The Everything Guide to Living Off the Grid (21 page)

Rocky Mountain oysters are actually bull testicles. They are usually peeled, coated in flour, pepper, and salt, sometimes pounded flat, and then deep-fried. This delicacy is most often served as an appetizer.

Raising Poultry

Poultry is raised for egg or meat production or a combination of the two. You can learn a lot about different breeds and their production strengths
by going to hatchery websites like Murray McMurray Hatchery (
www.mcmurrayhatchery.com
).

Chickens

If you are raising chickens for meat you will find the most efficient feed-to-flesh conversion ratio with the Cornish Rock broiler. These hybrid chickens grow quickly and produce broad breasts and big thighs (think white meat and dark meat.) But if you are buying chickens in order to create a flock that self-propagates, these are not the chickens for you. First, because they are hybrid, the chicks will not turn out like the parents. Second, because these chickens have been bred to grow so rapidly, they have been known to have heart attacks after three or four months. There are slower growing breeds that are both egg laying and meat producing. These breeds are a wonderful choice for growing a small farm flock. The meat growth will take more time and you will have a lower feed-to-flesh conversion ratio, but you will not have the expense of buying new chicks year after year because you will be able to hatch your own. Generally in these situations, you take the roosters (males) and grow them for meat, because you only need one rooster (and perhaps a backup rooster) for your flock.

Egg layers are often divided into two divisions, Bantams and Standards. Bantams are very small birds and come in a variety of colors and types. They require less room and less feed than Standards, but they produce smaller eggs (three Bantam eggs equal two regular eggs in a recipe). Bantams are often raised as pets because they have great personalities, but don’t let that fool you into thinking they aren’t producers. Bantams make the best brooders (hens that sit on their eggs so they hatch), and soon you’ll have a good-sized flock of Bantams.

Standards range from heavy breeds to light breeds. They include many of the breeds you might be familiar with—Wyandotte, Rhode Island Red, White Plymouth Rock, and Barred Rock. Standards also include fairly unknown breeds like Turkens (naked-necked chickens that look like turkeys); Crested Breeds, which have tufts of feathers around their heads; and Feather-Footed Breeds. They can produce brown eggs or white eggs and some can even produce colored eggs. No matter what color is on the outside of an egg, the inside is the same. However, if you are thinking about selling some of your
excess eggs, brown eggs will bring you more money per dozen. If you are raising a self-propagating flock, look for breeds that are good brooders.

Another resource you can use as you plan your first flock is the BackYard Chicken Forum (
www.backyardchickens.com
). This is a forum with many experienced chicken farmers who are willing to share their knowledge with beginners.

When you receive your day-old chicks, dip the beak of the chicks in the water before you turn them loose. A baby bird will not instinctively go to the water and can die of dehydration standing right next to a waterer.

Turkeys

Today’s turkeys fall into two distinct categories—Broad Breasted and not Broad Breasted. The biggest of the breeds is the Broad Breasted. These birds grow quickly and have remarkably meaty breasts. The tom turkeys (males) can actually end up dressing out (ready for consumption) at 45 pounds, and hen turkeys (females) at 25 pounds. Their breast meat often extends above the breastbone, giving them a busty look. Because these birds have been bred to be so broad-breasted, it limits their natural ability to reproduce and brood. But, unlike the Cornish Rock, their hearts won’t give out after a few months. If you want to create a flock of this breed, you will need to artificially inseminate the hens and incubate the eggs.

When you picture the traditional Thanksgiving turkey, you are actually thinking of the Bronze Turkey, one of the not Broad Breasted turkey breeds. This breed is being left behind by the turkey industry because it does not grow as quickly as its Broad Breasted counterpart. Yet these turkeys are better mothers and can be fertilized naturally. Their feed-to-flesh conversion ratio is not as high as the Broad Breasted, but they can still dress out to 10 to 25 pounds.

Turkey eggs are actually good to eat, but because the cost of purchasing turkey poults (newborn turkeys) is fairly high, the eggs should be incubated so you can grow your own flock.

Duck and Geese

Ducks and geese are the guard dogs of farmyard poultry. Geese are much more aggressive than ducks and can produce a nasty bruise on the leg or arm of the unaware. Both are classified as waterfowl, but you don’t need a pond or river to raise them. You do, however, need a small tub or child’s swimming pool for them that will hold at least 8 inches of water. The water has to be frequently changed so it remains clean and fresh. Because both ducks and geese create a considerable amount of messy droppings, this is not always an easy task. The abundance of droppings is also why it is not a good idea to share the family swimming hole with your waterfowl.

