Survival Preparedness:
Backyard Meat Rabbits

Why survival preparedness?

On July 13, 2010, The National Inflation Association (NIA) issued a press release reflecting their belief that should hyperinflation become a reality in America, government debt coupled with price controls could eventually reduce the value of the US dollar to nearly nothing.  

Wonder what hyperinflation might look like? Imagine the total in your bank account dropping to one THOUSANDTH of its current value. Yes, a single dollar for every thousand you currently think you own. And then imagine the panic you might feel as you realize you have no money for buying groceries this week.

In Boston, May, 2010, a broken water main resulted in a localized water shortage. Within a few hours there were empty shelves in grocery stores. Fights broke out as people fought over units and cases of bottled water. While the Boston crisis resulted from a broken water main, the NIA believes a currency crisis will result in a similar panic however on a nationwide scale.

We're no experts, but given the current global uncertainties, we take survival preparedness just a little bit more seriously than some do.

It's why the idea of self-sufficiency through mini-farming as a hedge against shortages and worsening economic conditions is logical to us. Read on...

Emergency Food Supply for
Survival Preparedness

We don't mean to be alarmists. Except, we've lived in both Peru and Brazil, and have seen runaway inflation in action. That's when you get your paycheck and head straight to the store and spend every red cent of it on food and hard goods, because tomorrow it's only worth half of today's value. I'm not kidding.

In 2003, it was labor unrest that prompted our decision  to maintain a simple emergency food supply at the ready - rabbits in our backyard.  At the time, five grocery chains had gone on strike at the same time throughout the region where we lived.  The shelves in the local grocery store were bare in no time. 

Across town, the shelves at the only other grocery store were equally bare.  The strike rumbled on for many months. At the time, we had no plan in place for survival preparedness, and no emergency food supply on hand.

The workers eventually returned to their jobs, but the refrain kept running in the back of my head: "...What if...?  How would the town eat if the grocery store shelves completely emptied??" In a crisis, shelves can empty in a heartbeat. Even in America the time could very well arise when only those with a survival plan would survive.

We decided to incorporate live animals into our survival preparedness plan.  Given the current sociological and political climate, we are even more satisfied that the decision was a good one for us. 

Every domestic rabbit represents 1 meal for a family of four, plus a pot of stew. Each is also a defense against hunger in the face of interrupted income, food supply, or other threats to one's well-being. With a little bit of rabbit care, the meat "stores" very well on the live rabbit in its rabbit hutch.

Additionally, raising rabbits for meat leaves a very small ecological footprint. Unlike a cow, for example, it is easy to butcher one rabbit and use the entire animal without refrigeration. No need for electricity.

To whatever degree one can practice self sufficient living, to that degree one protects himself from going hungry.

Yes, you can raise rabbits in the big city, and in the country, for survival preparedness, self-sufficiency and improved nutrition.  

Rabbit farming does take a bit of education and know-how.  But - that's why we're here. We'd like to help by sharing with you everything we know about raising rabbits for survival preparedness. Take your time and peruse Raising-Rabbits at length. Contact us with your questions, if necessary.

As you make your survival preparedness plans, don't forget your pets. Fresh raw rabbit meat, bones and liver makes a very healthy homemade pet food, or at least, home-grown, for our carnivore dogs and cats.

More Survival Preparedness Tips

• "Raising and Eating Rabbits in the Big City" -- This news story features three families on Nicollet Island in downtown Minneapolis who are partnering together to tend a vegetable garden and a ‘barnyard’ including rabbits, chickens, ducks and geese, all within a very modest space.
  
  
• For lots more info on surviving TEOTWAWKI - the end of the world as we know it: The Survivalist Blog
  
  
• Guide to Saving Money on Disaster Preparation - from couponchief.com
  
  
• How much land do you need to go off the grid??
  This eye-opening article includes a large graphic that will spell it out for you...a total of roughly 2 acres; a bit more if you grow the corn that feeds the livestock.
  
  Of particular interest is the contrast in acreage needed for growing vegetables vs. raising animals. To keep enough pigs, goats and chickens to feed one family for a year, you'll need 372 square feet.
  
  To provide 9,200 calories a day for the same family of four for a year, you'll need 88,678 square feet, or 2.2 acres, just for a small wheat field and big veggie garden. Survival truly does require animal protein.
  
  You could add rabbits to the mix with NO additional need for space. How? Put them in the space allotted to the chickens. The rabbits are in cages above, and the chickens roam below, cleaning up after the rabbits and consuming vermin and bugs. (Chickens are omnivores.) The manure from the rabbits enriches the garden, and the bedding from the chicken house can be used as mulch or added to the compost pile.
  
  The entire arrangement is amazingly sustainable, the perfect 'green' solution to survival preparedness.
  
  
• If eating wild cottontails is part of your survival plan, this Wikihow article does a great job of showing you how to kill, prepare and cook rabbits in the wild. Plus, get a few tips and warnings to help protect you from rabbit-borne disease or parasites.
  
  
• One Urban-Dweller's Sustainable Approach to Survival Preparedness: 100 Days Rabbitry raises meat rabbits on much less than 2 acres, and then barters the surplus manure for their vegetables. It's a win-win-win.
  
  In their words:
  "We are friends with the people who run two local neighborhood community gardens.  Soon after our rabbitry operation started, we established a barter agreement with both community gardens where we would supply rabbit manure in exchange for fresh produce from the gardens.  This has turned out to be a very symbiotic relationship.  Our endless supply of rabbit manure is valued as a source of much needed soil amendments for the local gardens.  In return, we receive a good amount and variety of herbs and vegetables."
  
  

Click Here for More Rabbit Raising Information