Stockpile for animals

[riggers]

I have read plenty about stockpiling stuff just in case for humans. What I seem to be really clueless about is what/how to stockpile for the animals.

We live in an area where there is no grass so I have to buy hay. How much hay/how long can it be stored?

What basic necessary medications might one want to have stocked up for chickens, rabbits, dogs, cats, cows, and hogs? (I really want my rabies vaccinations but it is illegal for anyone but a vet to administer them in Tx) I have some different dewormers. Coyotes are prevalent here (though they've never been brave enough to take on my dogs). Any other things I might want to have handy in case of emergency? I see a lot of ladies on here seem to have stuff for their cows that I know nothing about!

I can't really afford to stock up on sweet feed, but I was wanting to try this sprouting grains that I found and was wondering if others had tried it......and to what result. Would that be cheaper and could I afford to stock up more that way? If I can't afford to stock up grains or sweet feed what things can I grow that I can feed her so that she gets the right nutriets?

What about the chickens getting enough calcium for their eggs? I don't even know where to get oyster shells yet! But my chickens are not laying eggs yet...........someday soon hopefully!

My dogs and cats mostly eat scraps. We are a big family and I tend to overcook for them lol

And our rabbits eat mostly fresh stuff my daughter picks for them. We do offer them rabbit pellets currently but they much prefer the pickings.

I've also had a maggot grower built for the chickens but it's starting to get cold out and they will die off soon. So I'll have to find a way to make up for that lost protein.

[laane]

What about the chickens getting enough calcium for their eggs? I don't even know where to get oyster shells yet! But my chickens are not laying eggs yet...........someday soon hopefully!

I feed the eggshells back to my chickens to help with their calcium. I put the shells in the oven to dry them out, grind them up to a powder and then feed it to them.

Can't help with anything else but would love to know what others have stockpiled.

[2stormeyseas]

What is a maggot grower?? How do you use it? More details would be appreciated. It sounds disgusting but chickens eat bugs and maggots are just a younger form of the bug. And historically maggots have been used in medicine to clean wounds.

[riggers]

Here's a video to another person's. If you look through youtube you'll find a ton of videos of other designs. I will keep looking for the video of the one I built but essentially they all work the same. You attract the flies with rotten meat or whatnot and put holes in the bucket so the maggots can fall out and the birds eat them up quick as can be.

[Janene]

I don't feed my chickens oyster shell. I crush up egg shells and they get scraps from the kitchen.
Feed doesn't store well if it's really hot--it can get moldy.

Think old school--what did the old timers do? Grew alternative foods/feeds and bartered. Think outside the box--fodder is a good thing to try. (4 threads of it in Pasture Management and Feed section). And there is more threads on growing things for the cows there, also. (And in this section, too if I remember right!)
Janene

PS It's hard to get away from purchased feeds for some folks. Knowing some basic 'feed/food value' ideas will be a good thing. Knowledge is power!

I like to take notes and write them down in a notebook. This way I have some info if the internet/computer goes down. (Said from someone who knows all too well what is lost when a computer goes wonky and crashes.)

[riggers]

Okay here's mine!



We made ours out of clay we shaped but it is not nearly as good as the real one looks and it is already decomposing itself LOL. But it has worked well for the last year and at this point we could make another one practically free. So ah well. Always learning from your experience and building better the next time right? lol

[jerseycowgirl]

If you grow a garden, you can feed your cow and chickens the extras. This past summer we were in that awful drought and my cow got squash, green bean plants, sweet corn stalks, cucumbers... It stretched the feed and gave her something green to eat.
I also grow her fodder. If you have no pasture it would be a good alternative. A little seed makes a lot of fodder.
This fall I also planted a bunch of mangel beets for her. Here we are almost in December and I'm still feeding them to her. She loves them too!!
Pam

[Deleted]

Whole grains store longer than processed feed. Store in 55 gal food grade barrels with diatomaceous earth (to kill bugs).

Raising meal worms is a lot less disgusting than maggot farming for the chicken protein. They are easy and economical to raise and take up very little room.

Premium quality hay kept in a barn can remain good for several years. I think Texas A&M has a chart regarding the degradation of hay in long term storage. If I remember correctly it is referring to round bales.

[elnini]

If you live in a limestone area I think you can leave crushed limestone out or add it to feed for the chooks too.

One of the herbs is a good source of calcium, can't remember off the top of my head, is it comfrey ?

[Joann]

A readily available calcium source for chickens is insect chitin. That is the hard exoskeleton of all inscts. It will do for the part of the yeear when the can forage.
Also whey is a good Ca source..

As Janene, says, what did they do before feed stores? I guess we may find out!

Joann