Water, Water Everywhere, But Not A Drop to Drink!

Brothers and Sisters, as you all know after enduring the Syracuse City boil order last week due to contamination of the city's water supply, our access to clean water is a basic human need.  On the night that the boil order was initiated, there was a run on the local grocery stores, and by early evening the shelves were bare of bottled water.  Seeing this was a testimony to how many of us are poorly prepared to weather a water shortage.  Fortunately for all of us, this was a very localized, temporary inconvenience.  The question is, will we be prepared for a longer term stuation when it occurs?  To help you get prepared we offer you the following instructions that have been provided to all members of our stake:

Water Storage Resource Sheet

How Much Water Should I Store? A good rule of thumb: 14 GALLONS PER PERSON (MINIMUM) 

• A 2-week supply for each person.

• 1 gallon per person per day, or 14 gallons per person. This is a minimum! Store more for infants, elderly, ill people or people living in hot environments. And treat your pet as a family member when thinking about how much to store.

• Plan to use water for drinking, food preparation, sanitationand hygiene.

• Never ration water. Drink amount needed today, and find more tomorrow.

What Are The Best Water Containers? 

• Commercial bottled water with an expiration date is the best way to store water.

▪ Bottled Water from the Store – 1- and 2-gallon sealed containers (NOTE: The 1- and 2- gallon containers that come in “milk” type jugs you purchase in your local store are not designed for long-term storage and will begin to leak/fail after about 6 months.)

▪ 1- and 5-Gallon Sealable Containers – From camping or survival stores. Be sure to sanitize container and treat the water that you are storing.

▪ 20-oz. to 1-Liter Designer Water Containers – Are usually marked with an expiration date, but are generally good for about two years

▪ 5-Gallon Water Bottles from Private Water Companies – Water companies claim their water and containers are good for up to five years, if still factory sealed & correctly stored in a cool dark location.

• However, if storing your own, use a food grade container such as a 2L plastic clear in color soft-drink bottle. Not plastic milk jug containers. Remember to label the date.

• Or a container similar blue 5-gallon stackable container which weighs 40 lbs. when filled.

• Consider when storing how you will empty and refill your containers.

How Do I Prepare & Fill My Own Containers? 

• Don’t use a container that has held toxic chemicals.

• Clean bottles with dishwashing soap and water. Rinse completely

• Add solution of 1 t. non-scented liquid chlorine bleach to a quart (1/4 gallon) of water. Swish solution in bottle so that it touches all surfaces. After sanitizing bottle, rinse out the sanitizing solution with clean water.

• Fill bottle to top with regular tap water. (If water utility company treats your tap water with chlorine, you do not need to add anything else to the water to keep it clean.) If the water you use comes from a well or water source not treated with chlorine, add two drops of non-scented liquid chlorine bleach to each gallon of water.

• Tightly close container using original cap and being careful not to touch (contaminate) inside of cap with fingers.

 • Write date on outside of the container so that you know when you filled it.

• If this is done properly then this water could last for years without rotation. It also depends on 

where, what temperature and the amount of sunlight has shown on the containers.

Where Do I Store My Containers?

• Store in a cool, dark place away from direct sunlight.

• Best temperature is 59 – 86 degrees.

• When there are extreme hot and cold temperatures in the winter and summer months, bring water inside.

• Keep stored water away from solvents and gasoline, paint thinners, household cleaners, etc.

• If storing on cement floors, raise water containers with 2 x 4’s off the cement. The concrete will leech chemicals into the water, contaminating it and also degrading the plastic bottle, causing failure. Keep water containers in a location where container failure will not destroy your other supplies. 

• Store it where you can get to it easily after an earthquake.

Where Are Safe Home Sources of Water? 

• Safe water sources include water in your hot-water tank, pipes, and ice cubes. (These water sources do not count towards your 14 gallons per person for two weeks.)

• You should not use water for consumption from toilet flush tanks or bowls, radiators, waterbeds, or pools/spas. (Use this water for sanitation uses)

GETTING THE WATER OUT OF YOUR WATER HEATER :

▪ Use extreme caution. Let the water cool.

▪ Turn off the cold water supply to the tank

▪ Turn off the gas or electric heater for the tank

▪ Open the drain valve at the bottom

REMEMBER: Some sediment at the bottom of the tank may at first make water flowing out look murky. Continue to drain water until it becomes clear.

