Other Edible Critters?

Hi people,

Anyone keep, have experience or ideas to share about vertebrates that do not really fall into the other forum categories listed. Things like pigeons, guinea pigs or other small to medium size mammals and birds that are made out of food.

Rabbits are banned here and when I'm in the city roosters are also illegal. So I'm looking for alternatives to fill this sort of niche. I have kept quail and rats before and are familiar with them, but they don't really fit what I'm after.

While I'm interested in a fairly specific situation myself. It would be interesting to hear about any less mainstream critters that do not fit neatly into the common groups that have their own forums.

Cheers,
Chris

In your climate black soldier fly is definitely an option. Super efficient conversion of food wastes to lovely grubs.

Now you may not be up for eating them yourself, but they make a great food for other species, including fish and potentially pigeons.

My recent trip to Colonial Williamsburg revealed pigeon/dove as a food source.  They built mega birdhouses to encourage them to stay. They ate the babies ruffly 4 weeks old, before they had a chance to fly. Its called squab. He raised bantam chickens as pets.  Story was the owner of the home often had the miniature chicken in his arms. It was interesting.

Pigeons  in this situation will feed them selves to certain extent.
That can be good or bad, depending on the available food sources.
If I where wanting to raise meat animals,squab would be right up there with rabbit, primarily due to market value.

I have often considered Guinea Pigs, run in a tractor similar to rabbits, but the Mrs. finds them too cute to eat!

Along the lines of Quail, I have raised Pheasant and Chukar in the past with wonderful results - the eggs are small and few, but the meat is delicious and feathers can sell well to hat and garment makers.

In terms of not introducing foreign species to your lovely continent(which I assume is why rabbits are banned) I hear of people eating Kangaroo and Emu - could this be a good business for you?

Thanks for the replies.

Dustin Rhodes wrote:I have often considered Guinea Pigs, run in a tractor similar to rabbits, but the Mrs. finds them too cute to eat!

Along the lines of Quail, I have raised Pheasant and Chukar in the past with wonderful results - the eggs are small and few, but the meat is delicious and feathers can sell well to hat and garment makers.

In terms of not introducing foreign species to your lovely continent(which I assume is why rabbits are banned) I hear of people eating Kangaroo and Emu - could this be a good business for you?

In Qld and NSW it is possible to legally use wild kangaroos, but not for commercial use (unless you do it as a job and go through lots of extreme regulations and fees). Wild harvest of Emu is banned even when permits to cull are obtained.

Other than fishing and duck shooting in some states (most likely to be banned soon) are the only exceptions that allow the use of native vertebrates on mainland Australia AFAIK. Tasmania allows people to eat wallabies and maybe possums(?) I have never been overseas though.

For most practical purposes permaculture style farming of native terrestrial vertebrates is banned. With the exception of emu's which are generally not viable without large numbers and high intensity monoculture, due to fees and regulation.

We are basically forced to use exotic species to comply with the law. Our fascistic government does not like small business or sustainable use of wildlife as a general rule.

Chukar is something new to me and is available here, I will look into that. Exactly the sort of suggestions I'm after, thanks.

European hare are possibly legal to keep, are a naturalized species and don't appear to be a significant environmental pest. Does anyone keep these in captivity?

@Michael Cox I'm familiar with BSF, very useful critters. I use them for 'composting' (not the right word) and feed them to various critters. I'm not overly fussy about food, but not that keen on eating them myself unless I'm going to starve lol.

I've raised guinea pigs, rabbits and pigeons for food and eaten some wild pigeons.
The guinea pigs were terrible parents and poorly adapted to living outdoors, the pigeons were easiest to butcher and made good eating.
The wild pigeons tasted like camphor berries.

Other somewhat unconventional poultry: Muscovy ducks(common, but quiet, unlike regular ducks, better for city living), Pea fowl, Guinea fowl, Geese(often overlooked).

Rodents(may be hard to source, but good producers with significant size): Agouti, Capybara, Nutria/Coypu(Invasive, be careful!)

Chris Wang wrote:Hi people,

Anyone keep, have experience or ideas to share about vertebrates that do not really fall into the other forum categories listed. Things like pigeons, guinea pigs or other small to medium size mammals and birds that are made out of food.

Rabbits are banned here and when I'm in the city roosters are also illegal. So I'm looking for alternatives to fill this sort of niche. I have kept quail and rats before and are familiar with them, but they don't really fit what I'm after.

While I'm interested in a fairly specific situation myself. It would be interesting to hear about any less mainstream critters that do not fit neatly into the common groups that have their own forums.

Cheers,
Chris

I know this is an old thread.

Roosters are illegal - I assume due to crowing, what about tom turkeys?  Turkeys are a "normal" food item, basically jumbo chickens that don't lay as well.   I have a flock of Narragansett turkeys.  They fly quite well, but would fill the same niche as a chicken, just bigger and harder to contain.

Ducks: lots of options - all the way from tiny call ducks to khaki campbells (trim size, good layers) to pekin (big and meaty)

Guinea Fowl may have been mentioned, but they are louder than roosters.

I know of a missionary in Africa that is working on finding a way to produce cane rats in an agricultural setting to provide more protein for the community he works with.  

Do you have access to a decent amount of water? How about fish, crayfish, snails, mussels, clams, oysters, etc?

**Edit** Sorry, I realize not all of those are vertebrates.