When considering growing your own food, nothing's more efficient for providing your family with the protein required for a healthy diet than keeping animals. Meat, lard, eggs, dairy, honey, are all invaluable and delicious.
Pigs
Pigs are truly one of the most enjoyable animals on a homestead. They will eat anything: grass, milk, kitchen scraps, slaughter waste, and much more. Everything they eat is converted into a very tasty and varied meat. They are also very intelligent, affectionate, and funny animals who are a pleasure to be around.
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Rabbits
Rabbits are one of the easiest and most useful animals to keep, even in an urban location. They are quiet, non-aggressive and do not require much in terms of food or space. They are easy to breed, and they make excellent manure, meat, and fur.
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Poultry
Poultry are a great source of eggs, meat, pest control and entertainment. They compliment other animals, as they will scratch around in their manure, eliminating maggots, and clean up the larger animals' scraps.
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Goats
Goats are small and will eat anything, so they are easier to feed and water than a cow. They will still produce all your family needs in the way of dairy products, not to mention the occasional cabrito.
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Fish
Fish are a great source of nutrition, for humans, animals and plants. You can keep them in ponds or tanks, and so long as they have space, the right temperature, oxygen, and clean water, they will be some of the most efficient meat you can raise.
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Bees
Beekeeping is an ancient DIY art, performed by amateurs and makers for centuries. Anyone can produce natural honey at home. People keep bees in many different kinds of hives, but we like top bar hives.
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Worms
Worms are a great source of protein for other animals, and the earth and compost tea from their casings is one of the best supplements for your garden.
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BSF
Black Soldier Flies are one of the most effective consumers of organic waste, and they provide a high protein snack for larger animals. What's even better is that they harvest themselves and deter households flies.
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Insects
There's no shortage of insects in the world, which makes for a very reliable food source. While most people in the western world have an aversion towards making a meal of insects, they can provide protein and essential vitamins on a fraction of the resources of larger animals.
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Snakes
Snakes are amazing creatures, but usually unwanted on the homestead, as they will eat things like baby rabbits. Some snakes can also be very dangerous, especially to small children.
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