New Neighbors Neighborly?

This week we’re wrapping up room in the new ladies in. I discuss a strategy that I used, and show the fruits of that labor.

New Ladies Moving In

OK. No minimalist/redo prepping this week. Opportunity knocks, I answer. But can’t we all just get along?

Refortifying the Coop... Again

The ladies suffered some losses. Time to refortify and the repopulate!

Godspeed to you all.

DIY Bacon Grease Suet Treat

You know how I like to take care of my ladies and not to waste anything. Here’s a little treat I whipped up for them.

Godspeed to you all.

Hen Condo Winter Mods

This week: Keeping my chickens dry and warm and happy.

I just bought a new coop. It’s awesome, complete, and should outlast my desire to need it. However, winter is here, the girls are crowded, and I have to make some adjustments.




Godspeed to you all.

Love Thy Eggs: New Coop 2019

o.
This week: Keeping my chickens dry and warm.

I just bought a new coop. It’s awesome, complete, and should outlast my desire to need it. However, winter is coming soon and I’m in a rush to get it covered, so I had to do a little thinking on my feet.




Did I mention it was pre-wired? That light bulb survived the trip right where it's at!

Here’s a couple of pics in case you missed it.

Here's that ash I was talking about. Be careful what you burn!

Godspeed to you all.

Hot Dogs?

It's that time of year again. Whether you believe in Global Warming or not, summer is the hottest time of the year and this one is shaping up to be a warm one. When it hits 90° F in Alaska, you know it's going to be a miserable summer.

I know, I know; Arizona and the southwestern US gets hotter, and the southeast has humidity that you can almost swim through. Here in the upper Midwest, though, the temperatures are pushing 100° F and the humidity is >50%. With the exception of a few mountainous areas and the far north, we all have to put up with heat, which means we all need to know how to recognize and avoid heat injury. David did a good job last month of covering how to avoid heat injury to yourself, but how many of us have animals? Pets and livestock are just as susceptible to heat illness as we are, more in some breeds and areas.

Dogs and Cats
Dogs and cats don't sweat the way we do. We have sweat glands all over our bodies; they have a few on the pads of their feet and around their noses.Sweat glands cool the body by pumping out water that carries away excess heat as it evaporates. Without enough sweat glands, dogs and cats rely on panting and external cooling to regulate their body temperatures. Working dogs need to be watched carefully since their activity can keep them from cooling off. Long-coated breeds will overheat faster, of course, but they all need to be provided with the same protection as humans:

• Plenty of cool water to drink. Cool water will absorb heat from the inside and carry it away when they urinate.
• Shade. Get them out of the sun. If it's uncomfortable for you, it's probably the same for your pets. Dogs and cats can get sunburn, especially if they have thin or white fur.
• Rest or at least reduced activity. Unless it's an emergency, try to avoid using your working animals during the heat of the day.
• Cool places to rest. Cats will find a cool place on their own usually, and the smarter breeds of dogs are pretty good about it as well. The knotheads that some of us have as pets may need to be shown a cool, shady spot in which to lie down. 
• Never leave an animal in a closed up vehicle. That's cruel, criminal in most states, and an invitation to a busted window in most areas.

Exotic Pets 
These will have to be cared for as your veterinarian suggests. Cold-blooded pets like snakes and lizards are very tolerant of the heat, but birds and small mammals may need some extra care.

Livestock
If you're raising animals for food or sale, the loss of even one of them can be a significant blow to your pantry or budget. Most of the signs of heat injury in animals is the same as for humans; lethargy, stumbling, loss of appetite, etc. Prevention is much cheaper (and easier) than treatment, so provide the same water, rest, and shade as you would a person. One of the farm insurance companies has a good list of symptoms and preventative measures on their website. Scroll down towards the bottom of the page and you'll see a table of the water needs for some common livestock. Make sure you plan for a way to provide fairly clean water for your animals when you're considering raising your own food.


Stay hydrated and as cool as you can this summer and think about what you can do in a SHTF situation to prevent heat injury. Use the search box in the upper left-hand corner for some of our earlier articles; we've covered a few ideas over the years.

