What livestock are you keeping when SHTF?

Hi All,

I was wondering what livestock configurations everyone here is running?

I am trying to figure out what the most efficient meat production scheme is going to be for me as I am limited on my grazeable land.

Currently right now I have the following:

4 pregnant does
2 useless wethers that my kids made me promise we wouldn't eat.
1 buck
18 chickens
2 guinea fowl (livestock alarm system)

I was thinking about adding a couple of pigs as I am from the south and I just don't know if I could live in a post apocalyptic world without bacon...or meat candy as I like to call it.

FYI- I live right near border of Canada in upstate NY.

Thanks.

 

A must have are two pair of horses, transportation and pack/work animals and a few cows for meat and trade purposes. Goats are a good security force with the guineas.

 

For sure you need bacon production they will eat everything and anything left over so you get additional meat and other useful items...

 

Ummm... I don't think I'm in good shape in the livestock "configuration" dept at all. I have a few chickens and a goat being delivered middle of this year. I thought she was going to be delivered this spring but turns out she's not being delivered until around the time of the county fair. I wanted meat chickens right now but had some reservations about that. It might have been too much too fast for me so I decided to sit back and take a wait and see how much spare time I've got approach with the egg layers and the goat.
Meat rabbits were animals I briefly considered in place of meat chickens. It came down to which did we eat more of.... chicken won that hands down.There are only so many hours in a day to learn how to provide proper care for livestock and next up is how to care for the goat on the way.
I think horses are a mistake unless we intend to eat them. I don't see them as cost effective.

 

We keep Dexter cattle, chickens and couple pigs/yr.

Horses right now can be had for nothing.....literally......but hard to justify the feed and upcare bills ( which is WHY they can had for nothing ) on the chance you would need them later, unless you have an excess of pature.

 

I've been offered free horses, people give me strange looks when my response is "I'm not hungry"!

 

Exactly.

 

Buddy of mine went to a livestock auction few months back.....took his trailer with him in case he bought stuff. Came back out in the parking lot to find 2 half starved horses in the trailer and a note that said "we can't feed them any more " with no name on the note!

I guess they picked his rig because it was very nice ( new, dually 450 Ford diesel, nice aluminum stock trailer ) and they felt maybe he could afford to feed them ?

 

Just a bunch of jackasses.

I really should reassess how I feel about my wife's family. . .

 

Sadly I think we are seeing only the beginning. It is going to become a lot more common seeing people give away there horses simply because they cannot afford to feed them. In a strictly survival situation horses (in my part of the country) would be too difficult to over winter.

Rabbits are going to be the next project for me.

 

All I have right now are chickens..I'm in the city limits,very small town,I believe I could get away with a dexter cow.There are chickens a block from the courthouse,the other way they have a mini horse in the back yard.For a while we had a courthouse cock till somebody ran over him.Folks came from all around to sit on the wall around the courthouse and feed the rooster.My son lives about 12 miles away has goats,pigs and chickens.

 

"Came back out in the parking lot to find 2 half starved horses in the trailer and a note that said "we can't feed them any more " with no name on the note!" I've got 1 right now that just appeared.... no note.... no nothing. Lame.... gentle & loving... somewhere in the mid 20's..... hooves looked like dinner plates.... was emaciated w/ fly eggs in its eyes. I don't want to talk about the vet bills or the cost of the farrier or Strategy. I don't even like horses... they're frivolous. Mine's a plump pasture pet that's the epitome of health now. It'll die here because I got attached to it unless.... somebody steals it for food. This is going to sound strange but.... I could eat somebody else's horse but.... not mine. People who dump domestic animals should get a load of buckshot in their rears.
I got stuck with an un-neutered kitten last year that somebody dumped. I called the shelter and they said they were backed up by 6 months and they'd put me on a list.... liars.... they just didn't want to deal with telling me they wouldn't take the thing. I've never had a kitten before in my life. Now I do....I got attached to the sofa shredder too. No more for us..... we're done and calling animal control the next time any former pets are dumped on us. This is another situation where I could eat somebody else's cat but.... not my own so these animals are absolutely positively worthless. Makes me so angry I could spit BB's when people dump domestics.
Catullus> "Sadly I think we are seeing only the beginning." I totally agree with you for horses but.... for cats and dogs and snakes too. They're even dumping goldfish and pet rodents. The number of domestic animals being abandoned is out of control.

