# Seriously preparing...... I think



## faithmarie (Oct 18, 2008)

We ... I just killed 58 male meat chickens this week end.... my daughter did two and couldn't do any more... so for her mothers day present I kill the rest. She cleaned them and my younger daughter bagged them and and froze them. My grandsons caught the chickens and brought them to me. It was HORRIBLE. But I did it. My husband called me a murder ... in a loving way..LOL
As a believer I saw how in the Bible where it says ... without the shedding the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.... sin is so awful it is the cause of the shedding of blood......

Oh I am so sorry for ranting..... ummm
So we did chickens and put a new generator with 500 gal liquid propane tank.
We have 4 cords of wood... is that enough? 
Put a new well in with a hand pump attached. So we have 2 sources of water. 
We bought a whole new bunch of canned tuna and sardines in olive oil. A bunch of canned corn beef hash.... we cant swallow canned ham or spam... but my husband said we will eat a rock if we get hungry enough. He grew up poor. Although they always had food.
Out of 25 fruit trees we planted last year only 5 survived the winter. I want to splurge and buy bigger trees. I have my dads 22 and my hubby has his shot gun...... so we die. Give me a knife and I can kill anything NOW! LOL


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

faithmarie said:


> She cleaned them and my younger daughter bagged them and and froze them.


You have a good start - have you thought about canning chicken meat in mason jars? We had both - frozen and canned. Each has advantages. You have to do it properly, though.

A generator with 500 gallons of propane? Wow! 
Even still, use it sparingly, and only for short perods at a time. Consider getting some deep cycle batteries and a few power inverters so you can have some basic electricity for when the generator isn't running.

A deep-freeze will stay frozen for all day with a couple jugs of frozen water inside, and no one opening the lid. Look into getting some 12-volt LED lighting. They will still light, even when a bettery is very low - and use very LITTLE electricity. Good lights is one of those "comfort" things I really enjoy. LED do not add heat to the house, which is important in summer in Texas! Candles are good for the winter since they do add heat to the house.

I am looking for an old chest freezer to convert into a fridge. Stand-up fridges are not insulated well, and let all the cold air out when you open the door. A converted chest freezer works great as a fridge, and is one of the next items on my list


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## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

Wow, congrats on butchering the chickens. It's always hard for us to butcher domestic animals. My husband hates to kill something he's fed and looked in the eyes.

Four cords of wood, that depends on a lot of things. Do you know how much it takes to keep your house warm from one summer to the next? Size and insulation, as well as personal preferred indoor temperature, come into the equation, along with your climate.

Sorry to hear about your fruit trees dying. When we bought our fruit trees we bought them one zone colder than recommended for our area, hoping that would make them tough enough for our northern mountainous climate. Seven years later they're still alive, but it's taken a lot of effort and care. 

Good luck on future projects! Sounds like you've got a great start!


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## faithmarie (Oct 18, 2008)

I was looking Exsheeple's chickens and it looks sooooooooooo unappetizing also I am not brave enough.... I might just be serving botulism if I know me. I would LOVE to be able to do it though.
The generator only goes on for a few minutes once a month for testing. And it will only go on if the power goes out. And we can regulate it at that point. 
That is a good idea to put bottles of water in the freezers . I didn't know you could convert a freeze into a fridge.
I have a lot of candles ..... and a couple camp lanterns. 

We have 10 acres and my daughter has 60 acres.


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

Wow, I'm impressed! Try the ham that's canned in "chunks." Usually these are the small cans. 4 cords of wood might be enough in NY but I'd feel better with ten cords. It all depends on how cold and long the winter is, how big your house is, how well insulated, the quality of your stove, how warm you keep the house and whether you want to heat the whole house or just a couple of rooms. You have a good start on firearms, now just be sure you have plenty of ammo for them. When you run the generator be charging batteries. When the batteries are charged, shut off the gen. and run off batteries. 

You're doing great, kep it up!


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## Davo45 (Apr 29, 2011)

*Good start*

Sounds like you've got a good start to your prepping Marie. As others have said, 4 cords of wood may or may not be enough depending on your situation, but it is certainly a good start.

The little LED lights are great and safer to use than candles or lanterns indoors....no carbon monozide to worry about. I've seen somebody in another thread mention the little solar driveway lights, put them outside in the sun during 
the day then bring them inside just before dark, they're pretty inexpensive too.