Emergency Heat: Propane

How do you heat your home if the power goes out? You can use a propane canister like I demonstrate in this video.

If you use one, be sure to have a carbon monoxide/smoke detector combo. If you don't, you can get one from Amazon for around $30.




Bonus Video: Repurposing used olive oil for chicken feed!

Tubers and Chicks Update

In this video we revisit some old friends.

Henpecked

One chicken is clearly top of the pecking order and bullying another one to the point of not eating or leaving the hen house.

She looked better today. The other hens are also being attacked, but not to the same degree.

If it continues, the bully gets a bullet.

Keeping the Ladies Warm

I'm heating my house this winter, but I also have a henhouse to keep warm. After all, I want those ladies spending energy on making eggs, not staying warm!

Prudent Prepping: Paying It Forward

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Follow along as I build a long term plan via Prudent Prepping.  

The recent fires in Napa and Sonoma counties haven't affected me directly, but all the pictures of the survivors and their pets touched me.

In many interviews I've listened to, their dogs and cats were more important than anything in their homes. Getting out with only the clothes on their backs, but with Fluffy or Fido, made all the difference to them.

Sometimes Fido was the hero, like this dog who refused to leave the flock of goats under his care. Be sure to click through the slideshow, and be careful of the dust likely to appear.

This gets me in my usual meandering fashion to the topic of Paying It Forward. Many people think the idea originated in a movie, but Benjamin Franklin wrote about the concept long ago. I've had help like this several times, most recently when I was between jobs and had a dreaded (but not unexpected) veterinary bill. Due to a situation beyond my control, my cat ended up in very bad shape and the final bill leading up to putting her down was $350. This was money I didn't have to spare in my budget, but a friend knew what was going on and took care of it, keeping me above water.

My Tortoise Shell, Feliz

That money was freely given with the belief that I'd do something similar for others when I had the opportunity, and indeed I have given money and other items to people with the same instruction given to me: "I don't want this back, but look to do the same for someone else in the future."

The fires and the stories of pet owners saving their beloved animals made me think of the Animal Rescue Foundation right away. I've been a fan of A.R.F. for many years and liked the way their idea for rescuing animals came about:

" The catalyst for ARF came on May 7, 1990 at a televised baseball game between the Oakland Athletics and the New York Yankees. In the middle of an inning and amidst cheers from spectators, a stray tortoiseshell cat looking for food took a wrong turn and suddenly found herself on the playing field. Trapped in the enormous Oakland Coliseum and frightened by the roar of the crowd, the frantic cat dashed around the field, desperately leaping at any means of escape and eluding the players and umpires who tried to capture her. Panicked and unable to find a way out, she slinked towards the infield, exhausted from her ordeal. Tony La Russa, then-manager for the Oakland Athletics, coaxed her gently into the A’s dugout where she would spend the rest of the game in safe confines. Tony and his wife Elaine, a life-long animal advocate, discovered there was not a single no-kill shelter in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area and that the little cat would likely be euthanized. They took her under their wing and exhausted every lead in hopes of finding a safe haven. At last, they were able to place “Evie” – named after Oakland A's team owner, Evie Haas - in a permanent, loving home where she could live out her natural life."

This group delivers on all their promises to do everything they can as openly as possible to help animals, and that is why I made a donation to their fire relief fund.

This isn't exactly Paying it Forward, since I don't directly know the people receiving the help or was able to tell them why I donated, but knowing A.R.F., I'm certain the idea will get through.

The Takeaway

• Helping with no no strings attached is a good thing. Doing it with a group that is making a difference is fantastic.

The Recap

• No direct purchases were made by me in the last week, but a donation was sent to A.R.F.

Just a reminder: if you plan on buying anything through Amazon, please consider using our referral link. When you do, a portion of the sale comes back here to help keep this site running! 

If you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.