 

Four Chickens for eggs, 2 Goats milk, cheese and butter. 2 Rabbits for meat. We picked rabbit for meat, because they produce fast, and gut and clean in less than 5 minutes. Rabbits also share the chicken run, but have thier own hutch. Will add pigs this spring.

Stay safe

 

"they produce fast, and gut and clean in less than 5 minutes."
Is there some sort of a tutorial on this anywhere or do we just have to find somebody who has meat rabbits and ask them if they'd be in a position to teach us?

 

Hey EQ
Go to your browser and type in youtube rabbit butchering. There are some great vid's.

 

i think animal, if there not hidden they mite get you in trouble.if the shift was bad enough people would kill for a chicken much less a pig or cow.eather way there would be killing by you protecting you animals or the ones trying to take you stuff.

 

I agree with everyone's opinion concerning horses. Most people don't deserve to own a horse and even fewer can afford them. I use mine, I've got the land and the cows and NEED the horses just to find my cows at times and need them every time I move them to another pasture or need to doctor them and gather some for sale. Plus I live 47 miles from civilization and if it gets as bad as it could I need that small herd for moving around. Plus between me and town are three wild life management areas that will be prime hunting areas over 100,000 acres far enough away from town to avoid most of the idiots. That reminds me, a good group of dogs is a must also I've picked mine very carefully with a need and purpose for everyone.

 

Where you are living you couldn't afford to not have a horse.

I agree about the dogs. As for me I have one good Australian Shepherd. Between her and my guineas they should be able to alert me if anything is roaming around.

 

I was recently offered 2 horses by one man and 4 by a lady. I can't afford to feed them! I have problems with feeding my 4 dogs! 1 is full grown and 3 are puppies....all eat like there's no tomorrow....
I had planned on having some free range chickens but the large groups of coyotes up theer has changed that idea. The same for rabbits.
Unless there is someway to get control of the coyotes up there, even the yearlings and newborn calves are no longer safe.
Cages, coops, and fencing add up really fast today.
Just last month, a person up north lost their chickens from the freezing weather, despite their coop. Their rooster died having suffered frostbite on his comb, which got infected.
Originally there were a LOT of "plans".
They have since changed.
The idea to have several large greenhouses went south as well....the 50 mph winds took care of that concept!

 

Dunbar> Gotcha.... I'll check.
INRICK> we're getting a goat later on this year. They're stealing everything not bolted down around me so we already know we're gonna have to put her in our garage at night. That's going to be interesting. The goat isn't as big as any of our dogs but she's pretty big at somewhere around 120-130 lbs. I think she's a Saanen x. I think I spelled that right. She chews so I guess we'll have to figure something out to contain her at night so she doesn't nibble her way through everything out there.

dragonfly> chin up.... sometimes we just need to "adjust our sails". I think chickens are doable. Maybe even rabbits with a chicken wire floor since they dig. I did this for you hoping it might give you some ideas, http://www.survivalmonkey.com/forum/back-basics/27623-chicken-tractors.html#post151166. Those chicken tractors are in the UP. They're made from chicken wire but could just as easily be made from cattle panels or fencing. Really.... what ever's laying around usually will work. There aren't too many coyotes in the area because of all the wolves but they do a pretty good job keeping the turkeys and chickens safe from most predators. The lids did need to be locked because of raccoons though. I think he loses some eggs to snakes but not a significant loss and the snakes are much better mousers than cats so he was able to get rid of all his cats that were spraying his feed. These tractors are bottomless. For rabbits.... we'd probably need to attach chicken wire to the bottom since they dig. One more thing.... even cold-hardy breeds of chicken with smaller combs etc. that can usually take the cold will need a decent coop for over-wintering.