Buy a cow,pig, chickens

[imluna47]

From experience, I'd say stick with the smaller animals. Less food, more sustainable meat,easier to transport/conceal, easier to protect. For milk, I guess goats can be good when you get used to it. It's not that bad.

I live on a farm of 30 acres with my husband, an Agent Orange Vietnam vet. We get by on a small comp check he gets, and I can meat, vegetables from gardens, and we have chickens....I keep at least six months worth of food, dry goods, canned foods, frozen foods, at all times.
Many of you may have heard of NAIS (national Animal Identification System.)
It's bad news, folks!
USDA wants control of every farm animal and its whereabouts at all times, and want all animals satellite chipped , at the cost of the farmer.
If you have a commercial farm, you will be able to get a blanket permit (one) to cover all of your animals. If you have a flock of backyard chickens, a couple of goats, a cow and a horse, you will be expected to get every one of your animals tagged, and if your son rides that horse to Grandma's, you will have to report the fact the horse has left your premises to the government, and when the kid rides back home, you have to report that, too, within 24 hours,or risk a fine.
If you register your property, as they try to get you to voluntarily do, then it is registered into perpetuty, for life.....
The head honcho at USDA said if this bill passes, and they are quietly sneaking it through, then he will drive down every back road in America to find unregistered livestock. Your vet is required by law to report you if this goes ahead and passes into law and your animals are not registered, effectively turning even your vet into a spy against you.
In some states, it has already passed....
Think about it: every pig, every chicken, every animal, every fish in your pond, all has to be reported to Big Brother. You eat a chicken, you have to report it. You hatch one, you have to report that, too.
NAIS opponets say the worst thing you can do is voluntarily register your farms.
Go to : NONAIS.com
for more information.
There is a similar movement called NASS which will control all garden seed by just a few large corporations.(Monsanto, Cargill, to name just two, plus Digital Angel which will furnish the chips to chip the animals.)
What they will do if they get away with these things is control our food sources, effectively.
Food you buy is unsafe to eat, and they are going to try to prevent us from growing food we know is safe!

[Bavarian]

Here are some facts about the rabbit. Rabbit starvation is caused by the lack of fatty acids in rabbit meat. Eating almost any nut or seed food will prevent rabbit starvation. Other plants will help as well. The danger is in eating nothing but rabbit for a prolonged period.

1 Cholesterol level in rabbit meat is much lower than chicken, turkey, beef, pork. (Alabama A & M University 1989)
2 Rabbit is lower in % of fat than chicken, turkey, beef, and pork. (U S D A circular # 549)

3 Unsaturated fatty acids is 63% of total fatty acids. ( Dr Reo)

4 Rabbit is highest in protein%. (U S D A circular # 549)

5 The office of home economics, state relations of the U S Department of Agriculture has made extensive test and have stated that domestic rabbit meat is the most nutritious meat known to man (or dog?).

6 Rabbit meat has been used and is suitable for special diets, such as those for heart disease patients, diets for the aged, low sodium diets, weight reduction diets, etc. ( Rabbit production Cheek Patton Templeton) Of course this is between you and your doctor (vet!!). We do not make any recommendations of this type because we are not qualified.

7 Rabbit has 795 calories per pound. Chicken 810, Veal 840, Turkey 1190, Lamb 1420, Beef 1440, Pork 2050. ( U S D A circular # 549 )

8 Rabbits will produce 6 pounds of meat on the same feed and water as a cow will produce 1 pound of meat on the same feed and water.

9 Rabbits are raised up off the ground and is one of the cleanest meat.

10 As the worlds human population grows there will be less land to raise food. The rabbit will play a more increasing role in this supply.

11 France is the world's largest producer and consumer of rabbit meat. In Hungary there are rabbitries with over 10,000 does producing rabbits for export to Italy.

12 Rabbit meat is all white meat.

[unswydd]

Mmmm I did not know that. Is it because they have very little fat? I would have thought that the meat will still have a decent amount of protein.

Rabbits actually have very little in the way of nutritional value. Unfortunately. I certainly know a thousand ways to cook it. :rolleyes:

[pathfinder3081]

Rabbits don't have enough nutrients to support you....you can literally starve to death eating rabbits every day.

Mmmm I did not know that. Is it because they have very little fat? I would have thought that the meat will still have a decent amount of protein.

[lailr]

As above, rabbits, goats and chickens are all excellent choices. You'll probably have to put away some cracked corn for the chickens.

Check with your state's fish and wildlife division. They may help you put in a pond and stock it with fish. A small pond can also support catfish which you can buy from a source that supplies pay lakes. Carp are also an excellent fish for a small pond (same source as catfish). The Europeans brought them here specifically for a manageable food fish. Don't believe what you hear about them not being good to eat. They're considered a delicacy everywhere but the USA.

If you have a small stream or drain, sew crawdads and creek chubs. Both are good to eat. Sew native mussels if you want to attrack raccoons, etc.

If you have any type of water on the property, plant cattails. Also fruit trees, black berries, etc. Any plant that grows wild and that's edible can be used for a border plant and once it gets started, it's free.

I'm also planting daylilies on my land. They're pretty, multiply fast and completely edible.