Emergency Veterinarians

We had a bit of chaos in our house last week when our geriatric cat developed a sudden and severe abscess on Monday. The swelling was severe, and due to his age and the sudden onset (he showed no symptoms 24 hours prior), we were very concerned for his health. Unfortunately, we didn't see it until he came out from wherever he had been hiding to go to bed at 10 pm.

The geriatricat and abscess in question.

10 pm is a really inconvenient time to need a veterinarian. Everybody knows (or should know) where their local human emergency rooms are, but what about animal ERs? As good fortune would have it, I have had to find a late night vet once before in this town, and so I knew where to start to solve our feline emergency. The first time I needed one, though, I was well and truly lost.

I've found two good ways to find after hours vet care. The method I used the first time was a simple Google search for "24 hour vet [my city]." The other, far better way is to ask your regular veterinarian ahead of time. In conversation with our normal vet, after the chaos had settled, I learned that we actually have three after-hours vet clinics in town, and she was able to make recommendations for which ones have specialized treatment facilities. Being forewarned is being very forearmed!

Usually, the after-hours vet is kind of like an emergency room for humans: they address the immediate symptoms, buying you time to get to your normal doctor. In our case, they gave our cat painkillers and a broad spectrum antibiotic, and eased our concerns about his immediate prospects, but we still had to take him to our normal vet for further treatment and a complete diagnosis.

He'll be fine, by the way. He was diagnosed with an abscessed tooth, which my vet assures us presents exactly as quickly as we observed. I'm going to pick him up from getting his teeth pulled after my work shift, and the furry jerk is expected to grumble at us about the state of the world and his lot in life for years to come.

Talk to your vet, and find your local after-hours clinics. You owe it to yourself and your animals to have that information at hand.

Lokidude

The Skunk Trap (Protecting Your Preps 2.1)

Sometimes life hands you a skunk that eats your chickens; sometimes life then gets rid of that skunk for you.

But even though I didn't have to take care of the skunk myself, I thought I'd show you the plans I'd made for him.

Saving the Ladies (Protecting your Preps 2.0)

Mother Nature is relentless, so we need to be as well.

Protect Your Preps

Let's talk about protecting what you have.

Just because is prep is frugal doesn't mean it has no value. We put our time and energy into it, so we have the right to protect our investment.

Protecting those preps isn't always an easy solution. I'll let you know how it turns out next week!

Handsome devil, ain't I?

Puppy Go Bag

We got a puppy over the Independence Day weekend, and now we're learning a whole new type of prepping. We're starting with the Puppy Go Bag.

Items mentioned in the video:

• Waste Bags
• Collapsible Bowl
• LA Police Gear Bail-Out Bag

Lokidude

Prepper Vehicle Choice?

Since our editrix Erin decided to make this a theme week, and the theme is “What is your choice in vehicles for preppers?”, I get a break from having to come up with a topic.

I tend to agree with David and Lokidude on their selection of a pickup truck as a good vehicle for preppers, because they're versatile and common. I've owned a pickup for all but a few years out of the last 35, so I'm a bit biased toward them (I'm comfortable working on Ford products from experience; GM and Chrysler make good ones as well). My current daily driver is a 1999 Ford F-250 2WD with a standard cab and full-size bed. My work truck is a 2008 Ford F-250 Super Duty, 4WD with a farm hitch, so 20,000+ lb trailers and dirt roads are normal parts of my days.

I also own an M35A2 2.5 ton retired Army truck.

Photo is mine, of my truck

Pros:

• Multi-fuel: diesel engine that will burn almost anything combustible.
• 10-wheel drive: if the bumper clear the hill, it will go up it.
• Bullet-proof drivetrain: the Rockwell axles have been a favorite of custom off-road shops for decades.
• Twice the bed of a pickup: 8' x 12' on mine but the 5 ton version came with a 8' x 16' bed.
• Three times the load capacity of a pickup: the 2.5 ton rating is for off-road; on-road they'll carry 5 tons.
• No electronics (EMP hardened): the turn signals/brake lights and windshield wipers are about the only things electric on mine.
• 50 gallon fuel tank.
• Made out of real metal instead of recycled pop cans.

