It seems to me that this forum has a lot of insightful posts on the Y2K problem but very little in the area of solutions / survival on a personal level. On this note I will offer a survival / how to tip with the hope that others have their own tips / advise to offer.

Rabbits provide more meat with less feed than any other small farm animal. Unlike chickens they do not make noise. They take up very little room and can be housed in a garage or shed. They can be feed table scraps, grass and weeds. One buck and three does will provide quite a bit of fresh meat provided you eat the offspring only. RABBIT tastes much better than TVP's and would be a much welcome change in diet.

Rabbits like people need water so factor this into your water preparations. For more on rabbits: www.debmark.com/rabbits/basics.htm

-- Ed Stevens (ed@terraworld.net), December 19, 1998

Answers

ed,

I also have read that catfish are the best for feed/meat in return ratio. I read somewhere that 1 1/2 pound of food for every 1 pound of meat. Thats if you even choose to feed them. I also remember that cattle are the worst return in feed/meat ratio.

I have dug a pond and stocked it with fish. Its not likely to be plundered if you know what I mean. I have also built contained chicken pens, for eggs and meat. Let em loose in the day to eat bugs and you dont need to feed them. I have a pasture but am not choosing to raise cattle due to low return. I will shoot deer and little varmits instead.

If you live in town and you really want fish, mayby convert your swimming pool or buy an above ground pool and raise your own fish. You can get the little fingerlings quite cheap at your local fishery. 1 year of feeding can result in 1 1/2 lb per fish.

Also, I am planting Jerusalam Artichokes in the wild. Very nutritious and prolific. They look like a sunflower. Am also planting wild polk seeds, horse radish and watermelons in the pastures. Every bare slope can contain food products which go unnoticed by the expected rovers.

see ya ww

-- WAYNE WITCHER (WWITCHER@MVTEL.NET), December 19, 1998.

For efficient use of water in gardening, you need to use irrigation lines. See Dig at http://www5.electriciti.com/asdig/

Hydroponics is efficient also, see http://www.coolandunusual.com/y2k/y2kstore/y27twok/hydro.html

When you set up a garden be aware that rabbits can go thru standard chain link fence. Use 2 or 3 foot wide 1-inch-openings chicken wire netting which is available in vinyl coating. Home Automation Systems at www.smarthome.com has the Critter Gitter (passive IR/audio-lights), the Scaminal (narrow-beam IR/audio), and Ultrasonic Motion Sensing Animal Repeller. They also have other security and surveillance components, mostly running on AC.

-- Jon (jonmiles@pacbell.net), December 19, 1998.

Thanks Wayne for the informative answer. Will print it off for reference. It sounds like we are thinking alike, that is to provide for food on a continual basis.

We have a couple of ponds with catfish. We also have many pecan trees and lots of game. We also discarded the idea of raising calfs and are going for goats. The rabbit thing I liked as it is well suited to those who live in town.

Although I am a programmer we are trying to think in terms of post Y2K. What can we do to become self sufficient and hopefully produce income / barter in case programmers are no longer needed. A large fruit orchard has come to mind and we expect to invest quite a lot into this.

All that aside I think there are many valuable skill sets which reside mainly in the cities and it is in our interest as well as theirs that they survive.

-- Ed Stevens (ed@terraworld.net), December 19, 1998.

ed,

One point on the orchards. I also am raising a small orchard.

This is my second attempt. It is really really important to buy fruit trees which are adapted to your climate. Sweet cherries for example perform very poorly in the deep south ect.

For fruit trees you will need to pay attention to the amount of chill hours required for the specific tree you are planting. Peach trees vary from 600 hours to 1200 hours. Plant the wrong type and your trees may end up flowering in Feb.

On an amusing note: I have so many rabbits in my garden that I probably will not even need to raise them:-)

Bet you live in the South if you are raising pecans.

One more thing, your a programmer? what do you think. 1-10 on January 2000??

thanks ww

-- WAYNE WITCHER (WWITCHER@MVTEL.NET), December 19, 1998.

I'm sorry, talking about ACTUAL y2k preparations is not allowed here. Please resume long-standing conversation about old timers versus newbies, and trolls.

-- citizen (dropthe@crackpipe.com), December 19, 1998.

Great practical posts. Most of the practical info in this thread and the related threads today can be found discussed quite comprehensively in the book:

Live Off the Land in the City and Country

Ragnar Benson / Hardcover / Published 1981

-RC

-- runway cat (runway_cat@hotmail.com), December 19, 1998.

Rabbits can be fed grain, grass clippings, and vegetable tops or fruit tree leaves, as well as commerical food. Besides fresh water they also want a salt lick available at all times. Males must be separated from new mothers with babies. Biggest concern is usually keeping them where they belong, especially out of ther garden.

-- Rob Michaels (sonofdust@net.com), December 19, 1998.

We will all become like the "Rabbit Lady" in "Rodger and Me". Good time to rewatch that classic. In my best Elmer Fud, "those cwazy wabbits r tasty"

-- Bill (bill@microsoft.com), December 19, 1998.

That's more like it, Bill. Keep the jokes coming!

-- citizen (dropthe@crackpipe.com), December 19, 1998.

It turns out that man cannot live by rabbit alone. For reasons known only to rabbits, no part of rabbit contains lysine, an essential amino acid. "Essential" here means humans require lysine, do not synthesise lysine, will die without lysine, and must get it from an outside source. Most grains provide lysine, corn in particular.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), December 20, 1998.

Elmer - if you're into wabbits check out the movie "Jean de Florette" - a true masterpiece.

"A truly impressive French film destined to become a modern masterpiece, Jean de Florette is an evocative adaptation of the highly regarded French novel. Two 1920s farmers engage in a bitter rivalry as one tries to tend to a plot of land and the other deviously undermines his efforts in order to conceal a valuable spring. The peasant farmer (Girard Depardieu) who comes to the countryside to tend the land he has inherited is a naive and trusting soul seeking only to provide for his wife and daughter, while his neighbor (Yves Montand) is intent on doing whatever he can to discourage and demoralize the farmer so that he can take the land for himself. This simple tale unfolds in a wrenching fashion to a tragic conclusion, bringing forth questions about human nature and the prevalence and price of greed. Along with its follow-up, Manon of the Spring, this film will leave an indelible impression on anyone who sees it."

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), December 20, 1998.

Don't put your eggs all in one basket. Do alittle of everything. Fruit trees may fail one year but the catfish will get you thru..etc. Buy canned food, can food, dehydrate food, and buy some professional storage food. You have contingency plan for any of the latter if they fail..

For the Pollyanna's : We may be preparing for y2k..and if it is just a bump in the road, thank goodness...but sometimes preparing for the wrong emergency still leaves you prepared for the right emergency. What if domestic terrorism takes out our power across usa?? That is not far fetched...If you were a terrorist and wanted to take down a nation bigger than you how would you do it??? HIt something big, and utility companies/substations etc would be a very easy mark.

-- More Dinty Moore (Not @this time.com), December 21, 1998.