What would you choose as livestock if the SHTF??

reply to post by Mike Stivic
Absolutely, it won't hurt to 'keep' rabbits (Heck rabbits, you can make them survive on their own which is most ideal of course) and would be superior to guinea pigs in that respect since even 30 miles south of Canada is too cold for guinea pigs so you can just trap rabbits if for some reason you have to vacate your main house to lay low for a bit.

IMO there *probably* will be some incursions by roving bands of hungry people, with varying threat levels, depending on how much attention you call to yourself like burning meats and woods, noises from animals, public knowledge of your presence... etc.

Vegetarians... I wonder about them- to survive on only vegetables and fruits without vitamin or mineral supplements is very hard and IMO they don't look very healthy. Humans are omnivores, we do need some meat in our diet, even if it is from insects.

Good luck friend.


[edit on 10-6-2010 by star in a jar]

Originally posted by zaiger
reply to post by salchanra

 

There is an ignore button you can use it if you want. Do not be jealous because when SHTF i will grow fat with people meat and you will be starving.

('Ignore')
kthxbye

sorry this took so long to post,

Goat's milk
In-depth nutrient analysis:

Goat's milk
(Note: "--" indicates data is unavailable)
edit: i removed the spreadsheet it came out all screwy .use this link

source:www.whfoods.com...

im not a dietician(sp) and im not sure if im getting this right but the way i read that is

omega 3 fatty acids % 4.17 daily value

saturated fat % 32.55 daily value

fat total % 15.54 daily value

mono fat % 11.29 daily value

poly fat % 1.50 daily value


im not exactly sure how to interprut this but im guessing unless you drank alot of milk it would not be a permanent substitute by anymeans, if anyone can elaborate further id be happy to hear it and welcome a contradiction,in any case there is always the goat meat itself. although as im learning more i think with a combination of animals the likelyhood of this rabbit starvation happening drops drastically.

leaning more and more towards a few chickens a few goats a few rabbits and 2 pigs.




~meathead

P.s. sorry about the way the spread sheet came out i am still learning.

[edit on 10-6-2010 by Mike Stivic]

If you live near the ocean you can capture dolphins and pin them in near the shore. Dolphin meat is good for you and dolphin milk is almost like butter. Cats and dogs would probably overpopulate the areas that they live in so there would be a lot of meat for everyone.

[edit on 10-6-2010 by zaiger]

In a total collapse scenario, vegetarians would be screwed in a climate like Canada's and particularly in the short growing seasons areas.

I would choose chickens fo course.

reply to post by Mike Stivic

thanks for the input,im not too concerned with traveling with my livestock so at the moment i am really leaning toward a mix.

That sounds great! But don't forget the geese - they make absolutely AWESOME alarm systems!

And they're GREAT on keeping weeds out of the garden - without eating the vegetables (as our dear little goaty friends are prone to do)!

Oh yeah, and you'll need the down from the geese for comforters...and pillows...and...they don't need grain when they're older unless it's very cold...and...

Oh, just don't forget to get some geese!

reply to post by Aeons


Most people who grow in areas with short growing seasons start thier plants indoors to try and offset the short season, picking varieties that do well in these regions also is a benifit to you. Atm im about 300 miles south of our property in vermont(we wont be up there year round until the cabin is finished in early fall), my sister lives in vermont year round, and has had great success with her garden (it helps her husband has a green thumb too) its well established (this is the garden i was reffering to in earlier posts and is planned to be doubled in size when i move up there)at this point and provides fresh veggies for her and her husband and thier three boys, with enough to jar afterwords.

but whether or not vegetarians will starve up there is not really on topic in a thread called"what livestock would you choose if SHTF"
although i thank you for your input


~meathead

reply to post by silo13


You seem to be very pro geese and knowledgeable on the subject,I have heard geese can be aggresive, is this true? also i did not know they didnt eat vegetables? do you just leave them in the garden to weed for you or only put them in there at certian times of day? is there scat a concern if they are leaving it on the plants,(of course id wash the veggies) but just wondering, if i wouldnt do better to have more chickens then adding geese to the mix?

thanks in advance

~meathead

reply to post by Mike Stivic


I've had my geese be extremely aggressive - but never to me or mine.
People will not even get out of their cars or walk on the property if the geese are out. This is good. I mean mostly it's all 'honk and hiss' and no bite, but they can give a good tweak with their beak and the wings on the adults can really hurt when you get whacked by them.

But again - they know who the good guys and the bad guys are and very rarely will there be a problem in between. Though, they will remember if they are abused and often get in a peck or two on the back of the legs to someone who's been unpleasant or abusive to them. They can also be touchy about egg collecting, but, that's natural and it's possible to collect without getting into a situation with a laying goose.

My geese don't touch the veggies or ripening fruit. They may pick at a tender young shoot on a newly planted sprouting vegetable, but, for the most part stick to grassy weeds. Chickens on the other hand - they'll eat just about anything and their scratching and digging can really mess up a garden fast.

Yeah, I keep my chickens way away from the gardens. Their 'waste' will burn plants and though their poo is great manure but it needs to be aged. Goose drops are fine to use as fertilizer right out of...the goose, lol.

As for when my geese are in the gardens and not? They're out doing my weeding with me in the morning and evening - not midday. They do love their shade!

Chickens lay all year round, geese only part of the year (about 25-30 eggs) so that's a huge consideration and probably the only reason, but a good one, to have more chickens.

For meat production you get far more meat for the grain input from geese. I don't eat my geese, but, they do grow faster on less grain and get larger overall than chickens and better growth per grain input than turkeys too. Also there's the down to consider when butchering - something wonderful you don't get from chickens and turkeys.

20 acres ok buy a 4 foot deep aboveground pool semipermanent or inflatable stock it with catfish fry and buy 400 pounds of oatmeal fed catfish a couple of good size hands of oatmeal a day and with in a year you should be able to harvest one or two foot long catfish every few days . build rabbit hutch and chicken coop take five acres for growing animal feed 4 for growing veggies for you remember to grow berries or citrus to fight off scurvy would want nobody to think you were a pirate argh! just kidding.
but think about it eggs for breakfast with toast rabbit stew or fried catfish or catfish stew for dinner and roast chicken once in awhile plus carrots and cucumbers and potatoes oh my . buy 20 more acres and grow corn on it 5 acres at a time and keep rotating the corn crop every year so it doesn't leach soil. dead fish and fishheads make good fertilizer algea does too.