Outdoor Life Prepare for Anything Survival Manual (34 page)

If you’re new to the herbal world, some of these may not ring a bell—but you might be surprised how easy they are to find at your local health food store.

PLANTAIN
(
Plantago major
) This healing herb has been studied and written about since the days of Chaucer in medieval Britain. Historically, it has been put to use both topically and internally for wounds and bleeding, insect stings and bites, swelling, fractures, as an antihistamine, and to treat diarrhea (using the seeds). Use it as a tea and in topical salves and balms.

ST. JOHN’S WORT
(
Hypericum perforatum
) This plant is used internally and topically for pain, swelling, inflammation, burns, bruises, muscle damage, nerve damage/neuralgia, and as an antiviral and antidepressant.

MULLEIN
(
Verbascum thapsus
) Mullein is an unparalleled herb for respiratory congestion, clearing lung and bronchial air passages, cough, and bronchitis. It’s also used for pain with infused oils for earaches or ear mites, and as an antibacterial and antifungal.

Raising chickens in your backyard is turning into an increasingly popular option these days for a whole range of reasons. Suburban dwellers (and even lucky urbanites with some serious backyard space) are being turned on to the benefits of fresh eggs. Chickens also provide great fertilizer in the form of their manure, insect control for the garden, and a tasty chicken dinner every once in a while (though many chicken-keepers rely only on eggs and don’t use their chickens for meat). In a post-disaster world where you can’t run down to the supermarket, a backyard chicken coop would be invaluable. Here are the basics you’ll need to consider.

YOUR FLOCK
You can buy chicks from farm-supply stores that will start laying in six months, but you won’t know if they’re all girls. Easiest is to buy “ready to lay pullets,” which are older and guaranteed to be female.

THE COOP
There are many possible ways to set up your chickens’ home; the drawing below gives the basics.

CHICKEN FEED
Commercial chicken feed can be purchased in bulk; you can also grow your own using the hints in item 152.

EGG COLLECTING
You’ll want to collect eggs on a daily basis, unless you’re intentionally planning to hatch some young’uns. Hens will lay much of the year—anytime there’s 12 to 14 hours of daylight.

GIRL TIME
Chickens are sociable creatures; they’ll be happiest and healthiest if you keep at least four to six together. If you want to breed them, you need no more than one rooster per 10 to 12 hens. Any more, and things are likely to get hectic—as in unintentional cockfights.

THE RANGE
You’ll want to let your chickens roam around a fenced yard, or at least provide them with a fenced chicken run. Chickens are a favorite prey for many predators, so be sure any area you set them loose in is well fenced.

You can buy baby chicks newly hatched or “grow your own.” To breed your own chicks, of course, you’ll need a rooster, but you’ll also want to be sure that you have a broody hen. That is, one that will actually tend to the eggs (not many modern chickens possess that maternal instinct). If one of your chickens pecks at you when you come to collect the eggs, or otherwise protects her nest, she’s your girl. Bantams are known to be broody.

To raise your chicks in the absence of a mother, you’ll want to keep them in a safe, warm “brooder pen.” This doesn’t have to be anything fancy; here are some basic guidelines.

STEP 1
You’ll need to keep your chicks safely contained, and you’ll want about 2 square feet (0.6 m) per baby. If the pen is more than 12 inches (30 cm) deep, you don’t need to worry about a cover, as they won’t be able to escape. You can use a kiddie pool, fish tank, storage tub, or even a big cardboard box.

STEP 2
Set up your heat lamp. This will take a little bit of experimentation. Start with a 250-watt heat lamp with a good clamp and reflector. Don’t get excessively MacGuyver-y here, as this can be a fire hazard. Use a red bulb with a screen over it (the screen helps prevent fires if the lamp falls into your shavings). You’ll need to move the lamp up and down and check the temperature before committing your delicate little chicks to this environment. The temperature should measure at 92°F (33°C) about 2 inches (5 cm) above the pen’s floor.

STEP 3
Add bedding. This can be paper towels or pine shavings. Don’t use cedar shavings or newspaper, as they can be toxic to chicks.

STEP 4
Be sure they have food (use commercial chick-starter feed for greatest ease) and clean water.

