# Whos been prepping livestock?



## Randywag (Nov 29, 2012)

Just wondering who has been raising livestock, not just for when the SHTF, but as a daily life style? Ive been thinking about getting a couple rabbits, since they breed fairly fast. Anyone have any other suggestions? Nothing too big, a little less than an acre to work with.


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## shadownmss (Nov 13, 2012)

You could raise a few chickens on the amount of land that you have they are relatively easy to maintain. We only have 3 chickens right now (experimenting) however we have about 24 acres of land and raise sheep. We have 10 ewes that should be lambing within a month or so.


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## Randywag (Nov 29, 2012)

How do you like the chickens? Ive read they stink.


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## Reaper (Dec 26, 2012)

Chickens aren't to bad if you only have a few. Most chicken houses stink because they aren't cleaned properly. A chicken will die and go unnoticed among the many. Put a dead chicken in a closed space with an exhaust fan, you'll smell it. 

Also a fun fact, you dont need a rooster to get your eating eggs. You only need a rooster if you want more chickens


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## Gallo Pazzesco (Dec 22, 2012)

I've been prepping with livestock since I was a kid in the sixties.

I highly recommend a book, just to get started, by the name of "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Living." It has several great sections on different breeds, what breeds to choose, how to keep them - basic advice, but it'll give you a really good start plus it is loaded with other good information.

The book is worth every penny you'll invest in it - I promise.


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## Anthony (Dec 27, 2012)

I live with my mom on school days and go to my grandparents on the weekend ( were close ) they have chickens pigs and cats to keep the mice down, of course i dont mooch off of them i help them do chore's and i feel that if the SHTF and i wasnt going to bug out, these chickens would be shared with me. I bought a pitbull the other month hes just a pup now but hes getting massive muscle wise. I would take him bugging out with me for hunting and defence.
-Anthony


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

Right now the only live stock I am able to have and tend to at the moment is Florida White Rabbits. Local city regs dont allow for chickens unless you got at least a acre and then only a max of 6 hens which doesnt do much for you. The Regs dont say that about "pet" Khaki Campbell ducks though which might be my next endevor. Lots of folks here have water features and have a few ducks for ornamental purposes only so I could probably slide under the radar on that.

I would like to do chickens at the BOL but would have to figure out a way to keep the water from freezing in the winter months (about 3) and I would definitely have to make the coop predator proof in a major kind of way. All of which would be possible but probably more work than its worth. Chickens arent all that messy or smelly. A lot of the smell is due to improper cleaning and maintenance of the pen as well as poor ventilation.

I would like to do a lot more though...


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Chickens, Pigs, goats and sheep. We may end up with some cows but I really don't want to milk them Been there done that.
For their size Goats produce more milk when viewed from how much they eat you can get use to goat milk other parts of the world drink a lot more of it than cows milk.
Out here Rabbits and the like will are on their own they will do just fine in the field and on the line fences they always have.
Here live stock is nothing new it has been a part of most peoples life. We are only one generation off a largely farm economy here. The kids all grew up working with Grandpa on the farm doing things pretty much the cheap way. The boys made hay all summer ect so on that part we are in good shape.


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## acfink (Dec 19, 2012)

I have already asked the boss(wife) if I can have/raise chickens this spring and she has agreed. I went for rabbits also but that didn't fly. my sisters has a bunch of chickens and I have assisted her many times so I could learn the basics.


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## fedorthedog (Feb 28, 2012)

I have chickens ducks and 2 doe goats. Goats are ok on a smaller lot you just have to feed them. Loaning them out to neighbors for brush removal covers some of this.


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## Jazzman (Jun 8, 2012)

Anthony said:


> I live with my mom on school days and go to my grandparents on the weekend ( were close ) they have chickens pigs and cats to keep the mice down, of course i dont mooch off of them i help them do chore's and i feel that if the SHTF and i wasnt going to bug out, these chickens would be shared with me. I bought a pitbull the other month hes just a pup now but hes getting massive muscle wise. I would take him bugging out with me for hunting and defence.
> -Anthony


 Do all the rest of us APBT enthusiasts a favor and educate yourself as regards the breed , starting with the basic fact that "massive muscle" means squat , along with the fact that they *are not* a defensive dog , nor do they really make a decent catch or hunting dog except in very limited context.

Lemme guess here , ya bought it out of a newspaper ad didn't you? I sincerely hope you didn't fall for the fad color (blue)/ lowrider doh /bbbeeeeggg head/ Razors Edge-Gotti line/ golly they agaonna be BeeeEgggg bullshit.

Did you see OFA/PennHip on hips and elbows? A VWD screen? A cardiomyopathy screen? If blue is there a history of congenitally carried Demdectic or other immune deficiences? Did you see a 6 to 8 generation pedigree on the dog? Do you even know what a parting stick is and how to utilise it? Know what the aggression development age window is as regards other dogs and animals?

Or did you just buy an APBT because it's " cool"?


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## Old Man (Dec 10, 2012)

We live on 12 acres and we have 12 chickens and 3 donkeys. The chickens are for eggs and the donkeys are for hauling or drag whatever, or help to plow the gardening. Most overlook donkeys, but very smart and very strong. We have no plans of leave our farm which we feel makes the donkeys very useful. We feel when the SHTF it will be very hard to get fuel. We are working on get some goats and rabbits.


