Preparedness for when

bluebag

A USE BY DATE!! Blim£y that could get interesting if you have a big stash nearing expiry.

katep23

Having stuck my head above the parapet, think I should introduce myself..

Hi, I'm Kate - I [STRIKE]hoard[/STRIKE] ahem stock a lot of food, winter fuel, alternative fuel sources etc.

We're relatively rural in Berkshire but,not far from major road routes so not likely to get snowed in but still like to keep stock so we don't need to go out unnecessarily. I work in an area which was surprisingly not affected by the riots but should have been so very aware of how things can escalate.

[Deleted User]

Hi KATE nice to have you aboard, always lovely when new friends join in, specially when they're old friends from other threads, Love Lyn xxx.

How are the ducklets getting on ?

fuddle

Bolster cushion? There is the natural method that entails taking temps and charting for ovulation - then you need the slap and NO but at least it will be informed...

Not to be relied upon though and as my trying to conceive attempts show... It does go wrong as I conceived both times when I thought there was no chance in my cycle.

katep23

Hi MrsL, sadly ducklings are mostly drakes (8 out of 10!) so we will only be keeping 3 of the brood - 2 ducks and 1 drake, we might have found a home for 1 other drake but the rest we will need to "deal" with which doesn't sit easily with me but was a risk we took when we decided to breed.

Like the poster earlier in the thread with the rabbits (sorry, I forgot your name), we were breeding for table but hoped we might have more laying birds.

Just got to get my head round it

[Deleted User]

KATE it's OK, Homestead Chick has our complete respect for learning how to despatch the rabbits humanely and actually having the fortitude to do it and eat the meat. Drakes in that quantity would make life impossible for the ducks so really table duck is as good a use for them as any. They've had a good life and are older now than commercial ducklings are harvested at, no worries, you'll be fine and it's the right thing to do,Cheers Lyn xxx.

bluebag

katep23 wrote: »

Hi MrsL, sadly ducklings are mostly drakes (8 out of 10!) so we will only be keeping 3 of the brood - 2 ducks and 1 drake, we might have found a home for 1 other drake but the rest we will need to "deal" with which doesn't sit easily with me but was a risk we took when we decided to breed.

Like the poster earlier in the thread with the rabbits (sorry, I forgot your name), we were breeding for table but hoped we might have more laying birds.

Just got to get my head round it

It is the way of nature, we are top of the food chain and primary predator. Without this things would get out of balance.

Molly41

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

If we're going to be a little risque, I'll throw into the prepping debate the fact that if you are stuck indoors with no electricity in the middle of winter when the daylight hours are not as long as the darkness and it is cold in all honesty you will retire to your couch at an earlier hour than normal and in all likelihood one thing will lead to another and comfort will be had!!! What I'm thinking is if you're female and still fertile, the likelihood of a supply of contraceptive oral pills is unlikely to be continually available for everyone, and as with all things, a dimishing supply means difficulties in obtaining them and staying safe. So, perhaps it would be a very good idea to include condoms in your preps, not for smutty jokes but for the very necessary purpose of preventing unwanted pregnancies in a time when pregnancy and childbirth will not be as safe as it is now. Add to that that there will be less medical services and vaccines for children born after TSHTF and an uncertain supply of food, water, everything really, and prevention makes sense on many levels. I'm hoping that by saying this I'm not offending any religious beliefs and principles, the thought is from a purely practical perspective, Lyn x.

Very sound advice and it is true that the birthrate goes up 9 months after bad weather!

katep23

Thank you MrsL and BlueBag, I know this logically but who knows how I will feel when it comes to it!

MrsL, I made the mistake of talking about it at work with a colleague who was sympathetic but someone else who was earwigging at the time was very judgemental about it, saying that 13 weeks wasn't much of a life until I pointed out that the chicken she bought from the supermarket was probably only 5 - 6 weeks old which did make her (turn green) / keep quiet!

[Deleted User]

KATE there is so much that makes most people turn green and that's only the things they hear about, you're honest enough to give the reason they are here in the first place and brave enough to contemplate culling surplus stock, there is a rightness to that in the great order of things, so take no notice of the judgemental folks you come across, you are a responsible stock keeper and the drakes have to be used somehow, you can't keep them eating thier heads off and being a nuisance to the ducks for the rest of thier natural lives can you? Cheers Lyn xxx.