BOL Set Up- Animal Preparation

Discussion in 'Off Grid Living' started by Yard Dart, Jul 13, 2015.


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  1. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    So I have been reading, watching and learning for years what folks are doing for rabbits, pigs, cows, goats and so on. What would you do with an unoccupied 7 acre property where you could not maintain the animals daily, but prepare for them. When things start to go haywire.... lets assume there is an indicator to bug-out and not a complete EMP immediate type collapse, what would you do to be prepared for that... what would you build on your property as a preparation for bringing in animals for a true self sufficient living?
    Currently:
    Two current chicken coops on the left and a minimalistic compost bin in the center.
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    Koi Pond... currently their are two big ones in there....
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    five fruit bearing trees at this time......
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    Not shown is two 40 X 20 gardens with various veggies going......

    A creek on the back end.... unlimited forest land surrounds, and a river down the road.........
     
  2. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    Bury and underground intake pipe, from the creek to your well house.... First thing, and do all the work yourself... Leave it two feet short of the creek bank and capped off. Then be prepared with a simple Suction Hose, with Foot Valve, for a quick installation if, or when, you arrive from BUGGING OUT. This gives you a backup Water Intake that no one knows about.... In case you well goes bad, or other issues.... Think about if there is a place in the attic of the building, where a emergency Water Tank can be mounted that is inside the insulated part of the building. Preferably over a Bearing Wall. Then get your Chicken Houses ready for birds, so all you need is some fertilized Eggs, to get started. I would get a few Rabbits, and turn them loose, and hope they get themselves established, locally. That way you do not have to feed them, but can hunt them, down the road...
     
  3. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    one of my plans was to bury a line or two for irrigation use off of the well..... I like the idea of running a line out towards the creek... had not thought about that one.... thanks for that idea @BTPost !!
     
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  4. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    A lot easier to pump water a few feet in elevation from the creek, than from a deep well... Just make sure the line is below the Frost Level of the area...
     
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  5. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

    1st of all. Really nice property. Well done.
    Perspective: what do you need if you walked in tomorrow and had to leave your other stuff at home? Is that what your asking? If that is what you are looking for I'm assuming you know what to stock. So the only major items

    Woodshed, full and locked
    Greenhouse that is half submerged in ground and faces south.
    Agriculture - Greenhouse: Earth Sheltered Solar | Survival Forums
     
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  6. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    Damn near ocean frontage.... maybe a couple hundred feet at most I suspect..... frost level will be minimal.
     
  7. techsar

    techsar Monkey+++

    For an area that small, setting up areas for rabbits, chickens and goats would be my priorities. Milk, eggs and 3 types of meat without nearly as much upkeep and aroma of hogs and cattle. A milking stall with stanchions makes the job much easier. Post shed to provide shelter from weather. A couple chicken tractors under it (while waiting.) Building anything nicer would likely be a waste of time, as vandals will find it.

    There are some tree leaves that produce cyanide when they decay...these need to be cleared away from where the goats graze! Don't ever believe the adage that goats can eat anything. They Will eat nearly anything, but may not survive the experience.

    Fruit and nut trees, berry bushes, grape arbors...and hardwoods (for lumber and firewood). Keep some areas well fertilized for garden plots.

    A well, capped.

    Just some random thoughts...glean what you may :)
     
  8. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    Good questions..... dry goods and various stock/supply accounted for. What I am curios of, for folks opinion that have been down this road, is what to do as a prep to bring in.... animals and other upgrades.... as a BOL perspective and not as a day to day on site living arrangement.
     
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  9. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    My thoughts as well on the larger animals... though there is an area you could graze a few cattle pretty well on a few acres.....
    Outside of the immediate owned acreage.... there is hundreds of acres of open forest land adjacent to the property line, at the minimum..... which open's up the options post-SHTF. I will have essentially the forest going North with only a family or two in the vicinity...
     
  10. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

    I'm serious about the green house. You can start a garden anytime and if you do it right the rabbits and chickens can live in the floor of the green house at nite and outside in the day.
    [​IMG]
     
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  11. Dont

    Dont Just another old gray Jarhead Monkey

    Clarification? Would this be a temporary fall back location and then a return to your primary AO? As I read your post, your BOL would become your permenant AO. As such, anything that is needed for home, garden, and livestock that is not perishable should be prepositioned and this would include housing.

    However, when it comes to the critters, one can not preposition them unless you have someone in the area of your BOL that you can REALLY trust. If your prime AO is urban then you may not be able to keep livestock there for a quick move. Brings us back to people you trust that live in a rural area. Even if they live outside the area of your BOL, there is still the possibility of making a deal with them to keep some livestock for you on a basis of payment or better trade in what they keep for you. Feed that would be purchased for a bug out could be rotated out to feed the kept animals and fresh feed purchased to replace it. And then the culling of the animals could be shared.

    Look at your BOL from the view that it would have to feed yourself and any animals that you and your family will need. Takes time for "from chicks to egg's in the pan"

    I had given this subject some thought about twenty years ago. I settled on moving on to my property.. Ravens love to eat chicks!
     
  12. Gopherman

    Gopherman Sometimes I Wish I Could Go Back to Sleep

    You can purchase old storage containers for a pretty good price, paint them with Epoxy Paint, they'll make and excellent barn for weathering animals, bury one and put in a top access and camouflage it with branches and debris. You can then store Solar panels etc.,without fear of robbery.
    Rabbits will probably not stay around forever but they will multiply as BT said. Goats and sheep are good up to 20 animals per acre of grazing and will keep the property maintained. They will have to be wormed every so often, but you can buy wormer blocks that will do 2,000 lbs for $40 a block.
    Watering them and protecting them will require good high fencing. We have people around here losing their livestock to coyote's all the time. A Great Pyrenese, I hope I spelled that right, would help but that would require too much intervention.
    Chickens and Rabbits will attract predators! Mostly Hawks and Fox, Raccoon's as well as Possum that a larger fence will not keep out.
    We are looking for a secluded 3 acre plot within 20 mile radius to do exactly what you are talking about!
    This auto watering system will work well enough and is only about $60, you could install it in the Koi pond!
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Aug 1, 2015
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  13. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    The pond is nice but I can see a liner. You have dogs and if there are elk in the area be prepared for a leak or two. We have a pond like that and all it takes is a dog or two in the pond and you will have to replace the liner. Either have extra liner available or be prepared to fill in the pond.
     
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  14. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    Or line it with something more durable, like concrete.
     
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  15. Gopherman

    Gopherman Sometimes I Wish I Could Go Back to Sleep

    So do feral cats.Roosters will kill them if they get the chance as well as older chickens. If you raise 6 or more together they tend to defend each other after about 2 or 3 months. I just lost one that got beat to death by older chickens.
     
  16. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    Not sure what we are going to do with the pond......possibly will have to do it in concrete as @kellory suggested. With a couple hundred and some pound dogs.... I am sure the current liner will be destroyed within days ;(
     
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  17. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    I am planning on dropping something in the ground such as a storage container..... or other ;) I have a perfect little area for it on the back area, where the property drops down to the creek.....

    We also have a lot of mountain lions in the area.... a good reason to not let anything free range while we are not living on site.
     
  18. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    Remember the water table. If you are near a creek, you will have a much higher likelyhood of flooding.
     
  19. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    The land drops about 40 feet or so to the creek bed..... but yes, at high water during storms...that would have to be considered. ;)
     
  20. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    Sounds good. From your description, I assumed it was on the same grade level.
     
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