More survival tips

[Horse with no Name]

The tips I've seen on survival are great.
One other thing is that people are going to eat meat. They will need/want protein.
One idea if you have the room is to buy some chickens.
You can eat eggs--sell or barter the ones you don't eat.
You can also set aside some to eat or sell the babies chickens to others. Barter them with your neighbors.
You would need to invest in an incubator. They are fairly inexpensive at the farm supply stores. Not sure but you may even be able to purchase them online.
Another thing, I used to raise rabbits. They are great for many purposes. One is for manure and compost in your garden.
They can make your garden produce more.
Compost:
They are great for compost.
There is a composting book called "Let it Rot" by Stu Campbell.
You can buy 2 female and 1 male rabbit and have lots of rabbits. You can sell or barter the young ones, and put some in your own freezer.Rabbit is very good--it tastes like chicken,lol.
I also have a book called "Storey's Guide to Raising Rabbits"
Domestic rabbit is low in calories and high in protein.
This isn't flamebait--it's just some ideas when times get tough.

[alittlelark]

1. You are on the same page I am.

I just finished an order w / http://www.seedstrust.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv? ! I always plan for the worst, and am happy that it never came! May it remain so... if not.....

Our CO place has 3 rabbit hutches thus far (no rabbits). Excellent protien and fertilizer.

[Horse with no Name]

4. If you are going to buy rabbits--buy meat rabbits

Best ones are New Zealanders and Californians.

[alittlelark]

10. We have a neighbor who raises rabbits - New Zealand variety

she takes care of our property and and is 2-3 pages ahead of me... I am learning through every contact.

[libnnc]

2. I don't know if I could kill Peter Cottontail myself, but

I'd sure try to barter with someone to dress and clean what I've raised. I have nothing against meat at all, I'm just a little squeamish about the whole slaughter process.

I've seriously thought about raising chickens. Goats too. My partner and I have a little over an acre in what is becoming a very congested part of town. We've fenced in the property and its basically just a dog-run right now but there is plenty of room for chickens and a goat. I don't know what the city codes are for livestock within city limits but I'll be finding out I'm sure.

[HeeBGBz]

5. I raised chickens a few years ago

Nice fat hens that I'd raised from chicks. They had just started laying good and the coyotes got em. Killed em and didn't eat em.

I like tending chickens. Except when they die.

[amazona]

3. great suggestion

A friend's family raised rabbits. They always had meat. I used to have chickens. What I like about chickens is the way they turn insects they find in the dirt and old leftovers and onion peels into wonderful eggs with glowing orange yolks. It's like magic. I saw someone's guineas out roaming the other day. Don't know who owns them but I've always wanted to try guineas. They're good watchdogs too supposedly.

I will tell you a secret about that incubator. We used a light bulb, a thermometer, and a styrofoam box we found behind a building. It worked just fine. We hatched quail that way too. But if I start again, I'm going to do bantams and skip the incubator. Not because I found the incubator any trouble but because I just adore bantams. And they'll incubate anything, even an old pebble.

On edit-- about those city codes. If you don't have a rooster, and you have a decent privacy fence, then no one notices the hens. Just buy pullets that are guaranteed to be female. Don't take any chances with day-old chicks because a rooster can be in there. Actually, we did have one rooster (the price of getting free day-old chicks) but no one ever said anything even though it was supposedly against code. Guy across the street was an ex-cop and he was raising ducks! This neighborhood is not supposed to allow any "livestock" or "poultry" but if you keep it quiet and clean, and don't tell anyone, who is going to know?

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[Blue Diadem]

14. I hadn't thought about getting only hens

We already have a chicken coop, currently used as a gardening shed. With a few precisely built privacy fences, no one would have a clue.
Is there a suggestion of size of area per chicken?

Village grandfathered chickens here a few years ago. Anyone with them could keep them, just no new ones.

[conflictgirl]

6. Pets or meat!

Sorry, raising rabbits for food just cracks me up a little bit, perhaps because I don't live far from the town Michael Moore featured in Roger & Me.

Not that your ideas are bad at all, it just triggered my warped sense of humor. Sorry. :P

[Horse with no Name]

8. I have a leftover bunny from our days of raising rabbits

He was born and kicked out by his mama. He was stuck to the cold ground the day before Thanksgiving.
Peeled his little bald body off the sidewalk and put him on a heating pad--warmed his body temperature and started him out on baby formula (it was all we had that day) and got a recipe for formula from the vet and bottle fed him.
His name is Little Bunny FooFoo and I wouldn't dream of eating him.:)

[Eureka]

7. Tried Guinea Pigs?

I've never tried them, but I have heard they they are often used by subsistance type farmers for a protien source. Apparently a breeding pair of Guineas can feed (probably should read keep alive) a family of four because of their protein and profuse breeding.

Of course, I don't know for sure, since I have land and grow cows and chickens.

For those interested in chickens (meat and/or eggs) they are very easy to keep, and are a great way of getting rid of scraps. Ours are so good we can't have a compost bin because we just can't create enough scraps to put in it, it all gets turned into eggs.

The incubation cycle for a chicken is 21 days. It's very simple to make your own incubator too if you need to, just find some scrap foam or something else with good thermal properties and keep the temp at from memory 103 F, turn twice a day.

[jedr]

9. having been in the egg business for over 35yrs,

I'll give you a few facts you may or may not know...with the exception of vitamin C , eggs are nutritional perfect....with the exception of soy bean sprouts; eggs are the cheapest source of protein you can buy...all of my old time friends ( most all dead) raised chickens and sold eggs in the depression as a way to make money..you are Pre-disposed to the cholesterol issue by family history, and they all lived well into their 80's...check with your local ag extension office...will give you all the info' you need

[alittlelark]

11. We also built a chicken coop (unused)

We have a # of neighbors we can barter with.

[Horse with no Name]

12. Yeah I think eggs got a bad rap

on the cholesterol issue.
I loved "The Incredible Edible Egg".:)

[Dave Reynolds]

13. Good ideas.

I also have a couple of healthy riding horses, for when transportation is a problem.