I Would Love To Raise Chickens

Raising chickens around my home is not a possibility because I am an apartment dweller. 

Chicken Embryo Educational Poster - Amazon

I do not think that constructing a coop on my patio would be welcomed by the property manager but it is always a thought! I will have to wait until I am in a home of my own with a yard that will allow room for a coop large enough for roosting and nesting. 

My 3 Hens 

I had 3 hens in Florida when I lived there and I enjoyed watching them grow from fuzzy little chicks into the beautiful hens they became. Two of the chickens were pullet chicks and the other was a Rhode Island Red. I brought them home as these tiny, little peepers and let them nest in a large, clear, plastic storage box in my living room. 

They had a clay pot with a light bulb fixture run through it for a heat source and a feeder. I believe I had a jar feeder for their water, too. I need to dig out the old images and see what this cage set up was so I can share it with you. In time I will diagram the cage and the set up. It had a thermometer in it and shredded pine in the bottom for soft nesting. When their feathers filled in and they were no longer babies but full hens, I placed them in the cage in the yard.

Life Cycle Of A Chicken Chart - Amazon

They were housed in a large steel mesh pen and covered with a plywood lid that was weighted down at night with potted plants on top. I had to make due with the materials at hand. This box was in a shady area and I could hose it down when needed. It was  roomy enough for them to each have a section to themselves.

Keeping chickens in an area that has predators is always a challenge. *

Around my yard then, there were raccoons, foxes, and stray cats that were a sure threat to my birds. I lost them one by one because I couldn't watch them every second and I did not have a screened in yard for them to roam in. I let them wander the garden during the day and they were picked off one by one. 

I left them out over night after a month of putting them outside and heard this squabbling noise. I ran screaming out the house. "LET HER GOOOOOOOO!!!" I did rescue that chicken but looked down to see that I was running almost in the buff. What a sight I must have been tearing out the door and off the porch in to the woods in my underwear!

The next time I set up a chicken dedicated home there will be some changes. I live in Southern Nevada now,

Fancy Chicken Coop - Image: MorgueFile.com
This coop looks more like a condo for chickens than a coop!

so the raccoons and foxes won't be an issue but keeping them cool will be. I am thinking about adding a misting system to the outside of the coop where they can stay cool in the summer heat. A/C would be a little extreme but I do love my critters!

I still have a chicken feeder that sits on one of my book shelves. It silently reminds me of the first three birds I kept and the long term goal of keeping chickens for eggs and meat again.

If you keep chickens, do you plan for their 72 hours of emergency supplies? For chickens their kit would require a bulk stock of chicken scratch feed and water for drinking.

Chickens won't need much. Leave them behind if you have to bug out unless you are prepared to drop them into a soft bag or a pet carrier of some kind. It depends on your crisis. They probably won't be very happy with you sticking them into a pillow case...

Related links and topics:

How To Build Your Own Coop: Chicken Coops On Skruben

Amazon Affiliate Links and Sales Pages 

Raising Chickens For Dummies

Free-Range Chicken Gardens

Preparedness For Your Pets - Continued

Lynn Kaatz Tin Metal Sign : Golden Memories - Amazon

With our family pets it is important to make a preparedness plan that includes them. 

Readiness for a dog will be marginally different than the preparedness we would plan for our family cat. 

I understand there are many of you that will bring your animals with you in the event of a disaster in your area. This is excellent advice IF you have a secure location to go TO. Your shelter is already set up for your animals. 

Many people are not as fortunate. In the event you decide at the last minute to go to a shelter and intend to bring your canine or feline baby with you - know that they will not be welcome, no matter how much you love them! When this may be the conditions of your bug out, planning ahead with some reasonable ideas will prevent a heartbreaking and unsafe situation for your family critter and yourselves.

Think ahead for your animal. Know what they may have to deal with in the event you have to leave them home and plan well for their safety and well being. In a question I posed to two separate Facebook Groups, I asked what people were planning for their pets in the event of an emergency. There were several very helpful pieces of advice in these conversations.

What I learned from them will undoubtedly help all of us pet owners in emergency situations.

