Alternate meat sources after the rabbit

[eeyore]

How about you guys. What are your survival meat projects, other than rabbit. **big grin**

I raise chickens now and have raised goats and rabbits in the past.

Next year planning to try and raise some fish (probably) brim (blue gill, perch or sunfish) in barrels.

1. for the fertilizer for the garden
2. for the meat
3. for the future, i would try to mix hydroponics with it

Also have my eye out for someone with Pharaoh quail. I would like to build a couple of pens and try to raise a few dozen a year.

1. for the meat and eggs mainly

There is a goat thread already started, mainly talking about pygmy goats.

[GAGLOCK]

Have you thought about tilapia instead of brim?

[Klayton]

Hey I know Tilapia is the new buzz word breed, but there was a recent study and they found Tilapia is one of the fish breeds that is high in the "BAD" Omega Fat. Do not remember which Omega Fat Number it was, but the study went on to say that using Tilapia as your soul source of fish protein is not recommended. Anybody else seen that article?

As for raising fish, I have read many articles on Tilapia and the other common farm raised breeds. The one I liked the most was the one where the guy raised his fish in multiple above ground pools. Trying to remember, but I think he also used some form of hydroponics to capture the nitrogen from the fish waste.... can't remember....

[610Alpha]

Hope your barrels are big. My Ag teacher in school did fish raising and it was a pretty good sized tank in the back of the shop. Wasn't a 55 gallon barrel that's for sure. I think it was about 6-10ft diameter pool about 4-5ft deep. I would get in touch with the local fish hatchery for some great tips and info. This was almost 2 decades ago so my memory might be a little fuzzy on the dimensions.

[Klayton]

There was actually an article a long time ago in Mother Earth News on raising catfish in a water barrel (55-gallon size). It was quite interesting.

[Sanction]

You might also consider pigs. one good sized pig will set the freezer for a year. But they eat allot too...

[eeyore]

Yes i had considered Tilapia, but i wanted to start with something i could catch locally and so it would help defray the cost at start up.

Yes i was going to use 55 gallon drums, but not to try to many, once i can prove i can do it and make a reasonable set up. Then i could increase in volume.

Always been fascinated with the idea, from my youth when i visited Monticello. Thomas Jefferson did something simular, but with a (small) pond outside his kitchen.

(i hope is the article you reffered to , it was written by Kurt Saxon)

http://www.stevequayle.com/News.alert/06_Prep_tips/Raising.Catfish.in.Barrel.pdf

[610Alpha]

@eeyore -- thanks for the pdf, that's a nice write up on the whole process. My father in-law has a pond that he stocks (with channel cat) on a regular basis and feeds the catfish with commercial feed. Why does he stock the pond on a regular basis w/ catfish? Well Channel cat don't breed in ponds very well without flowing water (statement made by the hatchery), that is not to say that they can't/won't. He has tried creating an artificial water flow to trick them but as of yet hasn't had any luck, he has also tried sinking 5 gallon buckets for them to breed in and no babies yet. If you can overcome the breeding issue with Catfish you will have a great alternative.

You want something that can be sustainable (i.e. make babies) and that can grow quickly.

[chancemft]

I've heard crappie are good fish for doing what your wanting too do. There is a school that a friend of mine works at that they have the tank of fish in their green house and thats what they water & fertilize their plants with. Their greenhouse produces a lot of stuff, they are always bringing home bags of fresh veggies. But I do think they have a much bigger tank for the fish. Just a thought, but, if you put a larger tank in the greenhouse, it would also act as a heat sink to help keep it warm at night.

[Erg]

You listed some stuff I've done but I have yet to dabble in the fish catagory. I like. :D

Pigs eat a lot but if you do it right. You can certainly get a lot of food out of them. Remember though, one way to lower food costs is to feed them all your scraps by making a slop. Anything you put in the compost will work. Once they've "processed" it, you've still got your compost. <winks>

[Spock]

Hope your barrels are big. My Ag teacher in school did fish raising and it was a pretty good sized tank in the back of the shop. Wasn't a 55 gallon barrel that's for sure. I think it was about 6-10ft diameter pool about 4-5ft deep. I would get in touch with the local fish hatchery for some great tips and info. This was almost 2 decades ago so my memory might be a little fuzzy on the dimensions.

freind of mine is converting his back yard pool into a fish pond. he's got about 50 tiny fish in it right now. you could buy a couple of the cheap 12 foot across above ground pools and use em for tanks but you are going to have to construct filters and aretors for them.

[eeyore]

I had thought about those pools, but as cold as it gets in the Winter (in bad years) here would probably kill them.

[Tarakian]

I don't have any experience in this, but here is an ehow article (also NOT my article) http://www.ehow.com/how_4474959_rais...sh-barrel.html

They are saying 40 fingerling catfish to a barrel, seems like a lot to me.

[becky3086]

Hate to get off the fish subject but I think the quail are a great idea. I have raised some for several years now. You do need an incubator though (the styraphome ones work just fine) because they won't set on their own eggs in captivity. They are, however, mature in 8 weeks and start laying eggs then. The down side is you need 2 or 3 to make a meal for one person.
You may also try ducks (I have a dozen), geese, turkeys, pheasants (I have one of these. She lays great!), pidgeons, guinea (mine did not lay well enough) and I have heard of people raising guinea pigs for food.

[becky3086]

Oh and I meant to mention crawfish. I have read a few articles on raising them that seemed do-able for the normal homesteader.