As a backyard chicken keeper and enthusiasts, I am always presenting the advantages of keeping chickens. Chickens offer many advantages such as compost tenders, gardening associates, extermination forces, companionship and of course egg producers.
As the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic and preparation for the impact on communities, people are taking steps to ready themselves. One of these readiness techniques is to stock up on goods and staples for an extended period.
Normally when this is done in an orderly fashion, stores are able to keep up with demand. However, when the impact of a crises hits suddenly, stores are often overwhelmed unable to adequately supply the demand needed by the public. In these cases empty shelves and vacant freezers are a common sight. Barren store shelves have another sociological effect, panic! When shoppers planning to stock up for the forseeable uncertain future and are greeted with empty shelves, the gravity of the situation becomes all too real. The scarcity of goods creates yet another threat to the situation often times solved by our primal instincts of “the strongest will survive”. As a result, fights over seemingly random items such as toilet paper, paper towels, canned foods and essential like bread and eggs are reported across multiple locations.
It’s times like this that I am so glad to be a backyard chicken keepers. While most people were raiding the stores for essentials and staples, I was quietly and methodically stocking up on chicken feed and other poultry necessities. It is often said that a country girl/boy will survive, this is indeed the truth, one of the benefits of being self sufficient. With a freezer full of frozen veggies from last years garden and fresh eggs being laid daily, we are often able to weather just about any economical crises.
As the stores run out of important staples such as eggs, I am in the fortunate position to help out my friends and neighbors by sharing what I have with those around me. People often forget about the backyard chicken keepers till an egg recall or shortage is faced, then we are everyone’s favorite neighbor. In past supply shortages, I have had complete strangers come to my door inquiring about punching eggs from me. I oblige when I am able to do so.
These events remind me agian and again how fortunate I am to be able to keep backyard chickens. There have been times where they have provided us our “survival food” When natural disasters or other economical crises occur, there is just something about knowing that although the stores are bare the girls are still laying.
Completely unaware of the situation unfolding around them, the girls go about their days sustaining us and others around us. There is a purity in not being totally dependent on the supply chain but rather your own land.
There are many benefits of keeping backyard chickens. Times of crises are one of those benefits. This is often overlooked till a situation arises that forces us to take stock. It’s time like this that I am ever grateful for my girls. They are a blessing that sometimes is not fully appreciated till an unfortunate situation occurs and we become dependent on them.
When faced with uncertainties, people have their own ways of preparing. While most people were braving the long lines as the stores, I was preparing for my girls. I sustain them by making sure I have the essential stocked, they will in turn sustain me.
I wish everyone the best in weathering this storm. If we all follow the recommendations by our federal government and local public health professionals, we will survive. This is not the first mite that humanity has been faces with an invisible enemy and it will not be the last. Take care and take care of those around you. If we band together we can fight this invisible foe.
~ The Kuntry Klucker Crew ~
