Most people couldn’t keep a cow, or spend the time to make their own cheese and butter, but with meat and eggs in such short supply there were many who saw the value of having some livestock.
Not all of them were rural people either; in fact millions of homes in British towns and cities boosted their rations by keeping some animals. Obviously if you did live in a rural area, and had more space available, you had more options – but even in a city apartment it was possible to raise some meat.
Mix-Lopsided
My plan is meat chickens and rabbits if it’s really that serious. We have a large rural yard and they’d half feed themselves.
anythingaustin
We have moose on our property almost daily. Husband said that should feed us for a while if things get really bad. 😂
Obvious_Sea_7074
My grandpa did a lot of trapping and they ate lots of small game that we wouldn’t touch today.
He always said you didn’t ask what you where eating, if there was meat in the pot you where just happy to have it and if it was a skunk or a muskrat you didn’t know and didn’t ask lol.
rayn_walker
We raise bees, meat rabbits, heritage geese and turkey, ducks, guinea fowl, quail, chickens (both meat and layers), dairy goats, meat sheep, plus 4 barn cats and 4 dogs that are on raw food diets from the animals we raise for meat. This year, we are putting in a greenhouse plus 24 outdoor garden beds, expanding into more beehives, and learning how to make cheese. I already have a year round garden in a room inside with herbs lettuce tomatoes etc. All the basics. I already have over 60 meat chicks in my basement that will go into tractors on pasture until they are butchered in 9 weeks. Then we will raise a batch of turkeys for the freezer. We have a lamb going to butcher next week. We hatch out quail and rabbits nonstop all year round. Our feed bill is about 600 a month including things like minerals and bedding in winter and less in summer when everyone is on pasture. Our grocery bull is 100 a month for paper goods like papertowel kleenex toilet paper white vinegar etc and about $80 a week for bulk foods for canning, and most produce and things we won’t grow like sugar coffee chocolate wheat rice etc.
KountryKitty
Pigeons kept a lot of families fed, in both city and country, in the depression. Nice and quiet, too, if you live in a city.
Rabbits are easy to keep, quiet, and multiply wonderfully. Skins are a bonus.
Skinny egg production chickens will overwhelm you with white eggs, and are short-lived; plump dual purpose birds will give plenty of brown eggs, raise a few of their own babies, and can live 10 to 12 years. (If I were to start keeping chickens again–I currently work as a travel nurse–I’d have a dozen little silkie chickens plus 8 or so dual purpose birds. Silkies go broody at the drop of a hat and are great moms, so a bunch of extra eggs from the larger birds would get tucked under silkies to be raised for meat. Silkies are edible too, though the meat is black and would put some people off.)
Goats are escape artists, but multiply well, having twins and triplets frequently. If you keep the male with the does that haven’t given birth yet, and have those with kids separate, the milk from the mother goats will taste better.
Possum, raccoon and groundhog used to make frequent appearances on the table during the depression, though I’m told caging them and grainfeeding them for a month before butchering greatly enhanced the flavor. (As they tended to eat chicken, or eggs, or vegetables from the garden, they had to be shot anyway.)
If you’re really adventurous in you eating, asians and native americans alike ate dog—-coyotes are part of the canine family and fair game in many places.And they provide bigger hides than rabbits.
epandrsn
We raise chickens and just picked up an incubator to try raising some meat birds. Despite a larger flock, our chickens eat probably 1/3 scraps and 2/3 pellets. If things got bad, we’d reduce the flock to minimize commercial feed. We’ve discussed rabbits, but we have younger kids and I worry about them getting attached. We also get a massive migration of dove through the summer here, so I’ve considered that—plus we are surrounded by ocean.
Our gardens are a work in progress, but we eat from them most days. We live in the Caribbean, so outside of local staples, it’s still a challenge to find what grows best.
Jondiesel78
I know people who ate possum and taters during the great depression. I have chickens and cattle, and am getting a breeding pair of meishan pigs soon. The biggest thing that happens in the town were I live is the Friday night livestock auction. I can get whatever smaller animals I need for a pretty good price.
