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Do you keep food critters
10 May 2016, 16:43,
#1
Do you keep food critters
I've noticed a gap in our lists for newbies and its one consisting of Best suited Breeds to keep on small scale plots of the type preppers use.

So if your a Homesteader, Small holder, Off gridder, Transitioner, Allotmenteer or Prepper with a big enough plot to keep critters could you please be so kind as to list your choice of critters and in what numbers EG Cattle - Dexters - 1 bull 3 heffers. Chooks- 1 Leghorn Cockeral 4 Rhode island reds etc .

I would like to create a list of recommended breeds of critters inc
Rabbits
Chickens
Goats
Pigs
Cattle
Game Birds
Fish

so please chip in with your expertise.

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10 May 2016, 16:44,
#2
RE: Do you keep food critters
Forgot BEES.

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10 May 2016, 22:48,
#3
RE: Do you keep food critters
No I would not list an inventory of all my livestock.

It's none of your business.
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11 May 2016, 09:05,
#4
RE: Do you keep food critters
I said "please be so kind as to list your CHOICE of critters and in what numbers"

I'm asking for RECOMMENDATIONS of breeds and numbers of critters from people with experience of them so that other people can improve their choices.

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11 May 2016, 09:17,
#5
RE: Do you keep food critters
I'll try this again, If you folks keep animals as part of your preps like Rabbits, Chickens, Pigs, Goats, Cattle, Bees, Sheep, Wildebeast, Alpaca or what ever WHAT BREEDS in what sort of NUMBERS would you RECOMMEND to other people who want to start doing the same?

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11 May 2016, 12:56,
#6
RE: Do you keep food critters
As a child my Dad used to keep Rabbits for the pot. Granny had Chickens.
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11 May 2016, 13:11,
#7
RE: Do you keep food critters
(11 May 2016, 12:56)Tartar Horde Wrote: As a child my Dad used to keep Rabbits for the pot. Granny had Chickens.

My Dad kept "Flemish" Rabbits as they tended to be quite "Meaty" just started with a Male and Female, and they bred like!!!!!!! very easy to look after, and with good food are very tasty. They produce great manure and don't take up a lot of room either, and they provide a constant supply of meat that is very lean and healthy, altogether a great animal to start with. The problem is many people balk at the idea of killing "flopsy". Plus if you know how to skin and prepare the pelts correctly, Rabbits have a great coat. For those of you who don't know "Coney" is Rabbit fur. Rabbits fed on "pellet" type foods take on the aroma of that feed and to me have a more "gamey" taste and smell to the meat. If you feed your Rabbits on good fresh "greens" with fruit like Apple etc the meat becomes delicately flavoured and is very sweet. A good Rabbit casserole is a classic. I crush Garlic, Sea Salt, Black Pepper, Oregano and Olive Oil in a Mortar, then make small cuts all over the Rabbit and massage the mixture in. Leave overnight in the fridge, and then roast slowly in an oven surrounded by Onions and Peppers etc----you will love it trust me.
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11 May 2016, 17:51,
#8
RE: Do you keep food critters
Like TH my father kept "FLEMISH GIANTS" and sold them...easy to keep and multiply fast...and they are BIG.

Chickens ....you could start off with 4/6 hens and 1 cock (if you are a family of 4/6 ) meat and eggs.....you could barter.....Warrens are a great bet for eggs and meat.

A while back Steve told us about his smallish pigs, NOT GOT ANY YET myself , or GOATS come to that but.....all will come very shortly.

Quayle have been talked about on here also ....maybe good for city slicker's ? did think of getting some ....but i thought chooks a better bet for me .

If your new to keeping live FOODS try rabbits its easy they make no noise and you get a lot back for not much in.

Wildebeast......tend to trample the veg and take out the poly tunnel and greenhouse when they head out west every year......and i only had three hundred.......they failed to return this year......spect some Geordie bastards got mine.......they love them up there don't you know !
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11 May 2016, 19:28,
#9
RE: Do you keep food critters
O.K., NR, I keep chickens for eggs only at the moment. There are a lot of variables in the poultry world, but if you want a lot of good sized eggs I would recommend hybrids - Warren, Golden Highline, Golden Comets etc. - as they are bred to lay lots of eggs. They have also largely had the urge to go broody bred out of them, so you would not have the problems of a lot of hot and unnecessary hens trying to hatch things. (Hens stop laying when they go broody). The larger purebreeds - Sussex, Welsummer, Orpingtons etc. - will also lay a goodly number of eggs, but not as many as the hybrids. They will also try and be Mums, so you lose a few weeks of eggs in the chick season. I know a lot of people keep bantams purely as mother hens, but personally I wouldn't bother with them - the eggs are small and hardly worth the effort.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
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12 May 2016, 22:04,
#10
RE: Do you keep food critters
(11 May 2016, 17:51)Straight Shooter Wrote: A while back Steve told us about his smallish pigs, NOT GOT ANY YET myself , or GOATS come to that but.....all will come very shortly

Another 5 healthy piglets arrived this evening, first litter for one of our sows. Two more litters expected soon, our two boars are earning their keep.
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