Renewable food sources?

[Patronus]

Lately I've been thinking more and more about renewable food sources. Not just gardens(although that too) but maybe rabbits or chickens. I have VERY limited space outside in my yard so I'm leaning hard towards rabbits but I'd like to hear input and suggestions. Seems like a good topic for a prep discussion and I haven't seen much on it here.

Also, in my limited space would a small(10' x 15-20') greenhouse be a worthwhile idea?

 

[BorisTheSpider]

Check this out! Can also do outdoors easily in ga. tilapiais a hardy http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=4MSJcPKYJA8&desktop_uri=/watch?v=4MSJcPKYJA8

 

[Retread]

Chickens?
Guinea pigs? ( yea, i'm serious)
Hogs if you have a source for feed.
In parts of Asia they raise dogs. (This I don't get.) They don't eat cats. They say they taste bad.

 

[Patronus]

Check this out! Can also do outdoors easily in ga. tilapiais a hardy http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=4MSJcPKYJA8&desktop_uri=/watch?v=4MSJcPKYJA8

Saw the aquaponics mentioned on Doomsday Preppers a little while ago too. Man! What a great idea! My wife loves tilapia. Im seriously thinking about a small greenhouse in my yard with an aquaponic/tilapia "factory" and garden setup. Surf and turf or at least fish and salad all in one. It looks like the main ongoing cost is fish feed after you get started. And for a family of three (when my son's home from college) I should be able to provide enough fish and vegetables to fill our needs. I have a 10' x 15' deck on the back of the house that sits about 4 ft above ground level on one and and 6+ ft above at the other end. I think it would be great for rabbit hutches or a small chicken coop. Combined with the aquaponics and tilapia could make for an awesome little cornucopia.

Since the water produced by the plants is so pure I wonder if that might not be a way to process rainwater for storage. Rain water into the fish tank, then to the growing beds, then to the storage barrels, then back to the fish tanks. Hmmm....

Will need solar power for circulation pump.

 

[B. Byrd]

I've tried chickens. As soon as they were big enough to go outside, the critters got them, even in a fenced area and in a large dog crate at night. Of course, it can be done, but maybe just not as easily as one might expect. Need to shield them from the hazards. Am considering trying rabbits, but I would guess the same hazards would apply.

You can grow food nearly year round in GA. The usual tomatoes, squash, peppers, beans, etc. in summer. Greens in wither. Currently, I have collards, cabbage, kale, spinach, lettuce, turnips, etc. It is actually easier in winter than summer because there are fewer weeds and pests to contend with. Don't really need a greenhouse unless you want to grow from seeds and cuttings.

Usually, they urge not to use rainwater unless it is severely filtered. Rainwater is usually collected from downspouts off a roof which has asphalt roofing chemicals, bird droppings, acid rain, etc. Walter Reeves, the Ga. Gardner, even suggests not watering the garden at all with water collected from a roof.

You probably know all this already, but maybe there is something useful here.

 

[Patronus]

You probably know all this already, but maybe there is something useful here.

Actually I DON'T so all this is helpful. And appreciated. I'm not a full on city boy but I've never killed a chicken to eat, never plucked a feather and the only vegetable I ever ate that I grew was a midget carrot or two. Hopefully this will change. I wonder if it's possible to make an enclosure secure from predators. Maybe double chicken wire set from 6 inches under the ground to the roof.


I have been visited by armadillos so any serious attempt at a garden will require similar protection. The greenhouse idea is as much for the double duty aquaponics "eco-system" as bmwebster linked. Tilapia are warm water fish. Supposedly easy to raise but the water temp needs to be maintained. So a greenhouse would be useful for regulating the ambient temp, aiding both plants and fish. It would also privide a more structured boundary which I think would help repel 'dillos. I found a 12' x 7' plastic sheet greenhouse on Amazon for $60 and a 20' x 10' one for $200. I should just be able to fit 20x10 in one corner of the yard if that ends up being worth the 200 bucks. Later, if the experiment bears fruit I may look at building something more permanent but that's a consideration for after this first level consideration. Heh.

I've lately begun wishing I had a steel roof instead of the asphalt shingles. Not in the budget for a while though(if ever). It would be real nice to put up some solar panels to supplement the power and maybe even be able to go off-grid but I'd rather mount them to a steel roof than a shingled one.

 

[StringBeans03]

Chickens are a good bit of work (especially in the beginning) but can be rewarding...I've never tried to raise rabbits. Chicken coops can be as elaborate or as simple as you'd like. Chickens just need protection from predators, a little shade from extreme heat, protection from extreme cold and shelter from the rain. They need a roost (a 2x4, a stick or limb, etc), a place to lay eggs and plenty of fresh water. Once you have all that, they're pretty simple to raise...and the eggs are way better than store-bought.

Here's some helpful links. Pics in the first one for some ideas and info in the 2nd link (LOTS of info). Good luck !!

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...=QBIR&pq=chicken co&sc=8-10&sp=2&qs=AS&sk=AS1

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/poultry/

 

[Flammenwerfer]

I'd like to add also, fresh cut green grass and weeds can be thrown into the chicken lot. They love scratching it and actually get nutrients from them

 

[Chris Mac]

Rabbits can be pretty easy to raise and mating pairs - bucks and a few does - will produce an abundance of offspring. Plenty of videos on YouTube about raising rabbits and slaughtering them. Same for chickens.

We have a friend that has chickens and he has SOLID cages/houses built and fenced in including the yard area. He has a two layer wire fence - one heavy duty livestock wire to keep the larger animals at bay, and that's got a layer of heavy duty chicken wire attached to it. Nothing can stick their claws through and pull the chickens out through the wire. Raccoons are big culprit.

 

[obiwan]

My friend lives next to a guy that raises rabbits to feed his exotic cat. He says you can always tell when the guy is slaughtering the rabbits because they scream!