Check with vets and animal control. They may release what some people call nusance animals, squirrels, raccoons, groundhogs, etc., on your property. Fun to watch if you don't need them. Tasty if you do.

My place is completely remote and I don't get there but every few weeks. I'm trying to get everything wild started, animals and plants. Hopefully, no matter what time of year I go there, I'll find food. I can then plant gardens etc, as time and weather allow.

Rabbits don't have enough nutrients to support you....you can literally starve to death eating rabbits every day.

[Bavarian]

As above, rabbits, goats and chickens are all excellent choices. You'll probably have to put away some cracked corn for the chickens.

Check with your state's fish and wildlife division. They may help you put in a pond and stock it with fish. A small pond can also support catfish which you can buy from a source that supplies pay lakes. Carp are also an excellent fish for a small pond (same source as catfish). The Europeans brought them here specifically for a manageable food fish. Don't believe what you hear about them not being good to eat. They're considered a delicacy everywhere but the USA.

If you have a small stream or drain, sew crawdads and creek chubs. Both are good to eat. Sew native mussels if you want to attrack raccoons, etc.

If you have any type of water on the property, plant cattails. Also fruit trees, black berries, etc. Any plant that grows wild and that's edible can be used for a border plant and once it gets started, it's free.

I'm also planting daylilies on my land. They're pretty, multiply fast and completely edible.

Check with vets and animal control. They may release what some people call nusance animals, squirrels, raccoons, groundhogs, etc., on your property. Fun to watch if you don't need them. Tasty if you do.

My place is completely remote and I don't get there but every few weeks. I'm trying to get everything wild started, animals and plants. Hopefully, no matter what time of year I go there, I'll find food. I can then plant gardens etc, as time and weather allow.

[unswydd]

Infinity, check out the D.I.Y Resource category as I have posted a few websites and videos on the subject of preparing meat.

I happen to LIKE your idea and do not think it is crazy. :D

I too, like your ideas Infinity. I have thought of this very idea before. I thought I was nuts too. LOL

[lailr]

My problem is that a fox or something gets in there and eats them....

[Lostinoz]

I've thought about this too. Decided that I didn't have a clue how to take care of a cow, shifted to rabbits/chickens as a possiblity. Then I realized, I have no idea how to clean an animal. I'm as "cityfied" as them come. My meat has always come in neatly packed styrofoam containers.

Any suggestions on where to find such info?

(By the time I think of all the new skills I would need, I start to wonder if the route to go is not to develop a "survival community" of some sort. To make it fun and perhaps have an income (until all hell breaks lose) maybe it could be a "tourist" attraction like a "medieval community" for "1776 farm". Only the inhabitants would know that under that public face was a very well prepared group of people. Well, maybe that's too crazy. My mind wanders sometimes.....)

Infinity, check out the D.I.Y Resource category as I have posted a few websites and videos on the subject of preparing meat.

I happen to LIKE your idea and do not think it is crazy. :D

[infinity]

I've thought about this too. Decided that I didn't have a clue how to take care of a cow, shifted to rabbits/chickens as a possiblity. Then I realized, I have no idea how to clean an animal. I'm as "cityfied" as them come. My meat has always come in neatly packed styrofoam containers.

Any suggestions on where to find such info?

(By the time I think of all the new skills I would need, I start to wonder if the route to go is not to develop a "survival community" of some sort. To make it fun and perhaps have an income (until all hell breaks lose) maybe it could be a "tourist" attraction like a "medieval community" for "1776 farm". Only the inhabitants would know that under that public face was a very well prepared group of people. Well, maybe that's too crazy. My mind wanders sometimes.....)

[herbalpagan]

We are thinking about laying hens, but I have to find the right hen house for them. We have a lot of predators around. In a few years, we may get a couple of beef cows, it's just a matter of finding the ones right for us.

[unswydd]

I have a cow(steer) we are raising organically for the meat. Have roosters and will add hens later this year. (laying hens that stop laying become stew)
We have a small pond that is stocked with catfish.
A person could do small scale fish farming with above ground containers(like those cheapo swimming pools) Tlhayslip will agree that fish are quiet!!!
Rabbits dont take up space and are quiet too.
I think storage of powdered milk is more practical than a milk cow or goat.

Good thoughts. I will take this to the table. I was thinking that if I get too many of these creatures it will take a lot of grain to feed them and we are not farmers. We don't know the first thing about it. I'm an experienced gardener but no farmer that's for sure. I will probably stock the powdered milk as was suggested also in earlier posts. Thanks

[OneBadPig]

I have a cow(steer) we are raising organically for the meat. Have roosters and will add hens later this year. (laying hens that stop laying become stew)
We have a small pond that is stocked with catfish.
A person could do small scale fish farming with above ground containers(like those cheapo swimming pools) Tlhayslip will agree that fish are quiet!!!
Rabbits dont take up space and are quiet too.
I think storage of powdered milk is more practical than a milk cow or goat.

[tlhayslip]

these are all great ideas. a cow or a few cattle would be a nice addition to your livestock, but if the shtf and food riots begin, it wont take long before some terd decides that you have some realy tasty looking beef. be careful with your stock, as it may draw unwanted attention to your family compound.

[unswydd]

These are some great suggestions. I appreciate all the feed back. I'm getting ready to do my research on all this so it will surely help.
Thanks!