OTHER SOURCES OF WATER IN YOUR HOME

▪ Toilet Water Storage Tank. NOTE: Use the water from the Storage Tank – NOT THE TOILET BOWL (Don’t drink the water if you use coloring or chemicals in it)

▪ Melted Ice Cubes are a source of water

▪ Water-Packed Can Goods (even syrups are mostly water)

▪ Water Trapped In Home Piping. Water can be removed by locating and shutting off the main water valve. Then, open the valve at the highest point of your property (i.e., shower head, especially on the 2nd floor ). Then, when you open the valve at the lowest point, gravity will force the water from the pipes.

DO NOT DRINK POOL OR SPA WATER!  POOL WATER CONTAINS MANY TOXIC CHEMICALS AND HAS A HIGH POTENTIAL OF GIVING YOU DIARRHEA, CAUSING DEHYDRATION!

Where Are Safe Outside Sources of Water? 

• Be sure to treat water according to the instructions in the brochure listed in your filter or purifier before drinking it.

• Rainwater, streams, rivers, and other moving bodies of water. Ponds and lakes and natural springs

• Avoid water with floating material, an odor, or dark color.

• You should not drink flood water.

How Do I Treat Water? 

If the purity of your water source is questionable, use the following methods to make the water safe to drink:

Best!  Add liquid chlorine beach to the water. Use only regular household liquid bleach that contains 5.25 to 6.0 percent sodium hypochlorite. Do not use scented bleaches, color-safe bleaches, or bleaches with added cleaners. Because the potency of bleach diminishes with time, use bleach from a newly opened or unopened bottle.

(8 drops or 1/16 teaspoon per gallon of water. Stir and let stand for 30 minutes. Double this dose if the water is cloudy.) 

Amount of water	Amount of bleach
	Clear water	Cloudy water
1 quart	2 drops	4 drops
1 gallon	8 drops	16 drops
5 gallons	½ teaspoon	1 teaspoon

Or

Filtration- There are many good water filters on the market today. A good one will be around $80.00. The activated charcoal type can also help remove the bad taste. If water is in question also treat it with chemical to kill bacteria and viruses.

Or

UV Light-Technology that is used in most water parks and municipal drinking water facilities is now in a pocket size wand. Steripen and Camelbak have come out with these units. They retail for around $90.00 and are very effective in treating water.

Or

Good!  Add 2% Tincture of Iodine to the water (12 drops per gallon.  Double this dose if the water is cloudy.) Other chemicals for water treatment products (sold in camping or surplus stores) that do not contain 5.25 to 6.0 percent sodium hypochlorite as the only active ingredient, are not recommended and should not be used.

Or

Acceptable!  Boil the water vigorously (5 minutes at sea level, adding an extra minute for every 1000 feet above sea level.  Double this time if the water is cloudy.) Boiled water will taste better (not stale) if you put oxygen back into it by pouring the water back and forth between two clean containers. This will also improve the taste of stored water.

And

Don’t forget to clean and sanitize your food and water containers before using them.  Wash with soap and water then fill with a 10% bleach solution.  After 5 minutes empty the bleach solution and let air dry.

And

Water that is dirty should first be strained through a coffee filter, cheesecloth, or a paper towel to remove suspendedmatter.

Any Questions or Comments jorgensen.erik@comcast.net, gramahm@comcast.net or gbrustad@hotmail.com

A Sanitation Kit in EVERY Household...

Brothers and Sisters

Sanitation Kit Contents

It has been over a month since I last posted any new information, and for that I must repent (and yes I will).  The stake's emergency preparedness plans are in full swing  with several goals that have been set.  Of those goals, the first and most urgent is for the members of each ward/neighborhood to procure for their homes a sanitation kit that is portable and usable in the event of an emergency, and to do so by the end of March.  Yes I know this doesn't sound very appealing, but nevertheless, it is a critical part of your preparation.  Sis. Jorgensen and I have taken the challenge to assemble a sanitation kit and found that the materials needed to do so are easily purchased and/or gathered from items in your own home.  The stake has provided us with a convenient list of the items necessary to build one of these kits and as Sis Jorgensen and I put ours together, we found it can be easily stored in very little space.  I have included at the top part of this blog, a tab that will take you to a link where you can download a copy of this list.  Please take a few minutes and look over the list, then begin to plan how you will assemble your kit, and do so by the end of this month.  In the days to come, I'll attempt to itemize what we paid for our items or estimate the cost of those items that we already had around our house.  I'll post that as soon as I get it put together. 

