2 domestic varmints of choice for food.

[Casull]

.goat chops lightly grilled over hickory coals are incredible.

So's a good ribeye cooked the same way.   

[Lloyd Smale]

amen to that!

.goat chops lightly grilled over hickory coals are incredible.

So's a good ribeye cooked the same way.   

[SHOOTALL]

BBQ goat is ok. cows are good for milk or winter fare but alot of meat in summer to use up quickly. Alot may go to waste.

[WD45]

My guess is that if crap really does hit the fan your immeadiate family will grow by a few one way or the other so there may not be as much wast as thought for a beef. dont forget you can make jerky too. If you want beef ( who doesn't ) then I would go for the smaller dual purpose breeds like the Devon. They are smaller, take less feed and give both milk and meat.

[SHOOTALL]

Just to butcher a beef is way more work and several pigs would equal one beef . What if it dies ? With pigs chances are better one or two would live

[Lost Farmboy]

 

You all are thinking full sized cows. A miniature zebu is no bigger than a hog. I bet the milk is better. Miniature cattle are small easy to handle and very profitable. Best animal for a survival farm. None taller than 42 inches, some short as 30 inches.


Miniature zebus the smallest.


http://www.zebufarm.com/forsale.htm


Miniature Jerseys are good milkers.


http://www.missouridairygoats.com/minijerseycows.htm


Miniature Angus good beef.


http://www.minicowswest.com/

[briarpatch]

I didnot know they cattle breeds that small. For anybody wanting beef or milk that would be a good way to go. Unless they have been inbred so much they have a host of problems to go with it.

[hillbill]

i do like the idea of the smaller cattle, thats why i mentioned the corriente cattle.they are basically a smaller version of the longhorn except tougher, the ones i had were very fertile and could subsist on about what deer eat,of course the meat wont be the typical well marbeled angus some are used to.but if its as good as venison im fine.

[hillbill]

BBQ goat is ok. cows are good for milk or winter fare but alot of meat in summer to use up quickly. Alot may go to waste.

i have thought about this.in africa they preserve excess meat as biltong.lean cuts of cow should work as well as kudu, giraffe,elephant, etc.

[Lost Farmboy]

  The miniature Angus was developed in Australia in the 70's. They were selected for their ability to marble their meat like an Angus on only grass. The small size is a bonus to me.


Originally cows were much smaller than today. Jerseys were naturally small. They were breed to be lager making them weaker that the originally smaller breeds. The few miniatures around are really the oldest healthiest bread.


The zebus are naturally small. They were imported from India to feed tigers on their journey to the zoos. The zoos kept the extras for a separate exhibit.


The miniatures are healthier, more gentle, easier to care for and only need grass to survive.

[reliquary]

If you butcher beef and have more than is convenient to eat, making it into jerky is one option...someone will have to explain biltong to me...but it can be dried/cured/smoked in ways similar to pork.  One recipe that comes from a Mennonite cookbook:
 
2 cups of salt
1 tsp saltpeter
1/4 lb brown sugar
20 lbs of fresh beef cut in pieces not more than 5 lbs each
 
 
Directions: Mix ingredients thououghly.  Cut meat lengthwise so that it can be sliced across the grain when used.  Put meat in large container and rub thoroughly with dry ingredients, once per day, for three days or longer (until all the rub is used up). 
 
Turn several times per day and let stand for 7 days, then hang in a warm place to drip.  After the meat finishes dripping, it can be smoked.  After smoking, wrap in clean muslin and hang in a cool place for six weeks before eating.

[AtlLaw]

Miniature cattle are small easy to handle and very profitable. Best animal for a survival farm. None taller than 42 inches, some short as 30 inches.

Now how about that!      I've raised/owned a bunch of different critters in my day, chickens, pigeons, goats, sheep, horses and such, but never a cow.  Went the dairy goat route instead... 
 
But them itti bitti cows is cool as heck!      If I still had the home place I'd have a Minature Jersey (even the full sized ones are small but the milk is high in butter fat!) and an Angus in a heartbeat!   
 
Alas and alack, my larder is now called Publix... 

[Casull]

Miniature cattle are small easy to handle and very profitable.

