Livestock need minerals. Not only is it easy to just go buy feed for our livestock these days at the local feed store but all of us also buy mineral supplements or licks of some type as well. How exactly those needs are going to be met in a grid down situation is something I have been researching and honestly I have not come up with a suitable solution for it yet.
Salt is probably the main mineral need of livestock and one that is mostly far from being available in most grazing pastures and plant life naturally. It has the advantage of being one of the easier minerals to come by however because it is also so well liked as a spice by humans. Salt has been mined, traded and used by humans for centuries and I imagine it will continue to be an available commodity for trading even after a grid down situation. Salt also has an advantage in availability because it is fairly common and there are many small salt mines or other types of resource areas that were used throughout the land that were closed years ago but can be reopened.
I know there are different types of salt and it isn't all table salt like we are used to for our own use so a bit more research into it maybe necessary. There is also the aspect of a delivery system. I know deer hunters at times around here were known to place salt in burlap or cheesecloth bags and suspend them over a large rock which allowed rain to slowly wash the salt down to form a salt lick.
Other minerals that are necessary for livestock well being are not as easily acquired or delivered in a useful way.
Zinc, Iron, Copper, Sulfur, Selenium and there are a few others. Many of the symptoms or problems associated with mineral deficiencies in stock animals were not even discovered until the the 1930's or later so they had to be common but unknown problems for centuries before they were discovered.
My guess is.... And this is just a guess I am working on. Would be a varied diet of vegetables one does not normally see as feed for these animals might eliminate much of the need for mineral licks and such in a long term grid down situation. I know it was once common for small farmers to sometimes use many different crops for livestock when seeds or whatever became available. I know after I started researching if crops like Pumpkins, Squash and Cucumbers could be fed to sheep safely several old farmers around here had stories of their fathers or grandfathers planting stuff like that directly thinking of using it primarily as livestock feed. One old guy even mentioned Yams or Sweet potatoes for the cattle. Many of these alternative foodstuffs contain minerals and nutrients that livestock need.
Personally my plan is to stock up on the mineral supplements we use and keep them stored while working out a rotation plan to extend their use as far as possible. The days of simply setting the various mineral and salt blocks out for constant use will end and I may go to a system where I allow the livestock access to them for a while and then remove them once again.
It's a problem I am slowly researching and working on and is by no means set in stone as yet but something all of us who plan on keeping livestock after a collapse should give some thought to.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!
We are thinking along the same lines, I have run across how valuable salt was in my study of history but didn't know why until I got into researching my colonial ancestors. There were salt licks marked on the old maps, one in Roanoke Va and the place was originally known as Big Lick, I assume it was related to salt. Anyway the licks probably are hard to find these days but should still exist but my source of salt will be the government stockpiles of rock salt for roads. I doubt they will have them guarded.
ReplyDeleteSf - Yes there are a few old salt licks mentioned on early maps of this area as well. They were high demand resource nodes once upon a time.
DeleteI am not sure rock salt is the proper type of salt for consumption. Isn't there poisonous stuff in it if it hasn't been refined far enough?
Preppy - William Cobbett (19th Century English Writer) also references uses turnips, swedes and mangels for livestock feed. I know pumpkins are used and could see no reason why squash would not work as well. Also, Gene Logsdon writes of having livestock directly harvest dried corn from the field (including eating the stalks).
ReplyDeleteTB - I think I saw some reference to him. It used to be common around here to turn livestock out into the harvested fields but I haven't seen anyone do it in years now.
DeleteI feed my sheep a very wide spread diet during the Summer garden months :)
How do you all deal with worms in your livestock?
ReplyDeleteSpinner - Well I have read the seeds of pumpkins, squash and some melons will help eliminate worms to a point. There are also some other old remedies I have read about but do not feel comfortable mentioning without rechecking them. Of course right now we use the Vet approved stuff but what will we do when there is no vet? Good question and something I would need to research more.
DeleteI keep vast quantities of salt on hand, both for human consumption in the event of a difficult spell of time, and for salting meat. I don't give any of my animals salt, but now that I have read your post I wonder if I should buy a salt block for the dogs. There isn't much salt in their food.
ReplyDeleteHarry - I don't know about dogs. I figure in grid down situation and well even now if I am being honest, I feed the dogs here enough scraps and tidbits of what I am eating they are getting more than their need in salt.... especially if it is coming from me :)
DeleteJohn Seymour, one of the pioneers of the self sufficency movement in the UK fed his livestock a varied diet. However as he was at pains to point out if your land has been dosed with NPK fertiliser and suffered high crop yeilds from modern seed strains it is already severely depleted. Naturally these minerals will reappear, after in some cases a couple of hundred years.
ReplyDeleteWe've been organic growers for so long that it was called farming the non scientific way. And we were urged to step up an let science enlighten us. Happily my grandparents never did!