Cons:

• A royal pain to find parts for, as they stopped being made about 20 years ago.
• Normal tools are not large enough to work on a lot of parts.
• The tires are mounted on split-rim wheels, which can be dangerous to work on.
• It gets 4 MPG on a good day.
• The top speed is around 50 MPH.
• It has no heater or air conditioner.
• The steering column is a piece of steel pipe pointed at your chest.
• The suspension is stiff as a brick unless you have a serious load in the back.
• You need a ladder to get into the back if you're over 50 years old.
• It runs on a 24V system, so lights and accessories are not easy to find.
• The batteries (it has two 12V batteries in series to make 24V) cost over $200.00 each. Diesels take a lot of battery power to turn over when starting.
• It stands out enough that I can drive it in parades.

It's a good vehicle for bugging out... but there's more to prepping than just bugging out.

My choice of vehicle for general prepping is influenced by what I am prepping for. My main concerns are natural disasters or weather related, with the serious threats that would require a vehicle being some long-term disruption of society. An EMP attack, Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) event, or some other cause of wide-spread loss of electricity would cripple the nation and lead to societal collapse. Wars we have dealt with; same for epidemics and crop failures. But losing the electrical grid would kick us back about 150 years in technology, so my prepper vehicle choice would look more like this.

Image is in the public domain. http://tinyurl.com/lcesley

I realize that not everyone has the resources to own horses; they take land and a moderate amount of care (the money is about equal to owning an automobile when you compare the two), and they're not as convenient as a car.

Pros:

• The power source is capable of self-replicating. Let's see your Cat diesel create another diesel engine!
• The system is modular. If you don't need the cargo capacity of the wagon, you can leave it behind and just ride the horse. Need to drag a log off of the road? Hitch two horses together and they'll move it.
• Roads are optional. A horse can get you places that not even a dirt bike can get into.
• There is nothing on the wagon that can't be fixed or replaced with hand tools and simple skills. Wood and steel are easy to find and shape. Lots of old-timers used whatever animal grease they could find to lubricate their wagon wheels -- no special semi-synthetic oils needed.
• A horse and wagon is a lot quieter than a pickup truck, especially a turbocharged diesel. The noise is also harder to pick up against a natural background of animal noises.
• No need to buy a diagnostic code reader to figure out which 02 sensor/crank position sensor/throttle position sensor/etc. went bad.
• Women seem to be drawn to horses, especially young ones. My grand-daughters would love to have a pony or three.
• Horses can be taught; a pickup truck can't. It will vary by the breed and individual, but horses are fairly intelligent animals.
• Fuel requires no chemistry to produce. Grass, hay for winter, and some grain (along with plenty of water) will take care of most of their needs. Salt and mineral supplements are simple to find and store.
• If TSHTF for real and everything is worst case, can you eat your Dodge?

Cons:

• The narrow wheels don't like soft ground, they cut in. This means going off-road may be mandatory if the road is muddy.
• Top speed is around 5-10 MPH, so long trips will mean sleeping along the way. Normal traveling speed will be lower, so you'll have to plan your trips more carefully.
• Suspension is minimal (or missing),  which means rough roads will beat you up physically. The low speed will offset this to some extent.
• Paved roads require good shoes on the horses. Farriers make good money because they practice a dying art.
• Vet bills will be scary at first, but are in line with taking a newer car/truck to a dealer to get fixed. That $500 annual visit for vaccinations compares to having a new starter or alternator installed on a car. If you don't want to pay that much for either, learn to do it yourself and save a lot of money.
• Horses are herd animals and are happier when they have other horses around. Keeping more than one horse gets expensive, but if your wagon is designed for two to begin with, it's something you'll have to deal with.

For long-term prepping, I'd take a couple of horses and a wagon. It would haul as much as a pickup (although not as fast) and be easier to maintain. There are plenty of uses for a horse besides transportation that a car or truck wouldn't be suited for, and working around another living thing feels different than working on metal and plastic.

Adventures in Oklahoma

If you will recall, OkieRhio has been talking about our adventure together in Oklahoma. Well, there is at least one story that she can't tell you because she wasn't there for it.

