Living in the desert creates a different scenario for having animals than those of you that have animals in an area where it are not so arid. In southern New Mexico, the Mesquite grows like weeds. The leaves of the Mesquite are just fine for the animals. Feeding the animals is important regardless of any situation. Food storage should include foods for their needs as they will provide you and your family with so much.
In this photo my daughter is harvesting the leaves of the Mesquite. We have several bags and when we go out and about we gather the bags full to supplement the sheep, goats, and birds diets. Planning for the animals is very important, and here it is more time consuming, but solutions are in front of us.The Mesquite grows a bean that can be dried and given to the animals as feed, or it can be ground into a flour and used to make a flat bread. It can also be ground and made into a coffee.
The Mesquite tree can be used for firewood. It burns so amazing, that my husband only uses this wood in the grill...green. He sends my sons out to cut several branches when he is planning on grilling.
As with most things in the desert, the Mesquite requires some stealth handiwork to take the leaves and gather the beans as the Mesquite has awful thorns. Living here in the desert southwest requires that one has tweezers on hand 24-7...
Since we moved to our farm we have studied intently what can be provided in the case of not being able to run into the local feed store. We have harvested the local grasses for feed, and collected the Mesquite beans, leaves and even the wood. We must not overlook the needs of our animals in prepping. Put together a med kit for each kind of animal, so that you can ensure that you take proper care of your critters.
These are two of the Double Nickel Farm Navajo Churro Sheep. This breed has been in the desert southwest for several hundred years, and are used to forage in this arid land.We live in harsh times, not because I personally live in a dry arid climate, but because of the economy. One must take into account the needs of your animals when you are prepping. Don't forget that many items can be multi purpose reasons.
(c) double nickel farm
Have a great week!
