Luckily there are people working hard on preventing old type livestock. I'd get a few old type cows if i could.

 

What are some of the old types of livestock... I plan on having a self-sustaining farm one day so if the livestock is long lasting, easy to raise and not genetically altered like some livestock I would love to raise some. Is it guinea pigs or something... I love guinea pigs they're so CUTE!

http://amazedme.com/uploaded_images/guinea_pig_1-759711.jpg

 

I raise pineywoods cattle that thrive in the woods where most breeds would die. When TSHTF, they will do the grave dance on their feed-lot brethren. Here's a bull that was born two days ago:

 

pardon me for resurrecting an old thread, but it's a subject near and dear. Very similar to the pineywoods cattle are Shetland Cattle. Rare because of commercial reasons stated earlier.

I started out with Angus and I noticed what picky and voracious eaters they were I knew I had to find a breed more suitable to smaller acreage and less than ideal forage. I didn't care for all the genetic tampering done to produce miniature breeds like lowline Angus and mini Herefords, or the potential for Chondroplasia with Dexters, so I set out to find the perfect survivalist breed. I believe I found it with Shetland Cattle.

I have frozen embryos and semen being shipped from Scotland this year to start the first herd ever in North America. I'll be using surrogate/recipient cows to transfer embryos and hope to have first calves in early Spring of next year. For breed information visit SCBA and SCHBS

 

well

not that i know **** and i doubt they count as as livestock but a friend once told me to raise rabbits. if the world ended and you needed meat they breed, well, like rabbits and mature very quickly. he other reasoning was that the big livestock takes time to mature and doesn't breed as quickly. just throwing that out there

 

For a larger breed that can survive on marginal pasture, old style Texas Longhorns are hard to beat.

 

Cattle are extremely trainable. You can train typical livestock breeds to eat things that aren't normally found in commercial pastures that are chemically fertilized and herbicided to death. Google "Kathy Voth" as we've managed to get some invaluable information converting our herd. There is also Greg Judy and Joel Salatin. The biggest problem is that weening your herd off of ALL external inputs becomes very labor-intensive. Most farmers have "real" jobs that pay the bills while farming is just their 80-hour per week hobby that takes up all their "free time." :thumb:

 

Around here, I would go with old breed Jersey's for cattle, Nubian's for goats, Hamp's for hogs but no clue as to Sheep.

 

"Heritage breed" livestock is definitely the way to go. I currently have heritage breed chickens, and am trying to find some other heritage breed livestock to start building up our homestead with. For pigs, I'm trying to find American Guinea Hogs, and would LOVE to find either Milking Shorthorn or Devon cattle. For sheep, it looks like Katahdin sheep would do well in our climate. I just have to do it a bit at a time, as I have the $$$, because livestock, ESPECIALLY with the heritage breeds, is NOT cheap!

 

As stated above, rabbits are hard to go wrong with. Goats are also hardy and adaptable.

 

I do heritage pigs. Large Black boar:

and Berkshire sows:

My boars reach maturity at 700 pounds and can get up to 1,000 pounds. My sows are all mostly 300 to 450 pounds.

My pigs free-range in the forest.

 

Check out The Livestock Conservancy @ livestockconservancy.org for heritage breed info. Great site.

 

I have come to believe that goats are the best option for long term survival plans. They are hardy, mostly eat many different types of forage and goats milk alone can sustain human life. It is also possible to take them along fairly easily where rabbits would have to be left behind in a pinch. They can pull carts and serve as pack animals also. I haven't tasted the meat but have been told it is similar to venison. Anyone out there raising goats for this reason?

 

I have goats and rabbits. I eat them both. I raise them both. Not because of some modern termed "prepping" but because they provide me a self sustainable food source. That's just how I live.

 

I think I'd lean towards sheep. Meat, milk, and wool.

 

Sheep are dumb.

They TRY TO commit suicide.

I haven't raised goats, but I've been around them a fair amount., they are on the list.

 

Yes sir yes sir 3 bags full

 

If you think about it, all the above is probably the best idea. Remember though, cattle can be trained as oxen to help with heavy work!

 

How bout ever tried milking a bull?

 

No thanks.:

 

I hear they make milk but it's really thick and sticky. Lmao

 

My vote is for goats. I have had boers for years and for meat, it can't be beat. Currently mixing a little Nubian blood into the herd to increase milk production.
We also have dorper sheep but they are pretty high maintenance. I have milked a sheep and it's not fun. I will stick with goats.
Train a goat to pack or pull a cart and you have a real asset. They will provide you with milk, meat and work with only a fraction of the space requirements of a cow. Add in a 5mo gestation prd, with a possibility of 3 kiddings within 2yrs, and a herd can be built quickly.
I've recently gotten some old English bantam hens too. They don't take up a lot of room, easy to feed, produce eggs and meat and mine are pretty quiet too.

 

I've recently gotten some old English bantam hens too. They don't take up a lot of room, easy to feed, produce eggs and meat and mine are pretty quiet too.

Little OEG Bantams for meat? For nearly 200 years they have been bred to be pets/show birds with an emphasis on beauty, personality and brains. They do lay tiny eggs in the spring/summer but not many, especially after the first couple of years. I can't even imagine raising them for meat.

I have a mixed flock with half a dozen little OEG bantams, they were developed as pets and I keep them as such. I keep standard sized layers for eggs.

 

I've had goats and eaten the meat. I found it wasn't that it tasted so much like venison as it had the texture of venison...that waxy feel, that I didn't care for. If I used it ground, it was fine; I then poured off the fat as it cooked, and it didn't have that same 'feel' on my tongue. We milked one goat at a time, and always had more than we needed, as we weren't big milk drinkers.

For those who think they could survive on rabbits, please go do some research on the nutritional value of rabbit meat. I love it, but wouldn't count on living on it solely...

Heritage chickens are the way to go, and heritage ducks if you like duck meat. Throw in some geese, and you'll be set for protein- eggs and meat galore.

 

The great thing about rabbits is that two does and one buck can produce 180-200lbs of meat per year alone and cost near nothing to feed and care for.

Hard to beat 1/2lb of meat per day for no more upkeep than they require.

I do Iove some goats though

 

There is a reason why goat is the most herded animal. If you don't plan to have goat and chickens come shtf, you are doing yourself an injustice. Both are usable in so many ways...

 

If I had the room, I would have a Dexter cow. Docile, easy to care for, and good foragers, from what I've heard. Does anyone here have Dexters?

 

Pretty sure that I'd go with meat rabbits, goats, pigs, longhorn cattle and some chickens for variety. Meat rabbits because they breed and mature pretty fast. They attract predators like crazy but if you can get by that... lots of meat available there. Goats because they eat just about anything green and they can be good "watch-goats". They eat pretty well over all and are hardy if you give them shade and wind protection. Pigs... they revert to wild fast, breed fast, have big litters and can and will eat most things. Longhorns because they free-range well and survived well in large swaths of the US for quite a while and probably given the chance would have extended their range quite a bit more. They are hardy and are survivors. Lean meat but a steak is a steak when you are hungry! Chickens... well, I'd have to have a couple big coops, but I do like eggs and fried chicken so... That's my list. Of course I guess you can count fish as livestock if you are generous. I'd like to have a catfish pond and a pond with bass and crappie too.

NGH

 

I just feel like cattle require a larger amount of resources in terms of food and land than some other animals, so that knocks them down the list for me.