Rhi had gone back to OKC and I was chilling at our campsite by myself for a few days. I decided to go over to the pond and toss a line in for a while, just to relax and pass the time as I had all the camp chores done If I caught something, it was going into the stew pot that day.

After about an hour, I decided to call it quits and head back to grab some delicious, wonderful well water water from the hose. As I was walking back up to the house, I happened to glance over at the calf pen,  and I noticed that Little Red was out and bucking around.

They had four calves at that point in the pen, and I did a head count. Three.

Something was wrong. I charged into the field towards the pen only to find a calf, Erika the Red, was in big trouble.

Somehow she had managed to wedge her head into the gate. Her head was under it, and the full weight of her body was twisted around and sitting on top of the gate. She also wasn't visibly breathing.

My only thought at this point was "Shit. I'm going to have to explain to Jen and Craig why their prize calf has a .45 in the back of her head."

I started tugging on her legs, trying to get her untwisted. When I got her weight off of the gate, she heaved a huge breath and looked at me as if to ask, "All right, human. What now?" 

I was crying at this point, just straight up bawling and talking to her. This was a situation where if she panicked again, she could snap her neck or kick me in the head.

After tugging her into a position where she could breathe easier, I started looking at the gate for where it connected to the fence. Thank the Gods, the owners had only used bailing wire.

Moments later, I was able to disconnect the gate and quickly began sizing up how I needed to move it. I started hauling it up on its side and adjusting Erika's head as I went, trying to untwist her neck enough to where she could slip out.

However, once the pressure from the gate let up, she began bucking and spinning herself in a 360, which caused me to lose my grip on the gate. Then I tucked down and caught the gate with my back
as Erika came crashing down beside me.

She looked at me again. "Now what, genius?"

I extracted myself out from under the gate, and went back to trying to haul it up to where she would be able to work her head out. I got it standing again, and she got to bucking again, but at this point the two of us had managed to get her into a position where she could twist herself free.

One turn, two turns, three turns, and on the fourth turn she managed to get free... and then came down straight onto my left foot. She weighed about 200 - 350 lbs. at that point.

I managed to keep hold of the gate as she got herself clear, and then shoved it over with no small amount of disdain. Then I turned and looked at her. She took several steps away and kept giving me "I meant to get my head stuck." looks. 

"Are you going to let me check you over?"

"Hell no." Ericka the Red became Ericka the Dumb.

I limped my way back over to the ranch house -- maybe 30, 40 yards -- and plopped into a chair with relief. I had managed to keep a prize calf from suffocating to death. Honestly, that's the second worst kind of death after drowning in my book. I didn't have to shoot her to put her out of misery and I would have not felt good about that.

Now, saving Ericka was crucial for the Masseys (the people who own Knight's Rest). This is a $4,500 dollar calf! She is a back-breeding of a Viking Red sire out of a Jersey Dame. and this is a rare breed -- though I'm not entirely sure why,  as they are super milkers. Ericka's sister is 15+ years old and still milking strong on a farm out in California. Assuming Ericka doesn't do anything else stupid, she will be a boon and blessing for the Masseys in about a year.

And my foot? After Craig Massey returns and I explained what happened to him, he invited me in to chill on the couch and ice it. The next day I had no bruises and no broken bones. Ericka had come straight down on me, and if she had been an inch in any other direction, I'd have been calling Renee to come get me and we'd have been sitting in a hospital for a few hours.

And the only scolding I got?

Was for giving myself a hard time over it taking me a minute and a half to figure out how to save Erika.

Yeah, you read that right. I'm still pissed at myself at how long it took.

My story here is an example of how quickly things can go wrong on a farm, and that you have to be willing to get dirty and hurt to save your livestock sometimes. They are your life, and they are your keys to a good future.

Just be sure they don't have half the personality Ericka does.

Snakes and Shudders

Nothing beats real-world skills practice. As part of that mentality, my Boy Scouts and I went camping last weekend. There were many lessons learned about the value of practical skills, and a few new skills were learned.