You can raise ducks for either eggs or meat, but geese are raised primarily for their meat. Duck eggs have a particular flavor to them that is unlike chicken eggs and will often reflect what they’ve eaten. Waterfowl meat is quite high in fat content.

Other than needing a viable, year-round supply of clean water, ducks and geese are fairly self-sufficient. As long as ducks can forage on grain, worms, bugs, and plants—they require little or no commercial feed, which controls costs—they’ll do fine. Geese can actually survive on grass; however, because of the quantity of droppings, you will want to limit their accessibility to any grass that is also used by humans.

Raising Rabbits

Rabbits have a higher feed-to-flesh conversion ratio than any other livestock. They are quiet, gentle animals that can be raised almost anywhere. They are well known for their ability to reproduce and provide mild, lean meat that tastes a lot like poultry. Perhaps you are wondering why, if you’re going to raise an animal that tastes like poultry, you wouldn’t just raise chickens instead. The reason is that rabbits are more efficient and productive than chickens. A female rabbit (doe) can produce up to one thousand times her body weight in food in a single year. You can process (skin and butcher) five rabbits in the same time it takes to process one chicken. Rabbits naturally live in dens and holes, so they can be raised in closer quarters than chickens. Also, rabbit fur is an additional commodity, besides the meat.

A diet of mixed grains like oat, soft wheats, and grain sorghums is a rabbit favorite. You need to supplement that with protein from good legume hay like alfalfa or timothy. Besides grain and hay, a plentiful supply of fresh water is essential for healthy rabbits.

You can raise rabbits in hutches or cages, or create rabbit runs with an outdoor fenced-in area. Letting your rabbits “run” decreases stress, increases their fur density, and gives you better meat because of the exercise. Whatever you decide, be sure that your housing is protected from predators, because that is the greatest danger to your rabbits.

One baby rabbit is called a kit; there are six to ten “kittens” in a litter. A rabbit’s gestational period is one month. When they are two months old, kittens should be weaned from their mothers. You can breed the female again once her litter has been weaned. A doe potentially can give birth to forty kittens in a year’s time.

Raising Pigs

The two major considerations you have when raising pigs are (1) whether you are going to buy feeders (young pigs that have been weaned and weigh about 40 pounds) or raise them yourself from your own litter, and (2) site selection.

When you purchase your pigs, look for the cream of the crop; they should be healthy and in good condition when purchased. Characteristics to look for include smooth hair coat, pink skin color, and alertness. Don’t buy the runt no matter what kind of “deal” you can get for it. Runts don’t have a good feed-to-flesh conversion ratio, and you will be tossing good money after bad. If you are simply raising a pig for meat, it will take from five to seven months to bring it up to the 200-pound mark, which is the optimal weight for a pig. When it gets much bigger than 200–220 pounds, you decrease efficiency (it takes more feed per pound of gain) and you increase the fat. You will obtain about 135 pounds of meat from a 200-pound pig.

If you decide to start raising your own, start out with a sow (female) and a boar (male). A sow can have two litters a year, with each litter producing
five or six piglets. However, raising pigs can be difficult because pigs are prone to not only swine-based diseases, but they can also catch diseases that people carry. The more pigs you have, the higher their chances of catching something. If you are thinking about creating your own herd of pigs, be sure to talk to your local Extension agent or veterinarian about the breeds that work best in your area, and the potential diseases.

In real estate, professionals often talk about “location, location, location.” Those same words should be your utmost priority once you decide to raise pigs. When air fresheners talk about “Country Fresh” they are not referring to pig manure. There is a unique and penetrating odor to pig manure. When you locate your site, you want to be sure that your home and your neighbors’ homes are not downwind of the pigpen.

Truffles, a highly prized subterranean mushroom that can be sold for more than $800 per pound, are found with trained pigs. According to the Royal Philatelic Society London, French hunters of truffles have reported pigs can determine the presence of a truffle from 20 feet away.

Once you decide where, you must create the right combination of shelter for your pig. First, it needs to be secure. Pigs are strong and can easily break through insufficient fences. They also root (digging in the soil with their noses) and can dig underneath a fence line and escape. So, you have to be sure that your fence line extends below the ground about six inches and is of high-quality. In warm weather, pigs need a place that is dry and provides shade; pigs have sweat glands on their snouts only and will sunburn and overheat quickly. This is why pigs enjoy rolling in the mud; the mud not only protects their skin, it also helps to cool them down. If you can create a space in their pen for a dip in the mud, your pigs will be very happy. In cold weather, pigs need a dry place that is protected from the cold and wind.