Preparations Update

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Not so sure ducks are the answer to my protein needs.
Sure my shire council doesn't have a ban on drakes like they do roosters.
What I have found with these ducks is-
* The ducks are going through up to 40 liters of water a day. The chickens are going through less than ten.
*The ducks are going through 10 kilos of feed every day and a half. The chickens are getting 3 cups per day.
* Ducks are louder than chickens...REALLY.
* Ducks are awake 24/7 ( read noise levels). Chickens go to sleep at night.
* Ducks smell more than chickens. REALLY.

As it stands the ducks haven't gotten old enough to lay eggs yet but the feed they're eating has increased.
In SHTF situation I don't see myself being about to keep up with the sheer feed and water requirements before they became a contributor.

I know I have said I would NEVER get quail because I don't believe in keeping animals that can't procreate on their own.
With the outrageous feed bill ( and climbing) to get these ducks to laying age I could have gotten a large 12 vlt incubator to hatch out quail eggs and have been way...WAY out in front.
I could have gotten eggs and meat by now in a 3rd of the time and with less than quarter of the feed.

Maybe I', over feeding the ducks but the noise levels of a flock of hungry ducks going off their heads at 2 in the morning just isn't worth having the feeder empty.
 
Tank-Girl said:
Not so sure ducks are the answer to my protein needs.
With the outrageous feed bill ( and climbing) to get these ducks to laying age I could have gotten a large 12 vlt incubator to hatch out quail eggs and have been way...WAY out in front.
I could have gotten eggs and meat by now in a 3rd of the time and with less than quarter of the feed.

Maybe I', over feeding the ducks but the noise levels of a flock of hungry ducks going off their heads at 2 in the morning just isn't worth having the feeder empty.
Click to expand...

Have you tried DUCK Tape for noise control, just funnin you, don't do it. ;)
 
Amish Heart said:
Yep. All those things about ducks are true. They are better if you have a large outdoor space and the smell is not so bad. They do enjoy water naturally, and need something to swim in. How many do you have?
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12.
I do have a large low tote for them to swim/ bathe in but they're too lazy to get into it.
They rather lay down next to it, dip their bills water and then thrash around in the dirt like normal ducks would if they were in the actual water.
Yes it's low enough for them to climb into but they just don't.
I obviously have mentally challenged ducks and I'm not at all surprised.
 
Went to town today. (Its been a long time) Did some shopping.

Was so out of practice I locked my keys in my truck.

Luckily, I was parked at Lowes so I had access to any materials I needed. Bought a $3 metal rod, and 45 minutes later, I was in.

I will say, its a lonely feeling when you haven't left your property for weeks, to then find yourself outside, at night, in the winter, 1/4 inch away from everything you need including your way home.

Really need to come up with a hid-a-key.

Although now that I've done it, I think I could break into my truck in about five minutes.
 
Aerindel said:
Went to town today. (Its been a long time) Did some shopping.

Was so out of practice I locked my keys in my truck.

Luckily, I was parked at Lowes so I had access to any materials I needed. Bought a $3 metal rod, and 45 minutes later, I was in.

I will say, its a lonely feeling when you haven't left your property for weeks, to then find yourself outside, at night, in the winter, 1/4 inch away from everything you need including your way home.

Really need to come up with a hid-a-key.

Although now that I've done it, I think I could break into my truck in about five minutes.
Click to expand...

I once got out of my (running) vehicle to open a farm gate. My dog hit the button on the arm rest and locked the doors.

It took me about ten minutes and no small amount of dog psychology to convince him to hit the rocker switch and unlock the car.

In the end, I slowly disappeared out of his view by dropping down close to the door, then reappeared slowly back up into his view immediately adjacent to the door lock switch. He obliged by jumping over to that part of the door and unlocking the car.

Same as you, I try to look at these things as a learning experience.
 
That's a funny story. When we were first married, my husband's job took him to France for a couple of years. A friend I met there was original from Sweden, and she had a four year old. Most apartments had balconies, but if you were out on the balcony, and the sliding glass door was shut, there was no way to open it from the outside. Her four year old shut the glass door on her while she was out, and the only way she could get him to open it was to tell him he could play with his dads new power tools.
 
Had a friend eons ago who was a Sales Rep in New York City. He had parked on the street, and locked his keys in the car. When he came back he had that Oh XXXX moment. A stranger was standing in front of the building, and he asked "Did you lock your keys in the car?" My friend said "Yes, I did."

The stranger walks up to the car, and feels around on the outside of the door; then he hits a spot with his fist. The lock popped straight up like Fonzie used to do on Happy Days. The stranger looks at my friend and says "What are you? A Salesman?" My friend says "Yes, I am." The stranger says "I'm a crook." and walks away.
 