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

I have often wondered if keeping a few breeding pairs of guard or hunting type dogs on hand would make for a great bartering item later on down the road in a long term SHTF. I mean a pair of Pitbulls or BMC's could quickly be breed and turned into a littler of 4-8 pups that could probably be pretty quickly turned for a profit or traded for something you need. Not really trying to derail a thread but just kind of thinking out loud as not all live stock is limited to Cows and Chickens.


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## WoadWarrior (Oct 10, 2012)

There's already plenty of livestock around here. Most of my neighbors have cats or dogs. They should feed my family well for a while.


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## Lucky Jim (Sep 2, 2012)

I live on the 3rd floor of an apartment block so livestock are out for me; but I can still have fun reading about them, this book extract is by self-suff guru John Seymour-


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

We have had horses for a decade or more (have three at the moment), chickens even longer.
We are beginning to train our best cantidate horse to pull a wagon, we will still be able to get to town when gas hits $10 per gallon.


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## AsteroidX (Dec 11, 2012)

I have a herd of deer that freerange on/off my property. Had 3 bucks as of 2 days ago. But I think someone shot one of the 2 pointers. Have to keep my eyes open I guess. My neighbors have more "livestock" then I do but Im looking at chickens once I get a suitable habitat.


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

WoadWarrior said:


> There's already plenty of livestock around here. Most of my neighbors have cats or dogs. They should feed my family well for a while.


LOL, a few million Koreans and Veitnamese cant be too wrong now can they?


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## Leon (Jan 30, 2012)

chickens, rabbits, turkeys guinea pigs


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## Desert Marine (Nov 20, 2012)

WoadWarrior said:


> There's already plenty of livestock around here. Most of my neighbors have cats or dogs. They should feed my family well for a while.


whenever we went to Korea for Operation Team Spirit I always ate local meat and that was DOG. I also ate Cat-adobo (stew) in the Philippines. So yeah baby if I had to I eat a dog or cat in a heartbeat.

Side note: We raise Muscovy & Mallard ducks, Fayoumi Chickens, Rahmani Sheep, NZW Rabbits, Shami Goats on our Homestead. Like most if/when the SHTF we're staying put and digging our heels in deep. We're adding 40 lambs to our flock of sheep by next month and will be stocking up on their feed for a year's worth of preps as well. This is our insurance policy for food inflation as well as prepping for whatever is coming our way. One thing for sure the price of fed and meat does not go down so we will come out ahead by the end of the year.


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## Gallo Pazzesco (Dec 22, 2012)

Helmeted guineas make for some seriously good prepping fowl if you know what you are doing.

Great watch-dogs too.


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

> whenever we went to Korea for Operation Team Spirit I always ate local meat and that was DOG. I also ate Cat-adobo (stew) in the Philippines. So yeah baby if I had to I eat a dog or cat in a heartbeat.


You too huh? Man Adobo can make just about anything taste good!


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

Gallo, you got that right on the good burgerler alarm there with the Guineas. No a bad substitute for fried Yard Bird either.


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## bennettvm (Jan 5, 2013)

I wish I could raise chickens, but our county has setup crazy rules/laws on having them. You need to have a min of 5 acres of land. So I recently started raising rabbits. I have a buck and a doe. And my doe is due in about 10-12 days with her first litter. If all goes well, my first litter should yield at least 6 kits. Raising them is fairly cheap, and they are low maintenance. I plan on eating/selling them on a regular basis. I have been bagging up their waste for my garden in the spring. If all goes well, I hope to get 50-75 lbs of meat from my rabbits per year.


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## Desert Marine (Nov 20, 2012)

bennettvm said:


> I wish I could raise chickens, but our county has setup crazy rules/laws on having them. You need to have a min of 5 acres of land. So I recently started raising rabbits. I have a buck and a doe. And my doe is due in about 10-12 days with her first litter. If all goes well, my first litter should yield at least 6 kits. Raising them is fairly cheap, and they are low maintenance. I plan on eating/selling them on a regular basis. I have been bagging up their waste for my garden in the spring. If all goes well, I hope to get 50-75 lbs of meat from my rabbits per year.


Excellent post and you're right on the money with raising rabbits. One of, if not the best source for protein pound for pound. Lean meat with little fat although in a survival situation you'll need that fat which converts into sugar and that translate in to energy. I see you've token lemon (not being able to raise chicken) and turn that into lemonade. Job well done!


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## hardcore (Jan 13, 2013)

i have a few sheep and a donkey.


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## Leon (Jan 30, 2012)

hardcore said:


> i have a few sheep and a donkey.


How is raising sheep? I have been interested in this.


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

*** could a mod please delete***

It was a double post. The computer was 2% smarter than me....


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

Im in the same boat with you bennettvm. However have you looked into Khaki Campbell Ducks? A few of these aquired around easter, especially if you have kids, would possibly qualify as "Pets" and therefore be exempt or subject to a "varience" so your able to keep them. They are excellent layers and can keep up with many chicken breeds in this respect. They arent the best about being broody though. The other upside is you could keep a Drake and probably reproduce your own stock and be sustainable in that respect. Just some food for thought...


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## hardcore (Jan 13, 2013)

View attachment 1221
i dont live on the property where i have the live stock, its in the country 2 miles from where i live. its a 4 acre tract, i keep the sheep to help keep the grass down and the donkey to keep the coyotes away. 
the sheep are on grass most of the year, i do feed when it freezes or like now, we been getting alot of rain. i went feed today and had 2 ewes lamb, one with set of twins. i find sheep are ez to raise and ez on fences, i had goats before but they kept getting out, sheep and the donkey no problems at all.


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