Brothers and sisters.  I exhort you to follow the counsel our stake leadership has provided us to continue making preparations for the unexpected.  Early in this dispensation, the Lord instructed his people to “organize yourselves; … establish a house, even … a house of order, a house of God” (D&C 88:119).  While I believe he was generally referring to getting our spiritual houses in order, I also believe that we also need to get our temporal houses in order, that we might weather any storm that comes our way with knowledge and faith that we have done all we can and thereby have the expectation of the Lord stepping in and helping us to emerge victorious.  May the Lord bless you in your efforts brothers and sisters is my prayer. Amen.

Bro Jorgensen

Are You A Poulterer?

Last spring Myrna and I began taking as many opportunities as we could to get out and walk together with my wife in the morning.  Most of those walks happened on Saturday mornings because both of us still have employment needs to satisfy.  By the time summer rolled around, we wanted to expand the experience and invested in bicycles that would allow us to be out longer and go farther on each trip.  On one particular trip, we chose to ride on the “Denver and Rio Grande Western Rail Trail that runs north and south from Farmington Bay to Roy, UT.  Since the trail is built upon an old railroad track bed, it runs along the back side of many house lots.  As we rode, we got to view into the back yards of many, many homes.  That day I noticed something that struck me as being a little peculiar; mostly because of my ignorance I suspect.  Even though we were riding through areas that I consider to be suburban, we saw a large number of homes that had chicken coops and the corresponding fowl that used them.  I was a little surprised to see how many people were actually being gentlemen farmers in this way.  Shortly after that ride, my daughter who lives in Providence, UT, informed us that her family was going to begin raising chickens as well.  Their hope was that they would be able to have a few birds that would provide fresh eggs for them each day.  All this seemed a little strange to me, but since then I have noticed a lot of people are keeping chickens to provide food for their families. 

Why do I mention this you ask?  As I have thought of it since last summer, I’ve come to the conclusion that in a small way, raising eggs is a good contributor to being self-reliant.  Isn’t that what preparedness is all about?  I have noticed that a few people in our neighborhood have become poulterers as well.  This morning while perusing some other preparedness blogs, I came across an article on “SurvivalBlog.com” that I thought might benefit those in the ward who are raising chickens.  I thought it would be good to provide the text of it here for those of you who can use it.

How To Keep Chickens Laying Through Winter,

by S.I.

I love my chickens. They are the most easy to care for and more rewarding of all farm animals, in my opinion. However, I am also a pragmatist. My chickens are here to DO something, and that something is lay eggs. These are not pets; they are food producers that I also find beautiful and entertaining. I provide them with a clean living environment, free-ranging fun, food, and protection. In turn, they provide me with eggs. When they stop laying eggs, my family eats the chicken. Some chicken owners may wince at this outlook, but my family lives on a shoestring, and we can’t afford to feed animals that aren’t giving something back. Our dog provides protection, alerts us to strangers and danger, and hunts with my husband while also being a great companion. Our sheep provide lambs for food, and they eat down weeds and pasture. Even our cats keep the mice population down. I strive to give each animal a happy life, but to me it must also be a useful life.

As you can imagine, I want to keep my hens laying throughout the winter. This can be a problem as the temperature drops and there is less light. The old proverb “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is so true when it comes to raising animals. Here are the challenges you must combat in the winter and how to counteract them.

Shelter

Most animals need shelter in winter, and chickens are no exception. In fact, if you want eggs it’s best to provide a shelter that is well sealed against the elements. Not only will this keep your hens safe from colder temperatures and predators, but it will also give them a place to lay your eggs that you can find and easily access.

My Solution: Shelter doesn’t have to be fancy for chickens to be happy. If you don’t already have a chicken coop, an old truck cap is enough in a pinch. You could also use straw bales with a sheet of plywood over it. It simply needs to be draft free, keep out the rain and snow, and be fairly easy for you to get into to check for eggs. There are quite a lot of ideas for homemade, do-it-yourself chicken coops on the Internet and youtube.com. It is also good to give the chickens a dedicated laying box that is secure from predators. Some people build boxes, while others use old milk crates or other existing boxes. The key is for the chickens to be able to easily get inside the laying box, yet have some sides for a bit of privacy, and hold a bit of dry straw or wood chips to provide a soft spot for egg laying/dropping.

Food

Many homesteaders believe in letting chickens forage for themselves, while not providing food for them. This may work okay in the summer when food is plentiful, but if you want eggs in winter you will need to provide feed to your chickens. Also, it is pretty cruel to not feed your chickens in winter when there is so little to forage for. Often, in the winter the ground is frozen, making it hard for them to scratch beneath the surface to locate any bugs or seeds.