I was traffic through a construction zone when I noticed the car ahead of me had a bad brake light. I jumped out of the car to tell them then realized I had locked my keys in the car with the engine running and blocking all traffic. The police resonded and fixed me up. But since then I developed a compulsion that drives The Princess and my son nuts. I can NOT close a door without first checking for my keys. I also carry a duplicate just in case.

Ben
 
My cousin and her husband locked their keys in their car. I was called to remedy the situation. I drove over, unlocked the car, with my lock pick, as quickly as you might with a key. My locksmith friend said that picking a lock is like hunting, you never know when you're going to get what you're after. Facing the car, I was able to control my facial features before turning around looking like this was an everyday event. They, on the other hand, looked like the world was no longer safe.

Years before we met, my wife was out with her girlfiends when sh locked her keys in the trunk. A group had gathered to watch the event when a cop showed up. They explained what happened. The cop looked all around the gathered crowd and said, "Never a crook around when you need one." I've always been laughing too hard to hear how the story ends but I'm quite sure she eventually got her car back.
 
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Tank-Girl said:
Just checked the tyres on the Buzz Box and I still have plenty of tread.
I need to get it a full service while I can afford to because I want the car to be ship shape before the economy tanks.
While I'm at it I should get a couple of sets of consumables like fan belts, spark plugs, leads, fuses and oil and fuel filters.
I've been bailed up on the side of the road before because the fuse to the starter motor died and I didn't have a replacement. Luckly a gentlemen came along and he swapped out the fuse for the horn into the slot for the starter motor. It started first go.
Lessons learned. Check.
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Car this is a good idea.
 
Restocked all my shelf stable cartoned milk today. We always get free raw milk from my cousin, but when we were quarantined we couldn't leave the house for two weeks so we used up alot. The kids like the stuff in the carton better than the powdered, although I mix the two sometimes. I normally have some frozen, but I've got the freezers packed with meat.
 
I have dried and canned milk but haven't tried the shelf stable milk. When I've looked at Parmalat it was a bit pricey but I just checked $ Tree and it's Gossner brand is less than half the cost of Walmart's Parmalat. I'm curious if it tastes like regular milk or is similar to the flavor of canned milk and what the shelf life is. I did a search to find out where this brand is produced and it's a family owned business based in Utah and Idaho.

Bulk Gossner Foods Premium Whole Milk, 1 qt. Boxes | Dollar Tree
 
I buy a case of it at Dollar Tree. They sell whole, 2 percent, 1 percent, soy, and almond. I don't consider soy and almond to be real milk, so I don't buy that. I always buy whole milk, because I can add water to it. Normally I don't buy milk at all, I get raw milk from my cousin. But I do keep a stock of it, and glad I did when we had covid, and were stuck in the house for a couple of weeks. The grandkids drink alot of milk. I bake with milk, I make butter from the raw milk, and sometimes cheese. Although raw milk and it's products do not last very long...maybe 5 days. Then the chickens get it. In the case of raw milk butter, I freeze it. Parmalat and Gossner taste about the same to me. I do keep powdered milk in storage, but the box milk is a bit better.
 
Thanks for the feedback. My grandsons go through a lot of milk so I wanted a backup that they'd like even if only on their cereal. They don't care for the flavor of canned milk but I'm not picky and other than cooking I mainly use it in my coffee if I'm out of the other.
 
MoBookworm1957 said:
Rotation of canned goods, shelf milk,peanut butter is on schedule today.
Update freezer for meal planning schedule today.
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Didn't do these things yesterday.
Was rearranging house for new apt washer and dryer reward for paying off $5000 of debt in 2020.
Will do these things today.
Filled bean jars.
Filled rice jar.
Rotated those items out stores.
Placed those items on monthly grocery list.
 
Tonight, I plan to put date and put away food storage, I had mail order stuff from 2020 and the last of that should be delivered today. I have been using the Son's bedroom as a staging area, but he is planning to come home this weekend and I don't think he would like sleeping with cans of beans. :)

I also have a mountain of laundry calling my name, so I may try to finish sorting that and do that as a multi-tasking activity...
 
Aerindel said:
Went to town today. (Its been a long time) Did some shopping.

Was so out of practice I locked my keys in my truck.

Luckily, I was parked at Lowes so I had access to any materials I needed. Bought a $3 metal rod, and 45 minutes later, I was in.

I will say, its a lonely feeling when you haven't left your property for weeks, to then find yourself outside, at night, in the winter, 1/4 inch away from everything you need including your way home.

Really need to come up with a hid-a-key.

Although now that I've done it, I think I could break into my truck in about five minutes.
Click to expand...

I saw a video about how to hid a key on a vehicle so that it blends in under the car. They used gaff tape and truck bed spray to hide the key.
 
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