9 Comments
Most people couldn’t keep a cow, or spend the time to make their own cheese and butter, but with meat and eggs in such short supply there were many who saw the value of having some livestock.
Not all of them were rural people either; in fact millions of homes in British towns and cities boosted their rations by keeping some animals. Obviously if you did live in a rural area, and had more space available, you had more options – but even in a city apartment it was possible to raise some meat.
My plan is meat chickens and rabbits if it’s really that serious. We have a large rural yard and they’d half feed themselves.
We have moose on our property almost daily. Husband said that should feed us for a while if things get really bad. 😂
My grandpa did a lot of trapping and they ate lots of small game that we wouldn’t touch today.
He always said you didn’t ask what you where eating, if there was meat in the pot you where just happy to have it and if it was a skunk or a muskrat you didn’t know and didn’t ask lol.
We raise bees, meat rabbits, heritage geese and turkey, ducks, guinea fowl, quail, chickens (both meat and layers), dairy goats, meat sheep, plus 4 barn cats and 4 dogs that are on raw food diets from the animals we raise for meat. This year, we are putting in a greenhouse plus 24 outdoor garden beds, expanding into more beehives, and learning how to make cheese. I already have a year round garden in a room inside with herbs lettuce tomatoes etc. All the basics. I already have over 60 meat chicks in my basement that will go into tractors on pasture until they are butchered in 9 weeks. Then we will raise a batch of turkeys for the freezer. We have a lamb going to butcher next week. We hatch out quail and rabbits nonstop all year round. Our feed bill is about 600 a month including things like minerals and bedding in winter and less in summer when everyone is on pasture. Our grocery bull is 100 a month for paper goods like papertowel kleenex toilet paper white vinegar etc and about $80 a week for bulk foods for canning, and most produce and things we won’t grow like sugar coffee chocolate wheat rice etc.
Pigeons kept a lot of families fed, in both city and country, in the depression. Nice and quiet, too, if you live in a city.
Rabbits are easy to keep, quiet, and multiply wonderfully. Skins are a bonus.
Skinny egg production chickens will overwhelm you with white eggs, and are short-lived; plump dual purpose birds will give plenty of brown eggs, raise a few of their own babies, and can live 10 to 12 years. (If I were to start keeping chickens again–I currently work as a travel nurse–I’d have a dozen little silkie chickens plus 8 or so dual purpose birds. Silkies go broody at the drop of a hat and are great moms, so a bunch of extra eggs from the larger birds would get tucked under silkies to be raised for meat. Silkies are edible too, though the meat is black and would put some people off.)
Goats are escape artists, but multiply well, having twins and triplets frequently. If you keep the male with the does that haven’t given birth yet, and have those with kids separate, the milk from the mother goats will taste better.
Possum, raccoon and groundhog used to make frequent appearances on the table during the depression, though I’m told caging them and grainfeeding them for a month before butchering greatly enhanced the flavor. (As they tended to eat chicken, or eggs, or vegetables from the garden, they had to be shot anyway.)
If you’re really adventurous in you eating, asians and native americans alike ate dog—-coyotes are part of the canine family and fair game in many places.And they provide bigger hides than rabbits.
We raise chickens and just picked up an incubator to try raising some meat birds. Despite a larger flock, our chickens eat probably 1/3 scraps and 2/3 pellets. If things got bad, we’d reduce the flock to minimize commercial feed. We’ve discussed rabbits, but we have younger kids and I worry about them getting attached. We also get a massive migration of dove through the summer here, so I’ve considered that—plus we are surrounded by ocean.
Our gardens are a work in progress, but we eat from them most days. We live in the Caribbean, so outside of local staples, it’s still a challenge to find what grows best.
I know people who ate possum and taters during the great depression. I have chickens and cattle, and am getting a breeding pair of meishan pigs soon. The biggest thing that happens in the town were I live is the Friday night livestock auction. I can get whatever smaller animals I need for a pretty good price.
Dual purpose breed for chickens.
Pigs.