My Solution: Buying bags of layer pellet feed is the best option. Also, providing corn or scratch will help your chickens maintain healthy condition through the cold with its nice high-protein content. The more energy your chickens expend on keeping warm, the less eggs they will lay, as that energy is going to come from either their body or their food.

Breed Selection

Some chickens are better suited to certain climates than others. In fact there are some chicken breeds that will literally die if they go through a typical northern winter. So breed selection is very important to your winter egg production.

My Solution: If you live where it gets cold and dark in winter, then choose chickens that are known to lay well in winter. My favorites are Buff Orpingtons, Black Australorps, and Araucanas, because we live in a very cold winter area. A good place to compare different breeds of chicken is the Murray McMurray Hatchery website. In their descriptions of the different breeds they specifically note which chickens are good at winter laying.

Light

This, in fact, is the most important and least understood reason that chickens stop laying. Chickens need a certain amount of daylight to keep laying. When it falls off during the short winter hours of daylight, their bodies tell them to stop laying until spring’s extended sun hours arrive.

My Solution: Put a light in your chicken coop and leave it on. You can shut if off at night, if you want, but we don’t; the light additionally adds heat, and the chickens do fine.

Heat

Chickens need heat to produce eggs. If they are too cold, they will stop laying because most of the food they eat goes to heat production rather than toward egg production.

My Solution: The easiest way to heat your coop is have a heat lamp hanging from the roof inside. These can be picked up at any feed store, or even Walmart, for less than $30.00. You can choose from white or red bulbs. The bonus to red is that it helps to prevent chickens from picking at each other. An additional way to keep heat inside the coop and cold outside is to seal any holes and drafts; this will help immensely.

Litter

What you use for chicken litter will depend on your personal preferences. I like pine wood shavings because they mix well with the manure and absorb and dry it while also adding a nice scent. Having a layer of dry litter is important to laying production because if you are wet you are cold. Also chicken manure is high in ammonia and lets off the stuff in large amounts. This can irritate your chickens’ lungs. Your chickens will be spending much more time in their coop during cold weather so keeping their coop dry and their air clean will help with egg production. It is important to remove dirty litter as well. If an egg gets broken into the litter, it is important to remove the broken egg, dirty litter, and to clean so that there is no remaining egg contents. Otherwise, the chickens may eat it and develop a taste for their own eggs.

My Solution: Every week, I spread an inch or more of litter in their coop. You should adjust the frequency and amount applied, as needed. I also replace litter as it gets dirty and try to keep the area clear of any excrement. This helps me have clean eggs that don’t require washing. (Leaving the bloom on the eggshell helps seal the pores and make the egg stay fresh longer.)

Supplements

Egg laying chickens use alot of nutrients to produce an egg every day. Providing a balanced diet is easy if you use layer pellets.

My Solution: Provide crushed oyster shells for added calcium, even if you’re using layer pellets. Chickens will take what they need. Providing grit is also a good idea, since the dirt and gravel may be covered with snow, and if you are feeding corn or scratch, they need the grit to grind the grains.

Cod Liver Oil is an essential supplement that I have found highly effective to keeping my chickens laying. The reason why cod liver oil is important is that not only does it provide omega oils, it also is a great provider of vitamin D. Now the interesting thing about vitamin D is that it is produced by sunshine. Human bodies cannot produce it on its own. This is why mothers, a hundred years ago, made their children take a spoonful of cod liver oil every day in the winter. Are vitamin D levels an influence on egg production, cuing the chicken’s brain back into laying? I don’t know, but it works every time I use it.

How to Use Cod Liver Oil: I simply buy a big bottle of the cheaper Cod Liver liquid jells and cut them open. Then I squirt them into the water of my chickens. That way they get the same dose approximately. I figure one pill per chicken for a few days until egg production starts up again. Then I give them the same dose a few times a week. Be sure to use this in conjunction with a light in your coop.

Green Stuff

Chickens loves fresh green stuff like lettuces, grass, and weeds. You can sprout your own greens at home super easy. I love my Easy Sprouter, which you can find on amazon.com. Additionally, you can give them leftover salad that has wilted. Another option is to ask your local grocer for produce that they are going to throw out. Your chickens will bless you for the treats. Just avoid onions, garlic, cabbage, and any of the brassica vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, kale, and brussels sprouts), as they can give a bad taste to your eggs.

I hope this helps other chicken raisers to keep their hens healthy and laying all winter.

I provide the following link to for those who might want to see some of the other posts at SurvivalBlog, www.survivalblog.com.

Best of luck with the egg production.

Erik and Myrna