My sister's power was out for 3 1/2 days following the tornadoes that swept through much of my home State of Alabama. We had gone in together and bought a small freezer, a neighbor bought a generator on day 3 and had enough space in their large freezer for our things. She advised that the items were still pretty much frozen although beginning to turn a bit "slushy". Not bad for 3 days without power.

That's enough of my rambling for one post.

Welcome, take care and God bless.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

Davo45 said:


> I've seen somebody in another thread mention the little solar driveway lights, put them outside in the sun during the day then bring them inside just before dark, they're pretty inexpensive too.


The good ones are getting harder to find. Try your best to get the ones that DO NOT have a poured epoxy over the solar panel. (If you can get your fignernail to ctach it, it is epoxy) These get cloudy over a short period of time and stop working. I have some with amorphous silicon under real glass, and those are good for over ten years.

If you are handy with a soldering iron, you can replace the "clouded" panels with new ones easily and keep the life going on these. I really like the good qulaity solar string lights, as you get multiple bulbs lit up from one solar controller.


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## CulexPipiens (Nov 17, 2010)

faithmarie said:


> I didn't know you could convert a freeze into a fridge.


Google it "converting chest freezer into a fridge". Also http://mtbest.net/chest_fridge_1.pdf

You are also a step ahead of many in that you killed your own food. Most people I don't think could. They just want to think of the nice sanitized packages of meat in the store and not think back to the source.


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## Clarice (Aug 19, 2010)

Great start Marie. I can get through the butchering process by blanking out the animal and thinking about the children and grandchildren.


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

:congrat: to you, GREAT start!

I've never had a propblem killing & butchering, why kill so many at once? 
Did you have too many to manage? 
Are you going to try other methods of preservation, like dehydrating?

Dollar Tree has solar lights now, & yes they are pretty crappy... but this weekend I was kind of sick so I didn't really feel like doing anything strenuous so I fiddled with some of those. I have found that I can make a three light system with one panel, so I guess that means for every three I buy I have 2 spare panels so it works out OK, not great but OK.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

The_Blob said:


> .... I didn't really feel like doing anything strenuous so I fiddled with some of those. I have found that I can make a three light system with one panel, so I guess that means for every three I buy I have 2 spare panels so it works out OK, not great but OK.


You might find the lights will not stay lit as long, due to the increased amperage draw. This is fine if you only need light for a few hours in the evening after the sun goes down and before you go to sleep.

If you want the light to stay lit all night long, you may need to do the opposite = more panels (wired in series) and possibly more batteries just to keep one light lit all night.

Good find at the Dollar Tree - that is worth it just to get the rechargeable battery from inside!


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

LincTex said:


> You might find the lights will not stay lit as long, due to the increased amperage draw. This is fine if you only need light for a few hours in the evening after the sun goes down and before you go to sleep.
> 
> If you want the light to stay lit all night long, you may need to do the opposite = more panels (wired in series) and possibly more batteries just to keep one light lit all night.
> 
> Good find at the Dollar Tree - that is worth it just to get the rechargeable battery from inside!


series wiring will give more voltage, parallel wiring gives more amperage

I should have clarified: one PV cell will charge 3 units simultaneously (in parallel) & then the units will function normally when disconnected. the units have lasted the entire night... I'm thinking my mileage might vary in the winter months tho :dunno:

one thing to add to a BoB if you think you might be scavenging/repairing electrical devices... 1" alligator clips with 12" 18-22 awg leads

I use smaller wire because I figure anything bigger will be carrying enough juice that you probably don't want it temp wired


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

The_Blob said:


> series wiring will give more voltage, parallel wiring gives more amperage
> 
> I should have clarified: one PV cell will charge 3 units simultaneously (in parallel) & then the units will function normally when disconnected. the units have lasted the entire night... I'm thinking my mileage might vary in the winter months tho :dunno:


Wow! That is impressive!
I bought some LED pathlights from Harbor Freight with a coupon a while back... the panels were too small (capacity) with not enough amperage, and would not charge the batteries enough to make the light stay lit all night (which is what I wanted). I ended up having to double up the panels (connected in parallel since measured voltage was high enough) to get enough amps into the batteries in daylight hours to make them work all night. Charging ability/rate/capacity was the weak point there.

With another brand, the panel size was big enough, but there was only one battery inside, so the weak point was storage capacity. I had to add another battery in parallel to make those stay lit all night.


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## Possumfam (Apr 19, 2011)

The_Blob said:


> :congrat: to you, GREAT start!
> 
> I've never had a propblem killing & butchering, why kill so many at once?
> Did you have too many to manage?
> Are you going to try other methods of preservation, like dehydrating?


