Mass Extinction Of Farm Animals

So, imagine there is some kind of disaster that kills all farm animals: no more chickens, cows, pigs! Nothing left. Yes it's a bit extreme but I always like to exagerrate imagining the worst possible situation!
In this case, we should probably relie on some new animal. The recent topic about ostrichs made me think that there might be other unusual animal breedings somewhere in the world (I know many countries love gator meat for example..). We couldn't just focus on hunting wild animals, or on eating vegetables so we would have to try to domesticate a new beast. Which one would be your choice, or choices?

 

There are many areas of the world where people eat animals that are unusual to the regular diets. I guess that if it should come to a situation where the regular domesticated animals are no more available, I believe that many people would adapt to their own alternate source of protein. We see where some people already eat gators and snakes to name a few alternatives. Be assured that mankind would rather adapt than starve to death.

 

I suppose wild animals would be endangered for game meat. Domestic animals have cousins in the wild including birds which would be major casualties. As for my taste, I would prefer quail which can be easily domesticated and easily reared on a large scale for their tasty meat.

 

In such a situation, the focus would shift to sourcing of proteins from wild animals. Also, humans can choose to start taming some wild animals to live animals as farm animals.

 

Deer and wild boar are good for breeding to supply us with food. The wild sow can give birth to as many as 10 piglets. And in a year’s time the female in those piglets can start to breed also. The deer is not that prolific but they tend to produce 3 births in 2 years. What’s good in these wild animals is that they eat almost anything although it’s better if you can give them proper feeds designed for them.

 

The farm animals that have been with use since ages may extinct some day. There was a time when people used to plow theri farm land through oxes, horses, bulls, he water buffaloes, however, farm tactors have replaced these plowing animals. people are also exploring other animals for meat, for example, ostrich may soon replace turkey and chicken. Scientists are also genetically engineering animals, these days chicken does not look like chicken.

 

Only humans with special dietary needs, require meat and dairy in their diets. We fould easily have a more sustainable and higher yield of crops than we do now, if we transitioned away from meat. The animal agriculture industry is the largest contributor to many of the most widespread environental threats facing us, and we could easily have a more thriving, more diverse food industry if we took the four years it would take to transform animal agriculture centers back to crop centers. In the situation yiu propose, my only worries would be how to feed our numbers during the pinch, and educating people on how to go with the changes.

 

After the French folks were un-voluntarily forced onto English ships and dumped out in what they considered the most inhospitable place they could find "Louisiana" swamp , they learned to eat crawfish and alligators . I don't live near the swamps anymore but we usually have several crawfish boils a year and have lots of folks over for an outdoor party . People always adapt to the food source available .

 

Humans are omnivores we eat plant and animal food
No one and I mean no one is going to force there vegan sickness on me.
Its just another damn religion that makes trouble!

Be a vegan if you want but don't you dam well force it on me!

 

Is it fair to bring up wild boars when the original post said no pigs? If the SHTF whatever killed off all the farm animals why wouldn't it kill off all the wild boars and pigs in the wild? At least give us a fighting chance. What animals would be left to domesticate? We domesticated dogs once. We could do that again. Are there any horses or bison? Are there still deer, elk, moose?

Fish can certainly be raised as a food crop. Tilapia and catfish can thrive and multiply rapidly. Not going to be much help plowing your field or pulling your cart, but you won't starve.

 

First of all, no one is "forcing," anything on you, rather informing of tou of the fact that the current animal agriculture standards are incredibly unsustainable, which is causing situations that all of here are prepping for.

Yes, we are omnivores, we are not carnivores. We do not NEED meat. If people like you weren't so close minded, we wouldn't be in this situation. "Vegan sickness?" You couldn't be further from the truth, and are believing the lies the industry is just now waking up from. "Forcing," you? No, you're forcing a terrible situation on all of us.

 

Two of the reasons we moved to a rural state were chickens and goats. Right now we have dairy goats and layer hens, but when-and-if we start breeding our own livestock, what do you think we'll be doing with the cockerels and wethers?

I'm not worried about a mysterious disease wiping out farm stock any more than I am about a Yellowstone mega-eruption or another Chixculub strike. But I do have a newly-fenced 3/4 acre which would work just fine for a yearling steer in addition to the goats.

If you're an omnivore (as I am) and worry about unsustainable farming practices (as I do) you could well to plan and implement your own food production -- plant and/or animal -- rather than worry about an unlikely possibility as a massive farm animal die-off.

 

I think this whole topic is ridiculous . Why would anyone think all the domestic livestock would die , but not humans ? I think we need to get a little more realistic on here .

 

Duncan what breed of dairy goat do you have and are you milking yet ? I have Nubian dairy goats that I normally let the baby goats have the milk . I simply keep them as part of my survival plan .

