Livestock food source

[brandonc89]

Which do you believe to be a better food source cattle vs. pigs
Trying to determine a difference in food to cost ratio as well as maturity rate and reproduction .
Which could become more self sustaining or stable easier or quicker.

 

[Oklahomabassin]

Which do you believe to be a better food source cattle vs. pigs
Trying to determine a difference in food to cost ratio as well as maturity rate and reproduction .
Which could become more self sustaining or stable easier or quicker.

Rabbits

 

[BadgeBunny]

I'm with OKB ... rabbits. I've been looking at pot-bellied pigs but I'm married to a JBT who says "NO" ... Won't let me have a dwarf goat either ...

But with chickens (1/2 a dozen) for eggs (we did some meat chickens this spring -- NEVER AGAIN! ) and our rabbits (1 buck, 6 does but I'm fixing to thin out to 4 does, I think) we will have more than enough to stock the freezer, feed us and share with the neighbors ...

 

[cowadle]

cattle> one mature cow needs aprox 4 acres in this area of forage to exist.she will drink at least 20 gallons of water per day,she cycles in fertility every 21 days and takes 10 months to produce one calf, a beef cow will give on average of 8 pounds of milk per day but will have much more butterfat than a dairy cow. her heifer calf will breed at 15 month of age but you better hold her off so she will calve at three unless you have a lot of feed. pigs have a 12 piglet liter and can have two litters per year and breed back at 6 months old. a sow will live off of your dead chickens table scraps and the left over corn in the cows manure. a sow will provide you with meat and fat. the cow will give you meat and fat and milk protein all converted from grass. the cow is more efficient in a wider range than the pig as far as nutrition and feed are concerned. you have to have a pig to get Bacon to wrap around that eye of the rib or filet.

 

[dennishoddy]

I'm with OKB ... rabbits. I've been looking at pot-bellied pigs but I'm married to a JBT who says "NO" ... Won't let me have a dwarf goat either ...

But with chickens (1/2 a dozen) for eggs (we did some meat chickens this spring -- NEVER AGAIN! ) and our rabbits (1 buck, 6 does but I'm fixing to thin out to 4 does, I think) we will have more than enough to stock the freezer, feed us and share with the neighbors ...

Pot bellied pigs don't eat well. FYI

 

[0311]

I'm with OKB ... rabbits. I've been looking at pot-bellied pigs but I'm married to a JBT who says "NO" ... Won't let me have a dwarf goat either ...

But with chickens (1/2 a dozen) for eggs (we did some meat chickens this spring -- NEVER AGAIN! ) and our rabbits (1 buck, 6 does but I'm fixing to thin out to 4 does, I think) we will have more than enough to stock the freezer, feed us and share with the neighbors ...

I don't know what it is with meat chickens, but they can't even move when they get grown - they just lay there.

 

[okietom]

It would be best to have several different animals as food sources. Rabbits are very good and have really healthy meat.

I have read that catfish has the best rate of meat production. They can make one pound of meat with two pounds of food.

 

[BadgeBunny]

I don't know what it is with meat chickens, but they can't even move when they get grown - they just lay there.

That is because they are bred to do only one thing. Put on weight as quickly as possible so they can be butchered out early with the least amount of expenditure possible. We wound up butchering ours at 8 weeks, I think it was, because I was scared to death they were gonna break a leg just trying to stand up to defecate. Even then they were HUGE. The carcasses look more like turkey than chicken ...

 

[BadgeBunny]

Pot bellied pigs don't eat well. FYI

Do you mean they don't put on weight well or they don't taste good? Not that it matters ecause the JBT says "no" ...

 

[BadgeBunny]

It would be best to have several different animals as food sources. Rabbits are very good and have really healthy meat.

I have read that catfish has the best rate of meat production. They can make one pound of meat with two pounds of food.

While this is true, folks who live in "suburbia" like I do would probably be hard-pressed to have any kind of livestock (even the small stuff) if the SHTF. Honestly, I think people kid themselves into thinking they can be self-sufficient on a 1/3 an acre but it ain't gonna happen. I'm into raising my own food for health reasons than I am for any illusion of self-sufficiency if the world comes to an end and Mars attacks ...