STEP 5
After a couple of weeks, they’ll start developing feathers. At that point, they don’t need so much heat. Reduce the temperature in the brooder by 5°F (3°C) per week for six weeks.

STEP 6
Move the new kids to the coop. They’re all grown up!

for about a month in the fridge (or other cool place if you’re off the grid). But freshly laid eggs have a natural coating that keeps them fresh for significantly longer—up to four months. Some eggs may have droppings on them and need to be washed, but many won’t, so don’t just do it by rote.

Also, natural eggshells are much thicker than storebought ones. Commercial eggs are actually buffed to make them prettier, which also ends up weakening the shell. Your home-grown eggs will be much sturdier and healthier.

It’s easy enough to buy giant bags of chicken feed from the store, but if you want to save money, or if you find yourself in circumstances in which commercial feed isn’t readily available, remember that chickens were able to feed themselves for millennia before humans stepped in and opened the chow line. Here’s how you can keep your chickens well fed au naturel.

DRIED CORN
If you grow a large-ear feed corn, you can let it dry on the stalks, then store the ears in bins and distribute the corn to the chickens all winter. Chickens with access to grit (sand and pebbles they need to grind food in their gizzards) will have no trouble with whole, dried corn kernels (they’re too much for baby chicks to handle, however).

SEEDS
Millet, sorghum, and sunflowers are easy to grow and provide seeds that are nutritious for chickens. Just toss them the whole seeds—they’ll know what to do. In addition, there are grains that you don’t need to harvest or process in order for your chickens to benefit from them. You can plant alfalfa, clover, annual rye, cowpeas, and/or buckwheat, let them mature, and then allow your chickens to wander the garden, eating the seeds straight from the source. Sprouting any seeds boosts their nutritional value, which is particalarly useful in winter when fresh foods are scarce.

GREENS
Kale, turnips, and mustard greens are all great for chickens. Cut the greens and feed them to penned chickens, or let them graze at will. As they do, they’ll also eat bugs and larvae that can devastate your garden (and, as ever, drop little fertilizer nuggets as they go).

FRUIT & VEGETABLES
Most discarded fruits and vegetables (anything that’s just a little too icky for your table, or that you grew too much of) can probably be safely added to a chicken’s diet. In the winter, if you have stored up potatoes, beets, and winter squash, these are all great for your birds.

EGGS
This sounds kind of gross, but it doesn’t bother the chickens, and it shouldn’t bother you. Never feed chickens raw eggs, as this may encourage them to cannibalize their own nests. However, if you have cracked, dirty, or excess eggs, just hard-boil them and then crumble them (shells and all) into the birds’ feed to amp up their protein.

You may have heard, if only from Iggy Pop, that it’s relatively simple for you to hypnotize a chicken. This is, in fact, true and makes the job of dispatching one much simpler. Here’s how to do the job as painlessly as possible for everyone.

STEP 1
Pound two long nails into a stump, far enough apart to span the chicken’s neck but close enough together to keep its head from slipping through.

STEP 2
Lay the chicken on the block with one wing under it, placing its neck between the nails. Apply just enough tension to the legs to stretch the neck and keep the bird in place.

STEP 3
Tap your finger just in front of the bird’s beak, then about 4 inches (10 cm) away from it. Keep alternating taps like this until the hypnotized bird relaxes.

STEP 4
Using a hatchet, chop the chicken’s head off.

STEP 5
Hold it up by its legs to let the blood drain. Another common cliché, “running around just like a chicken with its head cut off,” will come to mind, as the bird will likely flap its wings and seem to struggle, even after decapitation.

When you go to behead your chicken, be sure you’ve got a pot of scalding water ready—it should be 140°–160°F (60°–70°C). Dip the decapitated bird into the hot water for 20–30 seconds. This should loosen the feathers to the point that you can easily remove them by hand with a firm wiping motion, rather than having to painstakingly pluck them. Chop off the chicken’s feet, then cut around the cloaca (the bird’s orifice), being careful not to cut into the intestines, as this will contaminate the meat. Scoop the innards out with your hands and rinse the entire bird in cold water. If you can get all of this done in 20 minutes, you can then cook your bird before rigor mortis sets in. Otherwise, refrigerate the body for 24 hours before cooking.