Additional land though that we have bought has had to be restored. Manure helps and quite frankly most underestimate how much manure they are going to need. At the moment you can get it practically for free, once the crunch comes that will change fast as will the ability to collect and spread it.
one thing you can do though, particularly if you have an area of soft slightly boggy land or even near gateways where livestock often congregate. Sow comfrey. Comfrey is an accumulator. Its roots leach soil of minerals so areas with a high manure content such as gateways and areas normally unfarmed will contain a lot of unexploited minerals. I won't explain the methods of using comfrey beciase they are legion on the net but suffice to say it works.
Crop rotation is also important but ideally you need two years of fallow not one to allow sufficient manure to accumulate though not the same species each year. Pigs two years running can cause a build up of disease.
You can also use human urine diluted at 4 water to 1 part pee. Though the content is minimal.
Hope this helps!
Anon - Yes a four field rotation is best but even still I think unless we research it there are some nutrients we may not be able to gain depending on what we feed. I am not sure about comfrey I will need to read up on it. I feed squash, cucumbers and Pumpkins when in season but I have yet to actually look at what minerals that is giving the stock. I also know that some native trees contain certain minerals in the bark and livestock will typically strip those trees to get what they need.
DeleteI will look into the suggestions you made that's for sure so thank you!!!!
Comfrey can be used as animal feed but most stock prefer it slightly wilted. Chickens thrive on it. It will also kick start compost piles though too much goes sludgy. You can also harvest it and plough it under after spreading it out or turn it into a compost tea and spray it diluted. It makes nettle tea look like newts p.
DeleteOnce planted it will naturally regrow each year and we take three harvests a year witha scythe. First harvest just as it begins to flower then 4 to 5 weeks after each time.
We grow almost an acre along a soggy river bank because this also pulls the minerals from the ground water as well as helping stabilise the river bank.
if you make it into a tea use just the leaves and compress them rather than stew them and feedsthe fiberous stalks to goats if you have them but as about 25 ppercent of the diet.
PP,
ReplyDeleteWhen prepping for survival.....human, pet, or farm animals one must plan in detail and stock up. Considering all foods, minerals, and water. Most people only think of humans and not their critters.
We make sure to store all foods, medications, minerals, herbs, security, and water in secured air tight containers.
Sandy - Well it becomes a bit more of an issue if you have a large number of stock. While I would love to have 5 or more years supply of mineral blocks laying around for 100+ head of sheep that may not be feasible. If I can find a sustainable way to do it by growing my own or varying their diet it would save a lot of money and storage space.
Deletehmmm I wonder if I could order 700 one year supply bottles of sheep vitamins?
Salt, I never thought too much of stocking up on it. Now I know better, and its been added to my need to get list.
ReplyDeleteRob - I have a good supply of table salt stocked up. Enough for years and years for human consumption. I just recently started seriously looking into the animals needs though.
DeleteI grow food to supplement my goats....pumpkin is a natural dewormer. The seeds from my papayas are also good for deworming them. Sunflowers......including the bloom, the leaves, and the stalks are a real treat for them. Okra, field peas, grean beans, beets (OMG, they LOVE THOSE) there's really not much they WON"T eat. So, grow, grow, grow for your critters! And when it comes time to pull up the plants at the end of the season, feed those to your animals as well. Green bean plants and broccoli plants are some of their favorites. I try not to waste a single thing from the garden, even the weeds are tossed in the chicken yard!
ReplyDeleteAnon - Yes grow it. I started experimenting with feeding out sheep alternative veggies last year. The Rams we have will try and catch Lemon Cucumbers in mid air like a dog now and cutting the top off a Pumpkin and letting one of the rams try and eat the middle out and getting his head stuck is no end of entertainment :)
DeleteThere is of course a matter of scale to consider though. Right now we have pastured two rams about 30 breeding ewes (some this will be their first year) and about 24 lambs that are about 3 months old now. Eventually we want between 70 and 100 head to run so planning plantings for them will go far beyond the garden and into larger operations. I planted 2 acres of Pumpkins this year that may well go into Sheep feed if I cannot find anything else to do with em.
For sustainability purposes your stock density should be half of what the land will support without outside assistance. Due to the chance of crop failure anymore means you'll have a lot ofexcess starving animals.
Deletein a grid down lifestyle surplus animal feed will be in greater demand than livestock after a few month particularly overwintering feed!
There are some vegetables that will accumulate salt in them, but as far as I know they can't really create it on their own. The salinity within animals is generally an outgrowth of our being not as dissimilar from our ancestral fish as we would like to think. I would say it is a worthwhile stockpiling item unless you live near the coast and want to use evaporative methods, or are lucky enough to know where there is an old salt lick or mineral deposits in your area.
ReplyDeleteRuss - Glad to see you still live!!!
DeleteI wasn't really thinking about salt in veggies but more towards other nutrients like copper and zinc. I was thinking some root types might contain those and be usable as a substitute to mineral licks.
I just don't know enough yet to say whether they are or not though.