What to feed livestock?

[GBov]

As we get more and more animals I have started wondering what people use to feed livestock before processed feed and what we will feed them after the end of hte world as we know it?

So how did/will people do it?

Goats, horses, dogs, cats, ferrets, chickens, cows, pigs etc. etc. etc....

[nchobbyfarm]

Around here 100 years ago most everybody grazed them out with fenced fields or tied and moved regularly. The predators were almost extinct and thieves usually just disappeared is what the "oldtimers" will tell you. Now we have overpopulation, everyone has a dog or 3 that will be turned loose, and we now have coyotes that were never here before. Seems to me all livestock will have to be guarded 24/7 and that act alone will make you a target for every person that believes they are entitled to what you have.

[tinknal]

You have to think about the folks who first domesticated livestock. These were people who lived on the ragged edge of survival. They raised livestock because the livestock could produce food from materiel that humans could not eat.

Ruminants produce meat, milk, and wool from grass.

Poultry can eat dang near everything. They utilize waste and also eat common pests like insects, weeds, and small rodents, lizards, and amphibians, and they produce meat and eggs.

Swine also eat dang near anything, can forage, and produce meat.

I think because of modern agricultural practices we have come to expect farm animals to produce miracles.

A chicken can produce 300 eggs a year, but only in optimal conditions.

A pig can be raised to slaughter weight with 10 bushels of corn, but only in optimal conditions.

A cow can give 100 lbs of milk a day, but only under optimal conditions.

A chicken who produces 100 eggs a year is still profitable, if you have no cash inputs.

A cow that produces 25 pounds of milk a day is still profitable if you have no cash inputs.

A sow that produces one litter of 5 pigs is still profitable if you have no cash inputs.

The grain that we feed to livestock is a luxury that we will not be able to afford forever.

[Ed Norman]

Ferrets will catch mice.

Dogs will live on the fringes and eat scraps, rabbits, mice, carrion.

Horses, pigs and ruminants will graze and browse and root.

Chickens will learn to scratch for food or die.

Hay can be stored for winter for some species, along with mangels, radishes, turnips, grains, etc.

Intensive year-round pen raised operations won't work.

[Callieslamb]

Didn't they feed some grain also - corn, wheat, oats - grains.

[Pam6]

I have done a lot of research on Mangels. I believe MPS was getting...or got...mangel seeds in. Mammoth Red Beets that is.

[Rusty'sDog]

Set up your land to grow their natural diet. Your ruminants were designed to digest grasses (not cereals), so good pasture + hay for winter is needed. Your pigs and chickens are happy with just about anything they can find.

If you mix your hens with the cattle, the hens will eat the larva that hatches on the 'cow pies', thus providing them with protein. In the process, the hens will break up and distribute the patties, thus helping you spread the fertilizer.

Good pasture should have a dozen or so species of plants growing. Different species of animals will eat different plants, plus you will be getting early/mid/late growth, thus extending your grazing season from early spring to late autumn (or longer, depending on your climate).

If you can grow their natural foods, you become independent from the feed store and supply chain.

[elkhound]

Heres a living example for you to maybe model your own homestead,survival farm or whatever you call it by.

part one


part two

[elkhound]

heres another one for you.

[Ed Norman]

Originally Posted by Pam6

I have done a lot of research on Mangels. I believe MPS was getting...or got...mangel seeds in. Mammoth Red Beets that is.

We grew a patch this year. It is on old bare soil and was the first crop there, so the yields weren't great, but for next year we will add manure and get it going better. Most of our mangels are around 3-5 pounds. They were planted late. Next year I expect better.

The few that we have fed for a test were greatly enjoyed by hogs, rabbits, chickens, turkeys and goats.

[Blu3duk]

My dad grew a couple rows of mangels one year as a test for cattle feed, the deer kept them pruned off at the tops cause he planted em just outside of light range from the house.... about 50 yards ....... but a couple deer tripped and fell into the freezer later on that year.

As for grasses and cereal grains so forth and so on being or not being feed for ruminants... certain grasses were developed and bred to what we know as cereal grain today over years of time, the grasses we see today all have seeds that are "cereal" and cured on the stem cattle will eat the top off first then come back later for the "straw" any person who has raised animals any length of time in colder climates knows this if they walk out where the long grass grew.

