-bush variety. Keep in mind though, because the foliage produces the sugars that feed the fruits, some bush and semi-bush varieties can be lacking on flavor. But there are some that are great. Here are a few of my favorites that we find have good flavor:

Bush Delicata

Cucurbita pepo, open pollinated. These oblong-shaped squash have creamy white skin with green stripes and flecks. The flesh is smooth and nutty flavored. The storage life of this squash is a little shorter than the harder-skinned varieties. I find they store well for about 3-4…

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