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right now, I'm planning a menu for 2 weeks before I start stocking up my food supplies. I reckon eating the same menu for 2 weeks, allows some refresh so you don't get bored. In the past I've just bought whatever I felt I would eat or cheap but I realise that the missus is a fussy eater, so its probably better to plan the menu and recipes before I continue buying.

When the supermarket has sale on the various canned goods, I will make the purchase, sufficient for 2 weeks at a time. I'll probably stock up till I get about 3 months worth of food. Fishing and some foraging of vegetables around my neighbourhood will stretch it to 6 months or so. I have tons of Tilapia in the river next to my home :)
 
Slowly adding to our food storage room and building up our prepper business. We need more shelving and food but we will get there by staying proactive.
 
Currently, I'm putting together a GHB for my wife's truck tailored to her needs (and those of her usual passengers).

After the holidays, we're going to start prepping the garden for a Feb. planting. I'll need to put up fencing around it.
I also want to rig up two rain barrels that I could use to water it, in the event we lose power.
 
A covered addition and quail pen to my present chicken coup/ run . Researching raising quail and will locate a local breeder.
 
im mainly adding things to buy right now.and yes.i got sevral diffrent list of things to buy.my main concern right now is canning supplys and our primary shop list that we do at the begining of each month..i've started keeping 8 32oz containers in the van,so that means there's always 2 gallons of water there at all times.a guy wth hovaround came out yesterday.he replaced the battries seat both arm rest and 2 tries,in which i kept all the old ones.battires are still good.so it's a matter of comeing up with a idea for them.on acount i dont thing the recycle center pays more good battires..
 
We want to put in a chicken coup next spring. My wife wants to get them as chicks, whereas I would rather have egg-laying chickens from the get-go.
 
yeah.egg laying right off will start saveing money right off..where as geting chicks goes.you gotta wait how ever long you gotta wait before you get your first egg(s)..and to me,thats costly
 
jimLE said:
yeah.egg laying right off will start saveing money right off..where as geting chicks goes.you gotta wait how ever long you gotta wait before you get your first egg(s)..and to me,thats costly
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Exactly my argument....but she feels they will be more used to us, if we get them early. I simply don't care about that. I just want them to make eggs....
 
jimLE said:
im planing on building some shelves in one cornner of the laundry room.but my mom says she rather have a cabnet with doors on it instead.now that can be a great idea if we can find one thats tall wide and deep enough for that cornner.that way we can have foods there.and they wont be seen when folks are going in and out of the house.
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Hey Jim, you can always make shelving now, and then add doors on them later on. If your lucky enough you can find furniture at garage sales, like chests of drawers, for storage.
 
Gazrok said:
We want to put in a chicken coup next spring. My wife wants to get them as chicks, whereas I would rather have egg-laying chickens from the get-go.
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I live in n ga., the chicken capital of the world! They raise birds here that are full size in 6 to 7 weeks. They have lights go on and off all through the night, and feed the hell out of their birds every time the lights go on. Apparently chickens go for breakfast every time they wake. Well, my birds aren't full size for almost a year, and close to that to lay eggs. On the good side, my birds are happy and healthy, and have a pretty good life. I suggest going to livestock auctions and getting birds that are a little bigger but still young. When they start laying you can incubate some eggs and increase your stock as desired. That way you can kind of have it both ways.
 
looking for chest-of-draws for a diffrent room yes.(BUT) what i need in the laundry room needs to be 35 inchs wide,33 inchs deep,and 7 feet tall..now putting doors on it later on if needed is good idea thoe
 
i have some butcher and pocket knives that i got from my dad when he passed away in 1998..been working on geting them sharpend up.and i need to decide what'll goes into my b.o.b when im done sharpening them.
 
Altani said:
Just started on prepping but I have some prepper-friendly projects I have been working on like sewing my own clothing and stocking up on stuff for a planned trip to live without power and modern conveniences for two weeks. However, related to prepping, I am learning how to shoot and have started gun shopping for when I have money again in August. I'm also working with my husband to make a shopping list for making bug-out bags and making plans between us and a closely trusted friend and possibly my sister and her family if it is a situation where they can get to us (they live about 30-40 minutes away).
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I've been thinking a lot about practicing life without electricity. I'm working on several different prepping projects at a time, yes I'm a little add, I'm going to keep working on systems to help heat water, cook, etc. I've been heating with wood for a while but I do have the central system kicking in in the middle of the night. My next big project will be a solar system with batteries to run my freezer and fridge. Once I get a little more prepared I would like to start trying to go a week at a time without the grid.
 