 

There are locations where food is abundant, from the oceans, the rivers, the lakes, the land and the sky. There is so much food available here. Plus abundant "PURE" fresh water, flowing year around. Seven million acres of timber for construction or firewood. Really just no need for nomadic lifestyle here. There is a shortage of fine looking, healthy old women.

No need for domestic animals, with abundant Sheep and Goats and Caribou, and Moose in the yard, or on the hill back of the cabin. We get a special "Federal Subsistence" harvest permit for free year around trapping, hunting and fishing. The river is full of Salmon and Trout and Grayling. The ocean is full of King Crab, Cod, Shrimp, Halibut, Hooligan (candle fish, for light). You have abundant Ducks and Geese and Swans, and Cranes.

Did I mention the "GOLD" in the creeks.

 

We are just starting, and have two Fainting goats (doeling and wether) and two Nigerian Dwarfs (Dwarves?) both doelings. I'd originally thought we'd get Nubians for their dairy ability but decided against it (at least now) for a couple of reasons.

• a pair of Nubians could produce at least a half-gallon of milk a day apiece, and with just Dawn and me, we'd have more milk than we need.

• Nubians tend to be the most adventurous of the goats, and even though we have a new fence, they might tend to take a vacation once in a while.

• According to the folks I've talked with, specialized breeds (like exclusive milk-producers) may be a little less hardy than the more 'garden variety' multi-purpose animal like the Nigerian Dwarf.

But if we can keep a good milking schedule going and actually find some use for them, we might get a couple of freshened Nubians for milk and maybe a couple of Boer wethers for meat.

I ran into a couple of Kenyans selling goat stew at an international farmer's market in Boise a couple of months ago, and it was great. I hustled the mzee (grandpa) out of the recipe and picked his brain for a half-hour on Boer goats and the cooking/eating thereof....

 

If a disaster is severe enough (widespread and prolonged), mankind would be THE biggest threat to farm animals. A peek into history shows that during prolonged sieges, wars, famine...you name it, domestic animals have become rare, and in some locations, extinct.

During the American Civil War in Mississippi, where wild game was abundant and the climate allows almost year-round gardening, even rats became hard to come by for food. Common garden seeds were as rare as gold...there were serious salt shortages...

Here is an eye-opening excerpt to chew on:

"With meat practically nonexistent, fishing tackle scarce, and ammunition for hunting purposes hard to obtain, other substitutes had to be found. By the fall of 1864 things had come to such a pass that one (newspaper) editor suggested his readers resort to eating rats, frogs, fried snails, young crow, snakes, locusts, earthworms, cats and dogs... By this time many Confederates had already been eating these things. Rats had become an item in the diet of many. President Davis was quoted as saying that he saw no reason for not eating them, for he thought they would be "as good as squirrels." They were eaten in quantity by the besieged citizens of Vicksburg. On the eve of the capitulation of that city, a lady noted that rats were "hanging dressed in the market for sale...there is nothing else." They sometimes brought as much as $2.50 each. In Richmond, too, they found their way to the tables, while recipes for cooking them were circulated among the women."

Imagine that! Even rats were in scarce supply, along with everything else that could be hunted...so much, that rats became an expensive market item. $2.50 was a LOT of money for that time period. ONE RAT = ALMOST $40 in today's dollars!!!!

This bit of history was pulled from the well-documented book, Ersatz in the Confederacy by Mary Elizabeth Massey. Published in 1952 by the University of South Carolina Press. The author was an Associate Professor of History, Winthrop College and was a stickler for minute details about how people dealt with the appalling hardships and tribulation of the American Civil War days.

There are many (too many!) historical accounts around the world that mirror the kind of deprivation that few living humans have ever seen. I think that preparing for something like this would fall in the realm of "advanced prepping."

Planning on gardening for food during such hard times? You may want to back that idea up with an alternative in case you find the liability of defending a conventional garden is heavier than it is worth. In that case, consider cultivating a camouflage garden: grow plants that most people would not recognize as food in your location but are delicacies in other parts of the world. Transplant wild edibles along with the little-known vegetables here and there. This kind of "garden" would not alert hungry looters and would not require constant attention to cultivate.

(I will expand on this in another thread, and link it to here.)

 

Another thing to consider during severe and prolonged hard times when domestic and wild animals become depleted by an influx of hungry humans: what I like to call "microlivestock."

I have practiced raising certain insects that are considered good food in some parts of the world. To remove the "ick" factor, edible bugs can be roasted or boiled, then dehydrated and the highly nutritious powder can be stirred into water, broth, soups, stews, and whatever else.

I have a recipe for cricket gumbo and I'm not afraid to use it!

Who knows, this learned information and advanced prepping may save my life someday...

 

This picture of abundance can change... Time and time again, history shows that severe deprivation encourages mankind to quickly migrate to areas where food is more abundant, however remote they may be. I would imagine hunting parties will go far and wide just like our ancestors did.

It may not be a bad idea to consider plans B, C, and D.