Cheapest way to raise meat to eat

[kcsunshine]

Funny how something that stinks so bad could taste so goooood!

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

we keep laughing that its the smell of bacon BEFORE its bacon! so it makes it worth it! ha!

 

[FarmerChick]

Bacccoooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

bacon is a good reason hogs should survive!

We had huge steak sandwichs loaded with cheese and bacon the other day! Every bite I said, life is great!

 

[noobiechickenlady]

I've been wondering about that.....I've eaten coon and it was mighty greasy. So is goose or duck and they usually cook those on a rack and let the grease drip down, don't they? Why couldn't one do that with coon? Or would the lack of skin keep the meat from staying moist?

Or could you marinate and grill it with more success?

I think small game will probably be on the menu more and more in the near future if the coyote explosion doesn't eliminate that possibility.

Hmmmmmm.........wonder what coyote tastes like........

We had a racoon meal last weekend. Cleaning out the freezer in anticipation of several roos being slaughtered.
We've eaten it many times and I've never noticed that it was greasy. Although the late winter/early spring harvested ones do seem to carry a less fat than the fall & early winter ones.

DH cooks it just like a beef roast, with taters, carrots & lots of other veggies, cooked on low in the crockpot. YUM! We call it Roast Beast

We're running 5 rabbits on free range in the backyard right now, with the remainder in cages. We built our cages from scavenged materials and "damaged" wire I picked up from my workplace. The only thing we paid for was the screws.

The rangers have been loose now for well over a week and we haven't had any escapees. No, I take that back, the mommy squeezed through a crack in the gate & hung out in the front yard for a while. She went right back in when DH shooed her that way. In fact, the originator of our... herd? Flock? What do you call a group of bunnies? Anyways, the original dude has all of his running in a 3/4 acre lot that is haphazardly fenced in. Meaning its just a regular old chain link fence, not staked down at the bottom, no electric. As long as they have plenty of places to hide and enough graze, I'm betting you won't have many escapees.

Around here, most rabbits don't actually dig huge, deep burrows. They dig a couple of inches into the ground & lay in the hollowed out place. They like to dig near buildings or other things that touch the ground. They've dug a small hollow under my propane tank, but like I said, it's not very deep.

You can raise tilapia in a small pool, maybe not a barrel like you can with catfish, but its a thought.

 

[freemotion]

I heard recently that porcupine is delicious, and they are so slow moving, should be fairly easy to find. Wish I'd known that when the big one visited here during kidding season. I should really consider getting a bow and learning how to use it.

 

[freemotion]

I wonder if racoon is similar to bear? I've had delicous bear meat cooked in a French Canadian dish that I only know as "six pot." I think it refers to putting six different meats into the dutch oven and long-cooking them....usually game with pork. I think there was quail, bear, deer, pork, and beef in the one I was served. Absolutely delicious!

 

[Blackbird]

Yum yum! That sounds great Monique!

Bow and arrow? Heck, do an OFG and get the axe! LOL. If you ever do get a porc, be sure the save all those quills! Just think of all the crafts you could make using those. Or you could make some needles! Hm..

Yes, if you don't give the rabbits access to a pen on the ground you have to bring them their food, but they eat all sorts of stuff, it doesn't have to be expensive. Ours always enjoyed old fruit tree woods, sticks, straw, weeds, grasses, etc.

 

[miss_thenorth]

I agree with BB, my rabbits are in cages, and you do have to bring the food to them. My goal is to have them out on pasture next year ( we are retrofitting an old dog kennel into a rabbit tractor) But all summer, I brought them weeds, extra lettuce from my garden, lotsa stuff. They are quite inexpensive to raise if you supplement their feed with stuff growing around your house. Most of the summer they did not need store bought feed.

 

[Bettacreek]

Feeding rabbits really isn't the issue to their costs. The supplies are. I was even paying $4.75 per bale of hay, and they were still very inexpensive to feed. Plus you sell some offspring to bring money back into their care. And, if you weed your garden, toss it in their cages. Some people even dry out the extra weeds to save for winter feeding.

Porcupines are illegal to shoot here. It may be different elsewhere, and nothing's illegal unless you get caught, but just keep that in mind.

Definately go with a bow, lol. I can shoot in my back yard in a neighborhood and nobody knows it. I've been after the momma groundhog that lives here, on top of anything else that takes the misfortune of letting me spot them while I'm in a mood for blood lust.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Supplies for rabbits are a basically one time cost. I got my cages used (=cheap), with the feed containers already attached. I had to buy water bottles and crocks for the water in the winter. Plus I had to buy ivermectin for the occasional worming (which I use on my other ritters too) .