Best one SHTF animal to have. Can only choose one. Which and why? (houses, converted)

[hunterseat]

Roosters are great, though, for your flock. He will keep them in line and protect them. We had one next door but other neighbors complained about the "noise".

[Xelfer]

Originally Posted by MaryleeII

Cats! They protect your grain stores, etc.

Originally Posted by TheKezarWoodsman

Rabbit meat doesnt make you sick i believe. I have heard it is just not very packed with nutrients whch make you appear to be starvingn f you eat to much. Google rabbit starvation for more info.

Don't eat the liver—you'll get Vitamin A toxicity.

[Joewy]

Rabbits are your best bet. You get meat and fur. They will eat anything. Chickens wont lay eggs without the proper nutrition, make a lot of noise, destroy whatever piece of ground you want to keep them on and their poop is nasty without lots of work. Try carrying a rooster with you....

Rabbits on the other hand can live inside with you. They can survive 3 or more months without eating much. They breed like rabbits. . Taste good, you can use their fur for making clothes. They only eat the tops of the grass and keep your lawn mowed quite well and ready for growth the next year.Their poop is natural fertilizer and is a great source of Potassium nitrate which can be used for everything from food preservative to gun powder. If you got to bug out you can throw a few in your back pack and off you go.

[Joewy]

Originally Posted by Nor'Eastah

The only problem with rabbit, is that it's a very lean meat, virtually zero fat. People subsisting on rabbit meat alone have been known to get extremely ill from this. You would need some other sort of fat to add to the rabbit meat. Otherwise, we would have gone with rabbits. Sure are a lot quieter than roosters!

Old wives tale. This is only true of wild, winter rabbit that is starving to death already. Rabbit breeds such as Californians have lots of fat. Renders quite well also. Makes excellent soap.

[6.7traveler]

I really appreciate all the rabbit suggestions and I'm sure they are great. However I'm not going to go that route. Rabbits don't really do it for me for some reason and my land is literally infested with snowshoe hares as it is. I don't know where the lynx are to eat a few of them up. I could easily snare a few if I wanted some rabbit meat.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

If you want poultry for eggs, I suggest an egg laying breed of duck. They forage well, lay better than most breeds of chicken, and they handle cold weather and wet weather a lot better than chickens do.

The eggs are richer, which is important when food is at a premium. Roast duck tastes just fine.

Chickens can be expensive to feed. They need a lot of protein and they don't lay eggs in the winter. Good laying breeds are high strung and scrawny to eat. Chickens who are good to eat arent heavy layers. Chickens are noisy.

On the plus side if TS hasn't HTF and you can buy high protein layer feed, home raised eggs put the weak supermarket ones to shame.

[countrykaren]

I would have chickens for eggs and meat (the old ones are tough but edible in a slow cooker).


rabbits can eat leftovers, weeds, hay, leaves and stems from veggie garden, over ripe fruit, clover, dandelions (root, leaves and flowers), etc. Pus they make lots of babies for meat, and either hide to tan or if angora- wool to spin.


Then 2 goats- male and female. They are friendly. Easy to care for (but start with good stock, and healthy animals, and you want bottle fed- Goats raised on their moms are impossible to milk. Remember you get what u pay for)They are browsers, so they clear brush, including poison ivy. Goats give milk, plus have between 1 and 4 kids. You can keep the kids you want, and either sell what you don't want or eat them. Goats have a taste very much like lamb.


If you only want 2 types- get chickens and the 2 goats.

[countrykaren]

Originally Posted by artillery77

Horses. Transport, plowing, pulling...

Any of the large breeds of dairy goats, such as Nubians, can pull carts. And strong enough for an adult person to ride in the cart. Do tandem goats for 2 ppl.


Save a nice male and neuter him (with the rubber bands). He will grow in over 200 #. You will want a bottle fed baby- either bought or raise yourself. A mother raised kid you will not be able to handle- they are too wild.


They are smart and can be trained to pull a cart. We were a commercial goat dairy (now retired) and had over 120 goats at one time.

[kitty61]

Originally Posted by 6.7traveler

Ok, so you can only have one species of animal(s), which would you choose and why? Chickens, cows, pigs, goats, sheep, etc. Thinking of getting some animals for the property soon. Leaning towards chickens as I've had them before and we eat ALOT of eggs. Curious if anyone has a cow or pig or similar animal and what people think the best one animal for TEOTWAWkI scenario?

My vote goes to chickens. Pretty easy keepers and provide daily protein while still alive due to their eggs. Any other animals/livestock I should consider?

Does a buying a cow/pig(s) on a very a small scale save you money in the long run with meat or do you barely break even after all the costs?

I'm also interested in multiple animals if it can provide a profit...

ETA: I live in an extremely cold climate. No Galapagos turtles or flamingos for me .

For your survivalist needs, I have two picks - ease of care, least costly to feed, more immediate access to reward.

Here's what I learned from gramma:

1. Chickens need a warm coop with a perch and a nesting compartment for each and couple extra. You must have a rooster. They are very easy to butcher for meat at moments notice. You need more than 12 good young laying hens to get a return. Chickens that have lived past their egg producing age are not worth much for selling except for meat. If you plan on them for eggs and meat to support your family (4-6) you should have about 20 and 2 rooster. They need a lot of calcium. Put eggshells in their chop. Chickens eat seeds and bugs. You will have to buy feed to sprinkle for them every morning (be generous) and once in a while give them hot chop. For their health, do not enclose them inside a small area behind chicken wire all day, let them roam close to home and forage

2. Goats barely need any fodder if you have grass and weeds in abundance and water available. They will need supplementary grass hay and clover or alfalfa for vitamins which you can grow and store yourself. She-goats produce excellent milk for drinking and making cheese. They are a very good meat source but take more effort to butcher and prepare for cooking than chickens. Goats need a place to shelter each night like an enclosed barn for winter.

Cows are expensive to feed but they do provide daily fresh milk and birth calves so you can build a small herd. Bovine meat is a big operation. You have to be skilled to do it. And you must have cold/freezing storage to make use of the whole carcass year round.

If you live on the fringe or in the bush you have to worry about predators and safety of your investment.
An attack will scare your chickens from laying productively for a short time.

I lived in the bush for 3 years in the 70s and had chickens, pig, dogs, and cats. The pig we raised for meat. Bought two weaners but they were killed by predators that jumped into their pen.

[CGab]

My 8 yr old wants a pocket pig which from my understanding are easy to care for; however, we probably won't get one. We currently have two cats