The more you "harvest" the less you have to feed. Also, I think it's easier to put them up before shtf.


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## Jason (Jul 25, 2009)

I always say I feel guilty until the animal stops kicking, which isn't long if you kill and butcher as humanely as possible. Once it's dead it's just meat to be processed. As others have said in this thread already, the animal will be feeding your loved ones.


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## faithmarie (Oct 18, 2008)

We killed so many because .... we were stupid :nuts:...... well there are 11 in the family. Some fer them and some fer us'n. My husband and son in law could not watch me killin them. I told my son in law to get his git-tar an play the song from Deliverance whilst I killed em. LOL
They have a greater respect for me now. And the saying hell hath no fury like a woman scorned..... I think that's how it goes took on a whole new meaning ..... I CAN FEED AND PROTECT MY FAMILY. 
I don't need no gun just gimmy a sharp knife .......tee hee
As for how much wood.... Our house is blue stone at least two feet thick walls and a slate roof and it holds the COLD in the winter and holds the HEAT in the summer!!!!!!! But it sure is perdy. And it will stay standing in a blast and a tornado.
We wood and coal heat and oil. 

Oh I forgot!!! My daughter bought a chicken plucker thingy!!!!!!! It was fabulous! With that investment we will continue the art of chicken killing... God help me. I asked each chicken to forgive me and asked God to bless each chicken .......
Is there such a thing as chicken jerky? LOL


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## IrritatedWithUS (Jan 9, 2011)

Am I the only odd one out of the group? I'm a vegetarian not because it's "mean" to eat animals. I just don't like the fact of processed/color-added/ammonia drenched-chemically injected animals being sold as meat. I never did like meat either. I guess I'm weird  It's good to raise your own animals though.


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## Idaholady (Apr 24, 2010)

Wow, I'm impressed that you did all those chickens in! What a feat! I've never killed a chicken, but have eaten plenty.  I plan to get a couple little banty chickens for eating all the bugs around the place. My hubby grew up on a chicken ranch, so he hasn't been excited about getting any layers; and he killed a few in his life and can't stand the 'smell' during the butchering process. LOL Can't blame him...

My nursery order came today and I'm so excited about getting my trees and bushes in the ground. I received: one Persimmon tree, Asian Pear tree, Toka Plum tree, Green Gage Plum tree, 5 blueberry bushes, and a couple of cranberry groundcovers. I made sure they could survive in Zone 3-4 too. The blueberries are supposed to be able to survive at -40 degrees..woo.

I'm trying to get as much edible fruit planted along with a veggie garden this year. We should have raspberries and grapes this year too.

This is our second summer at the place and have much to do to get self-sufficient before food becomes an issue.

The next thing I want to do is learn how to save seeds. My mind is constantly on prepping.....


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## faithmarie (Oct 18, 2008)

LOL... My younger daughter is a raw vegan.... as my older daughter were when she was pregnant with her first 4 children .... not because it is mean to the animals but for health purposes.... but we are meat eaters...... well not my youngest. But because she..we love my daughter and hubby and their children I killed them and she bagged them And she usually won't touch anything with meat and has her own cutting board. lol and designated prepping space. Funny.

I didn't know you could grow persimmon trees in Idaho. Blueberry bushes are very hardy and blackberry too.


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

Idaholady said:


> Wow, I'm impressed that you did all those chickens in! What a feat! I've never killed a chicken, but have eaten plenty.  I plan to get a couple little banty chickens for eating all the bugs around the place. My hubby grew up on a chicken ranch, so he hasn't been excited about getting any layers; and he killed a few in his life and can't stand the 'smell' during the butchering process. LOL Can't blame him...


Note to self: add some Vick's salve to preps to put under nose while tending stinky jobs.

Awesome job, FaithMarie!!! I am impressed!!! :beercheer:


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## faithmarie (Oct 18, 2008)

I tried to kill them humanly. According to some youtube video my daughter made us watch OVER AND OVER again you cut their jugular vain and they don't suffer and their meat isn't traumatized and full of adrenaline or something like that.... well THEY ARE TO TRAUMATIZED and so was I and I wasn't killed! LOL


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

faithmarie said:


> According to some youtube video ...you cut their jugular vein


When we butcher chickens, we use a very sharp knife and cut their head entirely off. It takes about 2 seconds. They bleed out very quickly.

