The Chicken Have-More Plan

About 60 years ago, Ed and Carolyn Robinson wrote a classic book called:
“The Have-More Plan: A Little Land –A Lot of Living"

That book inspired millions of people recovering from World War II, to become more self-sufficient.
Today there is another even larger back-to-the-land movement.
This time, it's to people's backyards and small acerge family farms for local food production.

City Chicks: Keeping Micro-flocks of Chickens as Garden Helpers, Compost Creators, Bio-recyclers and Local Food Supplies was written in the same spirt as Robinson’s “The Have-More” Plan from over a half-century ago. This book has the ambitious intent of exploring four subjects.

1. Enhancing Backyard & Urban Agriculture

Urban gardening, farm-yards and small-acerage family farms are on the verge of a giant leap forward, ushering in a new — and necessary — era of local and home food production. People have a right to grow their own food and chickens have valuable skill-sets that can enable food production systems. Some of these “skill-sets” include producers of manure for fertilizer and compost, along with being mobile herbiciders and pesticiderers. And of course, they also provide eggs and meat. In so many ways, heritage chickens enable and empower local agriculture. Chickens let you have a good meal of eggs and garden goods that only travel the shortdistance from your backyard or local grower.

"Give a person some eggs, and they can have an omlette.
Give them a flock of chickens, and they can have eggs and meat for the rest of their lives."
—Ancient Poultry Proverb

2. Diverting Food and Yard “Waste” Away from Landfills

Chickens can help convert biomass “wastes” into organic assets such as fertilizer, compost, garden soil and eggs. This can save BIG TIME tax payer dollars from being spent solid waste management streams. Learn more about Chickens as Bio-recyclers.

3. Decrease Oil Consumption and Lower Carbon Footprints

Commercial food systems cannot function without oil. Over 17% of America’s oil consumption is used in agricultural production and, about 25% of this oil is used for fertilizer. The total energy input of food production, processing, packaging, transporting and storing is greater than the calories consumed.

It is estimated that every person in this country requires about one gallon of oil per day just to bring food to the table. How sustainable is that? Chickens can help America kick the oil habit by decreasing the amount of oil products used in feeding ourselves—and, at the same time, keep landfills from filling up with methane-producing organic matter. Equally impressive, is that chickens skill sets include being voraceous insecticiders, fertilzer creators, and non-toxic herbidicers. The base materials for most commercial insecticides, fertilizers and herbicides is oil—petrolium based products.

4. National Defense & Emergency Preparedness. Whoever controls your food supply controls you. Food supply — or lack of it — has created and destroyed civilizations since time began. In natural disasters food can become a matter of life or death. Keeping local chickens is even more important in times of trouble. Even with disasters, folks can still have a good meal of eggs or chicken stew. Locally produced nutritious food helps keep America strong and safe.

City Chicks ushers in a new paradigm of how to employ chickens in a variety of roles that help decrease carbon footprints, save tax payer dollars and support local food supply production. And all this is done in a way that is biologically sustainable, economically equitable, and serves us, our communities, our Earth and the future generations of all beings.

Much more information is in the book: City Chicks: Keeping Micro-flocks of Chickens as Garden Helpers, Compost Creators, Bio-recyclers and Local Food Supplies by Patricia Foreman. www.GoodEarthPublications.com.

May the flock be with YOU!

for more information contact

Training@ChickensAndYou.com

 

Reprinted from City Chicks: Keeping Micro-flocks of Chickens as Garden Helpers, Compost Creators, Bio-recyclers and Local Food Suppliers by Patricia Foreman. Reprinted with permission from Good Earth Publications, Inc.