Gazrok said:
We want to put in a chicken coup next spring. My wife wants to get them as chicks, whereas I would rather have egg-laying chickens from the get-go.
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Your wife is right on this one. My daughter named and played with the chicks from day 1, now adults , they are so tame you can pick them up , rooster included . I'm no chicken expert, only 15 months into this, happy chickens lay plenty eggs. .Predator proof your coup/run or your just asking for problems. That hot wire was only temporary as my dogs were just TOO interested at first. Old Anorak gave sound advice when I started out. Where is that girl?
20130216_170706.jpg
 
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Gazrok said:
We want to put in a chicken coup next spring. My wife wants to get them as chicks, whereas I would rather have egg-laying chickens from the get-go.
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We bought our day old chicks last spring, 14 total. Yes, we had to wait a few months before they started laying, but at least we know what we have and were able to pick out the best breeds. Now we're getting 8- 12 eggs every day. That's far more eggs than we can eat so we're selling most of them at $3 a dozen. I built the coop and pen next to the garden. All the garden waste goes in the pen, and all the chicken waste goes in to the garden.
 
realisticdude said:
Your wife is right on this one. My daughter named and played with the chicks from day 1, now adults , they are so tame you can pick them up , rooster included . I'm no chicken expert, only 15 months into this, happy chickens lay plenty eggs. .Predator proof your coup/run or your just asking for problems. That hot wire was only temporary as my dogs were just TOO interested at first. Old Anorak gave sound advice when I started out. Where is that girl?View attachment 1953
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Great coop, and the wire was a great idea. I recently lost most of my hens to neighbors dogs, I'm getting a wire soon!
 
Arcticdude said:
We bought our day old chicks last spring, 14 total. Yes, we had to wait a few months before they started laying, but at least we know what we have and were able to pick out the best breeds. Now we're getting 8- 12 eggs every day. That's far more eggs than we can eat so we're selling most of them at $3 a dozen. I built the coop and pen next to the garden. All the garden waste goes in the pen, and all the chicken waste goes in to the garden.
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Yeah, the chickens make great fertilizer. I mix it in a bucket of water and put it sparingly around the rows, not directly on the plants to keep from burning them.
 
One thing I continue to work on is building my inventory of arms/ammo. 9mm ammo is hard to come by in my neck of the woods; however, I've noticed quite a bit of .45 mm sitting on the shelves (for now). Solution? Bought a 30 .45 Glock.... gun show's in town so picked up another 2k ammo.
 
Myrrph said:
good stuff :) wish I could keep chickens over here. Fish are really my best bet.
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Have you considered rabbits? You can call them 'pets' if you have strict zoning laws, just don't name them or it's a lot tougher to enjoy the barbecue. They produce a really good ratio of meat vs cost, and their fertilizer is great straight on the garden.
 
Brent S said:
Have you considered rabbits? You can call them 'pets' if you have strict zoning laws, just don't name them or it's a lot tougher to enjoy the barbecue. They produce a really good ratio of meat vs cost, and their fertilizer is great straight on the garden.
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i live in an apartment. If you've ever been to Singapore, most of us live in apartments with little sun (Wrong angles). The place with the most sun is actually the 2 toilets in the house!

But I've considered Rabbits, and might go into them after I've settled some basics. There are some wild chickens in a home near mine. Maybe if the SHTF I might forage them :X
 
Hmm, seems the wife was right I guess. I just hate having to feed more mouths for no return, but then again, I've heard it isn't expensive to feed them.

We would definitely predator proof it, too many dogs not to. We already do that for the rabbits we keep. Not sure about using the chicken waste for fertilizer though, but I have horse manure anyhow... I do like the circular idea. Our coup wouldn't be far from the garden. Here in FL, I also have to make the coup storm proof. I like to make sure my animals are safe and comfortable, even in a hurricane.
 
Gazrok said:
Hmm, seems the wife was right I guess. I just hate having to feed more mouths for no return, but then again, I've heard it isn't expensive to feed them.

We would definitely predator proof it, too many dogs not to. We already do that for the rabbits we keep. Not sure about using the chicken waste for fertilizer though, but I have horse manure anyhow... I do like the circular idea. Our coup wouldn't be far from the garden. Here in FL, I also have to make the coup storm proof. I like to make sure my animals are safe and comfortable, even in a hurricane.
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Chicken waste is much better fertilizer than horse manure. Whatever weeds the horses are eating, the seeds will pass through and grow wherever you put the horse manure. If you compost the horse manure then it should be ok for fertilizer. Just don't use it fresh.
 

yeah chicken manure is better,there's 2 hay fields behind where i live.they use chicken manure on them.i got 3 five gallon buckets of it last year.and used it on parts of my yard.next year i plan on doing the same for my garden..
 
Arcticdude said:
Chicken waste is much better fertilizer than horse manure. Whatever weeds the horses are eating, the seeds will pass through and grow wherever you put the horse manure. If you compost the horse manure then it should be ok for fertilizer. Just don't use it fresh.
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I have heard about the weeds and grass seeds passing thru horses and cows. The chicken manure is great but you have to be careful from it being too strong. Dilute it!!! I think using what you have available is smart, and use as many different things as you can. I'm keeping logs of what I use each season, and whatever is working gets repeated. Unfortunately by the time I figure out how to be a great Gardner I'll be too old to garden!
 
I'm not sure about diluting chicken manure.to me,it's just a matter of being careful about how much you add to the garden and where..especially if you have fertile soil to begin with.
 
the only thing I am doing now is losing weight and hunting down ideas for a new hobby/crafting skill... I have candle making, basket weaving, writing how to's and remedies info in binders sort of like prepping scrapbooks, like maps with routs and alternative routs to bug out locations, how to remedies of essential oils, and how to crafts like sewing clothing, these are my ideas so far I havent done it yet. and yes I am an expert at run about sentences.
 
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