Someday if I have alot of time on my hands and get caught up, I am going to make a sort of guillotine device to make it very fast.


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## faithmarie (Oct 18, 2008)

LincTex said:


> When we butcher chickens, we use a very sharp knife and cut their head entirely off. It takes about 2 seconds. They bleed out very quickly.
> 
> Someday if I have alot of time on my hands and get caught up, I am going to make a sort of guillotine device to make it very fast.


GUILLOTINE!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHH Okay. I put them in a cone upside down.... they were supposed to fall asleep. HUH yeah right.... I did accidentally cut some heads off when after I would sharpen the knives they were..... SHARP. I would have preferred a complete cut off but for some reason that I still don't understand I was told it was better for the bird in some sort of way. And these birds were all around 5 and 6 pounds finished. They were 8 weeks old and they were some kind of cross and could hardly walk. 
Next time she wants to get heirloom chickens. What ever that is.


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## Jimmy24 (Apr 20, 2011)

Whoa, you gave me idea for ad looking for love....

" Looking for lady with farm, chicken killing ability and can shoot. Send picture of lastest chicken butcher day..."....lol

You got it going on. 

Jimmy


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## pmabma (Dec 4, 2008)

We canned some of our chicken and tried it Mother,s Day week-end.I have 3 son,s they ask me what I wanted for Mother,s Day I told them a trail run on a emergency, so all my kids, grandkids came over friday at 3, the water was cut off and the power was cut off except for the frig and freezer ,that we off limits. We are not ready.I had 6 adults and 7 children, I didn,t realize how much water and food it would take to feed everyone. To my surprise the kids did great, I have 2 granddaughters that are 14 and one that is 8 they were so good, they cooked all the bread from scratch for our meals. We fixed the canned chicken with rice, it looked sick but tasted great.And come Monday everybody was still alive.The grandsons who are 2,4, 11, and 12 did well, all I can say is if you have a toddler that is potty training, you better add a potty chair to your list of MUST. We have a creek about a half mile from our house, the boys would cut through the woods so no neighbors could see them and carry water to flush the toilets.We wanted to see if we could go queitly, they did good.I will get some of the seats that fit a 5 gallon bucket.With that many you need more than 2. We ended up cutting a towel into pieces and made diapers and a soft plastic bag makes good rubber pants, just cut two holes out for legs and let the childs pants hold them up, the daughter-in-law didn,t like washing poopy diapers at the creek, he he I am now on the hate list with her, lol But I found out I need alot more food and water to hopefully just get by, it takes a lot more than you would think, so I had a great Mothers Day and I am so proud of my grandchildren, I was shocked on how well they did together.I don,t want them to be afraid, but to teach them now, if shtf what we would have to do,You might want to try with your familys, I have a lot of food buying to do and a lot more preping to do, This week-end was a eye opener if something was to happen.


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

That is an AMAZING Mother's Day present! You are one loved lady! 

I don't think it's scary for kids to do an emergency trial run. (Society sells kids short when they try to protect them too much, you know?) I think it empowers kids to know what to do, and to give them the experience of knowing they can handle it.


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## faithmarie (Oct 18, 2008)

goshengirl said:


> That is an AMAZING Mother's Day present! You are one loved lady!
> 
> I don't think it's scary for kids to do an emergency trial run. (Society sells kids short when they try to protect them too much, you know?) I think it empowers kids to know what to do, and to give them the experience of knowing they can handle it.


I agree totally! What a great idea! We had a 4 day no electric winter storm last winter. We had a small generator though. One thing I did change is I bought angel hair pasta now because it took so long to cook the regular pasta. 
I want to have an out house but they are out lawed in NY state.

Hey Jimmy I have a 31 year old daughter.... hahaha single ..... she is a beauty..... LOL She bags and freezes the chickens only. LOL


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

faithmarie said:


> I want to have an out house but they are out lawed in NY state.


Then build a "Convertible garden shed" with a pit underneath.

Have a section of the floor in the back removable, and build a bench to fit into its place when that section is removed. Have it all "pre-built" and ready to go, so that when an emergency happens, you just remove that section of the floor and install the "throne" bench. When its all over, take the bench away and put the floor section back. Easy!


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## faithmarie (Oct 18, 2008)

If we ever got caught they would lock us up and throw away the key.... this is NY........ ahhhhhhh But that is an EXCELLENT idea. I will add that to my wish list. Who knows... dreams can come true .... it can happen to you if you are ....oh wrong song.


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