Replies

When the flag goes up (I’m predicting June/July) all will be in place. Grabbing all the zone 4 gardening goodies I can between now and then. My better half is scouting up where to get our livestock out there... a barn raising is in my very near future! <<<

Good planning on your part.

June/July is a time frame that I am hearing on the radio talk shows.

That seems very possible, I guess I don’t have a real idea on that one, as it appears that there is a real race on to see that we fail as a country, every day something else that I get scared a little more by.

I am definately picking up riots and pay back time for all of us who did not vote for Obama.

One of the missing things this past month, has been my police scanner, so I am out of date, unless I catch a riot on the radio, Oakland has had several in the last month.

Las Vegas and Denver are having serious gang problems and race riots, a little sneaks out in the broadcasts, with their warnings to stay away from certain spots or schools that are shut down.

I hope that you are buying goats for the homestead, and hogs, for they will love you if you feed barley, corn, etc soaked in goats milk or the whey from making cheese.

The goats are easier to care for, give as much milk as you can use, don’t buy them if they won’t give over a gallon a day.

And if times are really bad, you can keep them in the house with minimum trouble and they are as much fun as a dog and will guard you, or simply go for a walk with you, they can talk, think of a siamese cat or a good dog.

You should have 2 milk goats, bred 6 months apart, so the supply is steady......I have had them go 2 years without being bred and still give plenty of milk, but about 9 months is all some will do.

Find the 4-H goat group or FFA group, for information on what is best for your area. [FFA = Future Farmers of America].

I prefer Nubian above all, but they may not do as well in the cold.

Buy a milk test sheet/pack from Hoegers [sp?] Goat Supply, it is a little card, with a chemical spot on it, if the milk has bacteria in it, it will change the color, I forget the codes, the box will tell you all about it.

Check the goats udders, they should not have sores or odd lumps in them.

If you are a beginning milker, have them put the goat on a milk stand, I have had goats that would stand for milking without a stand, and goats that I milked with one hand, while holding their leg with the other, to keep them from spilling the milk.

Cover your milk bucket with a clean cheese cloth, a large rubber band will secure it and it keeps hair and other odd things, such as bugs and even feet out of the bucket.

I was taught to take a wet towel [bucket with warm water] in it and to wipe down the udder and the under belly areas.

That not only cleans the area for clean milk, but lets the goat know that they are going to be milked.

Feed them grain, while milking, a goat mix or even grain and they will allow you to get on with the job.

Hogs would be the next choice, I fail to think of bulls or cows for emergency, as there is too much meat to care for and it is too difficult to cool it out and save the meat.

I still see Vinegaroon wash, out of Wellton, we found the bodies of maybe a hundred burros, all killed and the hind quarter removed, it had been going on for years, 3/4 of the burro wasted, to take such a small part of it.

In the western deserts, the prospectors burros were often released and their are large herds of them roaming the desert.

Kinda like, a deer or elk, designed by a committee, without antlers.

How I envy you, survival living was a lot more exciting than living in the city.