bunnies or chickens?

[Westside]

I haven't read all the post buy I like bunnies.

or is this not the right kind of bunny?

 

[grunt soldier]

i will take the money for the guinea pig also if this is open to more than one person? i met a guy from this board who couldn't keep his chickens do to predators but had no problems with keeping rabbits, he was unemployed and him and his family literally lived off the rabbit meat for almost 2 years. basically from the research i have done rabbits have no gestation period. they get pregnant and give birth to 4-8 rabbits, those baby bunnies are full size with in 30 days, and the female is ready to be pregnant again. so if you had 4 female rabbits and 1 male you could pretty much never be out of meat (the key in shtf is being able to keep it good)

chickens are also pretty easy but if your raising from chicks your looking at 3 months plus before they are laying, so start before shtf lol. i have 6 and get usually 5-6 eggs a day. they will keep even for a minute even not refrigerated, i have 2 acres and my chickens free range all day long, even when i'm not home. they always lay their eggs in the coup and are always up in the coop for bed by 2100 no matter what. i have yet to have a predator problem but i started trapping and eliminating them before i had chickens. they have yet to tear my property up but they do **** everywhere and its kind of annoying. then you get to the noise, the hens sing a little song after laying a egg and roosters are crazy loud but you have to decide whats worse in shtf starving or having someone come to take your food.

i agree do both if possible and if not pick what will work best given where you live and the situation your in.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

I think I could eat those. Wait, what?

 

[caneman]

I checked with the County Zoning and they said my lake lot is zoned residential only and I can't have a chicken coop. That bothers me as I was set to go with it.

 

[grunt soldier]

most places are zoned residential only. maybe they are talking about a commercial coop with lots of chickens lol? that sucks honestly. you can always protest and raise a big enough stink trying to get it changed if thats the case. good luck as chickens really are pretty cool and a good prep item

 

[Dead Duck]

Breed Both Together. You can call them - Chicken Hare.

 

[RockCreekRelics]

If you have room get both. With a good breeding program rabbits will produce more protein per required square foot of space than any other farm animal. So if space is an issue rabbits are probably the best for you. In my opinion rabbits do have a few advantages over chickens for the SHTF prepper:

1. In a pinch you can feed a LOT of rabbits from plants gathered from the roadside,garden,forest, or yard if feed from a store or mill is not available.Even good hay works fine. They will take an extra week or two to grow out though. Modern breeds of chickens can eat many of the same wild foods and live but weight gain suffers badly with no supplements. Just be sure when you start feeding natural foods to switch them over slowly.They have a bacteria in thier stomachs called flora (I think) that has to adjust to new foods slowly or they will get scours.

2. Rabbit manure is an excellent ready to use plant fertilizer. It doesn't need to age like poultry manure and can be directly applied to garden plants without burning them. I have also raised redworms that live on the droppings underneath my rabbit cages and fed them to my chickens for a protein supplement and they thrive on them.

3. As a last resort rabbits can be raised in a basement or indoors and if pens are kept clean they don't smell overwhelmingly bad like poultry does.

There are many other advantages as well. I would suggest starting with one proven (has bred with does and produced offspring) buck and five or six does for a family your size and adjust as needed.

Chickens will almost always produce food faster than rabbits if you start with young adult hens. Keep in mind though that if your hens are purchased for egg production they should be younger than three years old. Egg production drops off pretty fast after three years of age although there are always exceptions. If I remember correctly most breeds also need fourteen hours of light minimum to keep laying so in the winter you can keep a light on a timer set to come on in the coop for a few hours in the early morning hours. It really does help.

I personally would would stay away from the Cornish X types unless you plan to purchase every bit of the feed they eat(and it is a lot). They are only good for meat and are not good foragers at all. I prefer a dual purpose breed like Barred Rocks or Rhode Island Reds. They are good for eggs and meat. They will also forage for a lot of thier own food if allowed to roam in the daytime and eat a lot less purchased feed by choice. One more thing to remember is that hens do not need a rooster to produce eggs. He only fertilizes them. I have noticed that hens seem to do better with one or two roosters around though. This was probably more info than you were looking for but I have learned quite a bit over the years and wish I had known some of this earlier on. My choice would be to get both if you can. You can feel free to PM me if you have any questions. Good luck!!!