 
Yeah, I'll say they're profitable.  At those prices it might pay to breed them, but they're way too expensive to buy as feeders.

[SHOOTALL]

I keep cows for meat and sale , but if times were looking dim I would switch to hogs . They produce faster and eat just about anything they can chew.

[mannyrock]

 
      I visited a major Zubu website to read about this cattle.  There are pages and pages talking about how cute they are, and how small they are, and what great pets they make.  Lots of cutesy pie pictures.  No info on how they taste or what the feed to weight ratio is.
 
      When it comes to this cattle, I think we are basically dealing with the miniature horse crowd, not people interested in self-sustaining living or raising and slaughtering beef.
 
  For the price of one of these adult Zubu's, you could buy a feeder weight hereford steer or cow, which would weigh 3 times as much.
 
   I'll pass.
 
Mannyrock
 
     

[spooked]

 
But them itti bitti cows is cool as heck!      If I still had the home place I'd have a Minature Jersey (even the full sized ones are small but the milk is high in butter fat!) and an Angus in a heartbeat!   
 
Alas and alack, my larder is now called Publix... 

I call my Jersey "Bessie", milk & butter, and she's starting a second calf before I dry her up for Dec. calving. Like "full size" jerseys cause you don't have to worry about breeding them to a small size bull. Her first calf was out of a Semitol , second one is gonna be Charlay (sp)cross. Got her as a calf and raised and broke her to hand milk myself..

[SHOOTALL]

do mini jersey's give half pints of cow juice and 1/4 lbs of butter ? 

[AtlLaw]

 
 

[Lost Farmboy]

  Talk about cute take a look at the odd couple.


http://www.littlemoos.com/

[Gaz-52]

     Do a "google" search for  the Dexter breed of cattle , I have found them to be easy to handle , will do ok on poorer pastures , are good mothers that will raise a second "foster calf " or give milk for the family  and are excellent eating.
            A good exercise to help to choose domestic critters for a survival / self sufficient situation is to ask yourself .
       1. Can the animal survive & breed with little or no supplementary feeding ?
       2. Will the animal provide at least 3 useful products ? This can include selling or trade to others For goods you cannot produce yourself .
       3. Will you be able to utilize the surplus produced without refrigeration ?
If you can answer Yes these 3 questions ,you are well on the way to making a good practical choice. providing the animal is comfortable in your climate and predators and health issues can be taken care of.
 Food for thought .
                                   Gaz

[LunaticFringeInc]

If I were in a self sustaining mode of operation and restricted to just 2 types of animals I would likely choose Goats and Rabbits.


Goats can survive on the harshest of pastures or wood lots and thrive!  That means there aint a lot of work involved keeping them for me as I am sure in such a situation I would already be plenty busy enough with other pressing issues.  Not only can I get meat from a Goat I can also get milk, get butter and make cheese too.  If you need to clear a section of a over grown lot, goats can do that for you in short order.  Need the grass around the yard kept top a resonable hight, put a goat on a tether and stake them out and move them around as required.  No problem.


Rabbits would be my second choice.  Quiet, Prolific, minimal food consumption, easy to feed and take up very little space.  You could grow a very small plot of alfalfa or Timothy Hay and feed them all year long on it.  Conviently packaged in small dinner sized package allowing you to slaughter as needed and not have to do any preservation.  Down side is little or no fat to them.


Now dont get me wrong, I do like some hogs for sure.  Just a little more work to keep them up but pretty easy to do none the less.  They reproduce well and are very robust and adaptable.  Can be fed table scrapes if there are any and if not can be fed a wide variety of items and thrive on it.  I also like chickens too.  But they are a little too suseptable to pest and they would be pretty work intensive to feed in the winter especially if not free ranged.  Free ranging chickens can make egg collecting difficult and you can loose a considerable amount of your flock to predators. Ducks could be a better option if you have a pond on your property unfortunately they generally dont lay a lot of eggs.  But a few hens couild probably lay enough to keep you going and they are pretty tastey to boot when roasted or oven baked.  I am lake front and the wild mallard population is quiet healthy hence the fact I chose rabbits over some type of fowl for the second choice.