I will detail other animals later. I am addressing standard house pets at this time.

Kindness Two Cute Kittens Art Print Poster - Amazon

When a large storm rolls through or a noisy situation is in play I can't tell you how many dogs, cats, and other beloved animals will bust loose and try to get away. The noise and the energy is scary to them and they go into the flight mode. Know your animals will do this. Keeping them safely where you know where they are and being prepared for them is the kindest thing you can offer them. There are too many homeless animals after the wake of severe disasters.

Let's start with what to do in a minor situation. 

We can count that as a power outage or a situation where we can remain at home. This situation is simple. Make sure you have adequate food and water for your animals and your family. Ideally we should stock and store about 3 to 6 months of food or more if we want to remain on a preparedness level within our home for just in case. These preparedness measures are for anything not just storms or nature disasters, it can be for the event of something impacting our finances. Prepping their foods into our food storage list reduces an additional stress item from our crisis. Pack a minimum of 2 weeks into your storage areas for your pets required nutritional needs. Plan for their water, also. Add the same amount of h2o they would drink in a few days time depending on the size of the animal.

Medium level disasters would be a fire or a flooding of our home. In this case, a packed emergency kit ready to go for our animals and each of our family members that will tend our needs temporarily until we are able to find a temporary home and assess the damage to our property. IF this is the case, finding a hotel or a friend that is pet friendly with us is a good thing to seek out BEFORE an event of this kind strikes. Maybe we can set up a tent or a shelter in the yard at the home. If this is the case the animal can stay with us.

Worst case scenarios would be an earthquake, fire, or a hurricane totally leveling our home. What if it is a total civil unrest situation and we are caught up in it? We are now in a bug out situation and if we are to travel with our animals we must make sure they can come with us safely. A travel cage and leashes are needed for our dogs and for our cat, too. If you have a rodent or some other exotic pet, a travel box that is secured for their comfort and vented is required. The worst thing we can do is leave an innocent animal to fend for themselves.

Packing a 72 hour kit for a dog or cat

1 gallon of water (depending on size of animal. A couple of small water bottles would be good for a cat.)

Large Ziplock Bag(s) With dry food for 3 days

3 Large cans of food

Can opener

Blanket

Towel

Washcloth

Water dish

Food Dish

Travel Crate

Leash / safety harness

Medicines (if needed)

Pet Vitamins (needed for the stress of evacuation!)

Pet First Aid Kit

If you have a more exotic family pet, make sure you can take them with you safely! We mean to bring them gently along with us, not damage them by the exit. Always consider their needs and put some thought into what they are going to need to travel with you in the even of emergency.

What pets would you have to prepare for?

Can you add to this list of preparedness items for an animal?

Thank you for visiting! Please, sign the guestbook and let me know you were here! Have a great day!

Preparedness 123 Week In Review: July 23rd to July 29th 2012

I thought it would be a great idea to summarize and review the preparedness topics from this week in July. Depending on the amount of posts entered I may do this on a weekly or bi-monthly basis.

Preparedness topics covered for July 23 to July 29 2012

From Prep 1 2 3

First Aid Training
There was a need to update the article about first aid and add information about proper training. There is a deep sense of responsibility I feel when it comes to first aid training and who should actually administer it. Expanded with some added information including a Minnie Mouse video showing her first aid practices! First aid training kits and supplies...

Preparedness And Pets
I asked some of my prepper friends on Facebook what kind of animals they had and what were their emergency prepareness plans for their furry (or feathered) friends. See the responses here: Preparedness for your pets...

Protecting Our Families
There are many ways to prepare your family. Firearms are good but they aren't always going to be available. Seek to be trained and think about other things you can do to protect your family.
The spirit of preparedness - Self Defense...

Catch up with all of our activity 

on Prep 1 2 3 & it's sister sites:

*

Survival-Recovery.com

and 

Survival Recovery on Wordpress 

From Survival Recovery on Wordpress

• Coal as emergency fuel...
• A word on Spam...
• Emergency Communication - CB Radio...

*
Website:
Survival-Recovery.com updated!


Are there any topics you would like to know more about?