Tuesday, January 22, 2013

The Urbanian Farm




My children, in my testing of survivalness, I have come to a conclusion based upon historic data and absolute data from my personal trials, that I believe there are four species of livestock which can be raised on small acreages to provide you enough ready protein for you and your family's survival.

The Irish became a large people who starved to death on the potato and the milk cow. Milk and starch is what created the Irish. Humans need protein in quantity for energy and for life force. That is why humans eat protein in meats, because it requires too much lettuce to gain said proteins.....cows have four stomachs for a reason and people have one for reason, and it is about concentrated foods like meat.

I will not invest a great deal of space here, on this, but I found that if people would be able with stockade metal panels in the horse and cattle types they could effectively raise sheep, goats, rabbits and chickens, who would be protected from predators and which you could protect your gardens from your livestock.

Goats should be of the milking variety. I have Anglo Nubians which do your thinking for you. They require like sheep parasite control, and to be sheltered from being wet.
You decide on your varieties of goats, but goats will provide you with all the milk, cream etc... you will need to have a daily protein diet and goats do this being browsers in they will eat leaves, weeds etc... (do not feed them weeds which will flavor the milk) and this is an asset in niche feeding.
I have found that I can self feed mine with a large round bale to make things easy. They do like warm water though.

I chose sheep in the Tunis or Wiltshire Horn varieties for wool and not having to sheer them. They both milk well and can replace goats up to a point for dairy products, but sheep are creatures more to the trait of one can eat them, while a goat tends to have a personality and a caring person has a problem eating them.
Goats also do not have a large skeletal meat frame, so it just makes more sense to eat a sheep and if one wants, have a wool variety for bedding or things.
Just remember that sheep have flavored meat and do not eat the fat, as it can be strong and oily.

I have settled upon rabbits too as rabbits in the large varieties, do produce a change in diet of low fat content, which is not for a steady diet, but it allows a person to not become tired of eating mutton every day.
The Flemish are large rabbits about the size of a dog, and they do breed readily and I doubt one would want more than a dozen of them to knock in the head to eat a year, as I'm not that fond of rabbit meat.

Lastly, the chicken is a ready source of protein in eggs and meat. One should get a heavy variety as they are easier to catch and provide more meat. I like Brahmas, even if they take a long time to grow up to full size. There are many types and you can decide on what you prefer, but know that small combs do not freeze off and will require less feed than the larger combs.
Chickens eat quantities of insects which helps your garden. Chickens though are preferred by every predator ever created and must be tended like all these livestock groups.

You could get by with just a milking sheep and chickens really too, but all one's eggs in a basket tends to cause problems.
In most cases, one can find a farmer who will do things for you, so you do not require expensive equipment and they tend to be nosey and friendly at odd people like me, who have these projects they can watch too. Their part is of course bailing hay, moving hay and providing some sort of cheap grain for the poultry and milk producers.

That is enough information to deal with. Shelters can be made of tin or square bales. Keeping in mind of some nuclear events one is going to have to keep your critters fed and watered in clean pens until the radioactivity wears off, as radiation likes to concentrate in fat and protein structures which would give you a concentrated dose, which you do not want.

Of course, if one has more room and inclination, small beef cattle like Highlanders would provide milk and beef. Bigger animals though do break your bones more readily when they get notions into their brains to do things.

The Urbania Agrarian

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