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BubbaCast # 28

2 Responses to “BubbaCast # 28”

1. Sadie Says:
   January 18th, 2010 at 6:06 pm

   First off I love the podcast. You had mentioned you would like to hear from some northerners regarding keeping animals in cold climates. We are on the northern border of Wisconsin. This time of year it is not uncommon to dip to -10 or worse. We keep about 30 chickens. Most people here do not heat barns or coops, yet the chickens do fine, minus the frost bitten combs. Trick is to keep breeds without single combs like the Chantecler which was created in Canada. We have a fully insulated chicken house with a sand floor and deep litter. The deep litter composts and produces a small amount of heat. We also use electric heaters to keep the water from freezing. We added a small electric heater under the roosting area this year because we are getting bitter -20 wind chills and it is just too much to compensate for, plus the eggs were freezing solid and cracking before we could collect them. The lights are on for at least 18 hours to prevent molting during the coldest months. Strangest thing is that the hens have abandoned the nest boxes and are digging down into the sand around the heater we just put in. They are burying the eggs in the warm sand to keep them from freezing! We’re collecting eggs with a garden trowel:) Animals can find clever ways to adapt.

2. Josh Says:
   January 19th, 2010 at 7:09 pm

   Hi Brian-

   I just listened to your latest show. Good stuff.

   I’m the Josh that asked about the previous episode availability. I’m also the one that posted the rant about corporations and the government taking over our food supply. Which is kind of a funny story. What happened was that I’ve been pounding through your previous episodes like they’re going out of style. As I mentioned I listened to 18-27 then wasn’t able to access the previous ones. That’s when I sent out the first feedback. The next day I assumed that you had fixed the feed because the previous episodes became available, so I started another marathon of shows starting at episode 1.

   I have to hand it to you, I love your content.

   So, I was blasting through the shows one after the other non stop. Then I hit episode 11. It was the episode where you explained how you tried to obtain a egg candler permit and talked about HR 875. I listened to half of the show then got really worked up and stopped to send the government/corporation rant feedback.

   In this latest episode you make some great points about how the shear numbers of people that have to be fed by the system. You also touch on how the farmers are just scrapping by. Those are both good points and ones I’d like to lend some feedback to if you don’t mind.

   There are more people in the system today than ever before. The amount of demand that is put on the farming industry is intense, but it doesn’t mean we have to throw out our values regarding animal treatment, the best food comes form happy animals. Think about Kobe beef? Those cows live a better life then I do. We also have no idea what the adverse long term effects to consuming modified foods are. That kind of scares me.

   In my opinion it’s big business that has transformed the farms and farmer into what they are today. Corporations are about efficiency, productivity, and delivering profits to their board. “Do more for less” is a common strategy.”

   In the case of farms it unfortunately means to produce more livestock, fruit, or vegetable crops in less room with lower quality feed and poisonous additives.

   It no longer is a decision that farmers make. Corporations have the farmer under their hand thanks to regulatory stipulations that have been lobbied under the false pretense of making our food safer. Not to mention companies like Monsanto that reap the benefit of patenting living organisms. What’s next? Worker drone humans that are owned by Microsoft?

   In order to fix the problem people are going to have to change their habits dramatically. Maybe get their asses off the sofa and do something productive for a change.

   I keep 7 chickens and 2 goats on my 1/3 acre lot in suburban UT.

   I unfortunately I have my doubts about people changing their habits. I personally know several people who think eggs from backyard chickens is disgusting. Which completely baffles me. Where do they think eggs come from???

   Anyway, I get kind of fired up about stuff like this because I think that too many people have given up on what seems to be a regular way to obtain food.

   Great show!

   Keep them coming.

   Josh

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