In Colder climates in order to get through the winter months you are gonna have to feed some sort of higher protein feed or risk losing your stock ergo the use of cereal grains to supplement the cured hay....... Back in the depression, my granddad wouldnt take $17.00 per head of his steers, so he bought pea straw and fed through the winter and at that time that straw had blow over from inefficient threshing, cost him $3.00 per ton and fed 3 ton per head.... kind of skimpy rations, but it was sufficient.... he turned em out in the spring, for a few weeks when the grass started growing again and then sold them for $41 per head..... he was kinda lucky but at least he didnt lose money that year.

so if indeed there is an end of the world situation and you figger on having livestock that needs fed, you ned to set up to plant and harvest, and you might want to investigate a MAG [mutual aide group] or if yer family is close and all of a similar mindset go in together and start a small scale farm operation, planting to harvest. raise oil seed to run your machines, use the pressed cake as feed for the stock.... do it now and prove to yourself it can be accomplished.... setup less than $50k for the equipment which is spendy but it can be a cottage business as well bringin in funds for the farmstead.

William
Idaho

[Oldcountryboy]

Originally Posted by nchobbyfarm

Around here 100 years ago most everybody grazed them out with fenced fields or tied and moved regularly. The predators were almost extinct and thieves usually just disappeared is what the "oldtimers" will tell you. Now we have overpopulation, everyone has a dog or 3 that will be turned loose, and we now have coyotes that were never here before. Seems to me all livestock will have to be guarded 24/7 and that act alone will make you a target for every person that believes they are entitled to what you have.

Originally Posted by GBov

As we get more and more animals I have started wondering what people use to feed livestock before processed feed and what we will feed them after the end of hte world as we know it?

So how did/will people do it?

Goats, horses, dogs, cats, ferrets, chickens, cows, pigs etc. etc. etc....

My grandparents raised 11 kids on a small farm. They raised a lot of field corn and milo grain for both animal feed and sorghum.

As for the critters, everyone use to trap to raise money and control the critter population. Now days, hardly anyone traps.

[elkhound]

heres some harvesting from Holzers homestead.

[time]

Originally Posted by nchobbyfarm

Around here 100 years ago most everybody grazed them out with fenced fields or tied and moved regularly. The predators were almost extinct and thieves usually just disappeared is what the "oldtimers" will tell you. Now we have overpopulation, everyone has a dog or 3 that will be turned loose, and we now have coyotes that were never here before. Seems to me all livestock will have to be guarded 24/7 and that act alone will make you a target for every person that believes they are entitled to what you have.

+1

I don't think people realize how big a problem dogs are going to be in that situation. When the Alpo ceases to come their way, the neibor dogs will be looking to feed themselves.

[Freya]

Originally Posted by Blu3duk

....... but a couple deer tripped and fell into the freezer later on that year.

Mangels, sunflowers and pumpkins are high on my list. And worm bins/vermicomposting for chickens.

[rancher1913]

guess we are to far out there---we don't go to the feed store for feed, we grow it ourselves. sure we use corn and soybean and wheat but its all grown here and fed here. we do use 1 bag of chick starter for the hundred meat birds we do twice a year just because they seam to get of on a better foot but if push came to shove we could get by.

[farmerDale]

Originally Posted by rancher1913

guess we are to far out there---we don't go to the feed store for feed, we grow it ourselves. sure we use corn and soybean and wheat but its all grown here and fed here. we do use 1 bag of chick starter for the hundred meat birds we do twice a year just because they seam to get of on a better foot but if push came to shove we could get by.

Ditto!

[tinknal]

For cattle don't forget winter grazing. Fields can be set aside and not grazed in the summer, or the last part of the summer depending on your climate, and then grazed in the winter. The right kind of cattle will paw through 3 feet of snow to get grass.

[jwal10]

My buff chickens are an old strain that can deal with short rations. I get about 200 eggs/yr. I do use goat milk byproducts to suppliment when needed. My goats are not registered/lazy/hard keepers, they earn their keep. I have had their ancestors for 36 years and only once did I have need of a vet, 21 years ago. People that have highly "bred" animals will find they have nothing when SHTF, they can't adapt. I and mine live close to the dirt and have already adapted. Oats are the grain of choice here. I have in place ways to deal with outsiders (human and animal) without needing expensive "toys"....James

[Ross]

One of the most useful animal feeds (ruminants) is ensiled hay. Essentially it's a pile of still wet/green hay (dried somewhat) sealed from the air until needed. There is a minimum time required for it to be good silage but it slips my memory at the moment. Grow and OP version of corn and you'll have good feed from cob to stalk and leaf. Animals will eat squash too, they're pretty easy to over produce, the seeds are every bit as good as grain.