 

[redneckmedic]

I checked with the County Zoning and they said my lake lot is zoned residential only and I can't have a chicken coop. That bothers me as I was set to go with it.

BS.... no such thing as zoned against chickens...IMO

Urban Chickens | Dedicated to promoting backyard chickens in urban residential landscapes.


And for reference, nobody can live on rabbit meat alone... its too lean, you will die from "rabbit starvation".... you need to add some fat protein to your diet, if not starchy carbohydrates i.e. taters.

 

[philagothon]

I think rabbits actually reproduce faster. If you are looking for a high-volume protein source, eggs are the way to go.

Some general rabbit info:
Breeding Rabbits

Looks like about 20 rabbits per year, per dame (maximum). Then another year until they can be eaten.

Just a couple points of correction here. According to the article you cited, 20 offspring per year is the minimum (not maximum) that an acceptable doe should produce. I've not raised rabbits in since I was a kid, but I think you can typically expect more like 25-30 per year if managed well. Also, rabbits are ready for the frying pan at 6-8 weeks, not 1 year.

 

[LockStocksAndBarrel]

Rabbits are very easy, provide very little meat, but give a pelt, small pen with a ton of compost. Chickens are by far more maintenance. The will leave your property, can re-claim a roost, loud, and tear up your land..... all of the previous are on a small and very manageable scale. If I had to choose one over the other... I would go with the chickens.... but in reality, do both, make a rabbit pen and then build a coop. Our 2 story rabbit pen.

WOW!!!

That black bunny is friggin' HUGE!!!!

 

[indymadcaster]

Bunnies cannot free range! We are getting both! We had them before and they were damn tasty. Bunny poor is awesome on plants

 

[INMIline]

This...

You're going to need a good source of a lot of carbs. Imagine working countless hours trying to provide for your family your body will need fuel. Our garden next year will be 4 times the size it is now. Planning on a bunch of potatoes. If it comes down to shtf situation then it will suck working all day in the hot sun packing a AR. I also don't look forward to the all night security watches. But it'll have to be done.

To answer the OP, my daughters each have a bunny. Getting ready for chics now.

And for reference, nobody can live on rabbit meat alone... its too lean, you will die from "rabbit starvation".... you need to add some fat protein to your diet, if not starchy carbohydrates i.e. taters.

 

[csaws]

which one of these will reproduce faster? will be in need of a source of protein for a fmily of 5. so trying to get an idea of how many i would need. also thinking of digging a pond for fish. but unsure of how i would get to them in winter. it's not a matter of if it hits the fan, now i am planning for when it hits the fan

Chickens lay eggs everyday, rabbits can't birth live young that fast. Fertile eggs hatch in about 20-25 days

Chickens FTW (and protein)

 

[csaws]

both can live in the wild, but will be killed by predators very fast..

We have had our chickens stay out over night (on numerous occassions) and not be eaten by predators... they will roost in trees just like wild turkeys.

 

[INMIline]

But why not use them as barter items. Or by the time everything else runs out, maybe someone steals the chickens, you may have enough to do something with. Atleast tie you over until you get can further north.

rabbits can't birth live young that fast. QUOTE]

 

[Davegrave]

You're all missing the obvious solution.
Cadburry bunnies. They make chicken sounds, they lay eggs, and most importantly....the eggs are full of delicious chocolate and candy creme. Win/win situation if I ever heard one.

 

[nawainwright]

We are buying some semi-rural property and this question has been much on my mind. Thanks for the discussion. I'll probably do both.

 

[7.62-5.56Plinker]

looks like someone watched "Living for the Apocolypse" good ideas. chickens for sure. less hassle and you get eggs as well. as for fish. grow Tilapia. they reproduce really fast by the thousands

 

[Lancem]

i will bring you $100 and a guinea pig if you kill it, clean it, cook it and eat it. cash money

And to think when I was in Peru (the country), I paid to eat guinea pig!

To the OP, I'd say chickens, you can free range them if needed, 6 weeks is the standard fryer growth time and you have eggs.

 

[RockofStrength]

Having kept chickens i can say that they produce a LOT of eggs on a consistent basis (provided that they don't get massacred by a hungry coyote or fox or 'coon or wild cat, like ours were) and then can be slaughtered at the end of their productive lifespan. That, and they can be set loose on your garden on a rare occasion to eat slugs, beetles etc that ravage your plants.