One of those teaching moments came when the boys encountered a snake. The boys did everything right by standing back and summoning an adult to identify the snake. A couple of us even got some decent pictures. 

(On a humorous note, I think this is the first time that I've been in a group that encountered a snake and NOT been the most scared adult. Snakes and I don't get along at all.)

The snake in question.

The first obvious concern was whether the snake was venomous. When no one else in my group knew how to identify it, I realized just how many folks have no information on how to tell if a reptile is venomous or not. 

With that in mind, here's a handy overview. There are only five types of poisonous reptiles native to the USA: Four are snakes, one is a lizard, and all of them are quite distinctive if you know what to look for.

Coral Snakes

A coral snake. Note the distinctive colors. Image from nature.com

• The odd man out in American poisonous snakes, coral snakes have slender bodies and heads.
• Their distinctive coloring pattern of red, yellow, and black bands is mimicked by some nonvenomous species, but remembering "Yellow, Red, Stop!" helps in identification, as only the poisonous snake has the yellow and red bands touching. 
• Coral snakes are less aggressive than other species, with smaller fangs and a reclusive manner. 
• Their venom is incredibly potent. A bite from a coral snake requires immediate medical attention and has a higher instance of fatality than other species. Coral snake antivenin is also in very short supply, and is no longer being produced.

Rattlesnakes

While rattlesnakes are extremely varied, they all have rattles in common.
Image from sdsnake.com

There are a wide range of species and subspecies of rattlesnake in the USA. Most of them are concentrated in the Southwest, but there are species ranging over much of the country. All of the species represent variances, but there are some common features to all of them:

• They have vertical pupils, but the odds of noticing this on a live snake are slim. 
• They have a blunt tail with bony rattles, which is the source of their name. They can shake these rattles very quickly when threatened, making a buzzing noise that sounds like nothing else. 
• They have broad, triangular heads and thick, fat bodies. 
• They also have sharp, pointed scales, in contrast to the smooth, sleek look of non-venomous species.

Cottonmouth

A cottonmouth making a threat display. uga.edu

• Also known as the water moccasin, the cottonmouth is native to the southeastern United States. 
• It is semi-aquatic, commonly found along streams and rivers. 
• It is a very strong swimmer, able to traverse large bodies of water. 
• Like other vipers, it has a fat body and a broad head. 
• They are particularly large snakes, with adults reaching and exceeding 3 feet in length, and some large examples weighing in at 10 pounds. 
• They are very dark in color, approaching black in full-grown adults.
• They behave more aggressively than other snakes, and will eat virtually any animal, including small alligators. 
• Bites to humans are frequent, although not often fatal. 
• Cottonmouth venom breaks down tissues around the bite, sometimes requiring amputation. It is  however readily treatable with antivenin.

Copperheads

Image from agfc.com

• Copperheads are the least venomous group of snakes. 
• Their bite injects only small amounts of venom, and frequently injects none at all. 
• They range throughout the southern and eastern US, with a preference for deciduous woodlands (areas with leafy trees). 
• Like other venomous snakes, the copperhead has a broad, triangular head and fat body.
• The copperhead is a master of camouflage, with a dirt-colored skin and the tendency to freeze when threatened. 
• This habit actually leads to bites, as the snake is frequently stepped on, or startled by a nearby step.

Gila Monsters

sandiegozoo.org

• Native to the desert Southwest, the Gila Monster is the sole venomous lizard in the USA.
• They're also the largest native lizard, with some specimens reaching two feet long and weighing five pounds. 
• They have pebbled scales and body coloration, with bands of black alternating with orange-to-pink shades.
• While their venom can cause pain and swelling, it occurs in such small quantities that it is not considered lethal to healthy adult humans. 
• Gila monsters are very slow-moving and easy to avoid. 

But What Was It?
Our snake at camp was a common rat snake, great for rodent control and completely harmless to us. The boys got some neat pictures and a fun brush with nature, and the snake slithered off to find some chow.

Discover Life has a great utility for snake identification in the field. Know your venomous snakes so you don't get bitten.

Lokidude