Raising Rabbits as a Survival Food?

I paid 133 dollars for my Idaho outdoorsman's package and can guarantee you that if you set the monetary value of every rainbow trout I've eaten this year at 1 dollar, it has paid itself off-and most were pulled right from the Boise River before, in between or after class-and fish has alot of healthy fat content that can help prevent protein poisoning. Alot of people in my neighborhood have chickens, including roosters. Not sure what the limit is, but...
 
the problem with rabbit is low fat content if it were the only thing you had to eat you would starve within 30 days. Chickens would be a better choice.
 
Interesting thread. I am new to survival prepping. I have learned about water and food storage. Never really thought about raising animals for food on a small scale. Definitely something to think about. And good heads up on rabit starvation. It's crazy that you can starve from eating too much of something.
 
I live on a ranch, we tried raising a "few" rabbits once... we ended up with 60 or 70. They multiply super quick! I would have to go with chickens though, I also have chickens and they really do give you more bang for your buck when it comes to food.
 
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these guys have been hanging off my back porch lately...

SoldMyHat said:
Interesting thread. I am new to survival prepping. I have learned about water and food storage. Never really thought about raising animals for food on a small scale. Definitely something to think about. And good heads up on rabit starvation. It's crazy that you can starve from eating too much of something.
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It's not starvation per se-it's protein poisoning. Your body needs fat to process protein in any real amount, and with meat so incredibly lean, your body can't handle it unless you have other sources of fat.
 
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All in all, practically speaking, I don't think it is worth it unless you are extremely serious about TEOTWAWKI events.

My family owns a small farm house in Oregon, where my step dad takes care of rabbits and chickens. The chickens stay in a large pen, they are pretty easy. The rabbits were raised in pens and eventually let into the wild, where they now support a healthy population of dirty fluff-balls. It took a a good handful of dead fluf-balls for them to adapt to our climate and live mostly on their own. It involves feeding to keep them dependent and localized, which in turn involves shoveling lots of poop. It also involves reinforcing the fencing of any kind of garden you may have. You also have to constantly watch for predators (which will now be more drawn to your property, and your chickens). Waking up in the middle of the night to shoot at coons... How often do you think you would eat a rabbit?

When my step dad started the project, his selling point was rabbit stew, survival food, and the like. We have yet to eat a rabbit. A friend's dog killed one, so we made him eat it, but other than that, it has been all work and no play.

In the meantime, we have been eating lots of fresh eggs...

Your call.
 
K Williams said:
Good point. I'll have to check into that. Maybe I should just keep the local squirrel population healthy and well fed. ;)
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I think the same rabbit starvation may apply to squirrels as well. Though it would be fun to see someone on this forum post up a picture of their "squirrel farm". I've read the comments on trout. Trout is alright but I've read that it's not the same as Salmon in terms of fat and calories. If your a good fisherman and can catch several daily and without to much time devoted to it, then it will be fine. I couldn't catch one if I wearing scuba gear and a large net swimming around the aquarium at a bass pro shops. But, I've read about raising catfish in barrels. I'm surprised no one has talked about this yet. Of course it doesn't have to be a barrel. You could just dig a deep pond in your backyard.
 
I did a service call on an above ground pool a few years ago. It was very green and the homeowner couldn't understand why. I broadcast several pounds of calcium hypochlorite in the pool and in a few minutes a school of bream floated to the top. Their boys had been stocking it for a week from the local pond.
 
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