new guy interested in squab for personal consumption

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Pops2

Pops2

In the Brooder
8 Years
Sep 9, 2011
34
0
22
north end of happy valley
i am looking for something to help feed the family that won't take too much of my hunting time. i like to hunt predators w/dogs and that demands a lot of my free time. large stock just isn't an option so i have been looking into small stock. so far most everything is too time consuming, especially since i don't have a passion for keeping the small stock. my FIL rescently sent me an OLD national standard squab book. it sounded too good to be true as far as the ease of keeping. so i started looking into squabs and google brought me here.
after seeing some of the other stock covered here, i am open to learning about other easy keeper stock. if there is any.
 
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I woul d have to say, ( but then I have never raised squab) that chickens or ducks would be easier. Don't pigeons need to be kept in cages? I woul dthink that they would be more labour intensive. I used to raise quail asnd rabbit, but gave them up for that very reason. Chickens need a coop to roost at night and lay their eggs. Yo ucan either build a fenced run for them or let them freerange. Mine freerange. I make sure their water is filled and feed them morning and night by throwing scratch on teh ground and make sure they have crumbles in their feeder. Ducks, (I have muscovies), just need as place to lay their eggs. Water is not a necessity for them, but even a kiddie pool will be appreciated. The raise their own young, and you basically just have to feed them morning and night. They will forage easily, --very inexpensive and labour UN intensive. I would have to say ducks would be the easiest. And they are tastey--kinda like roast beef.
 
pigeons aren't supposed to need much space or interaction. from what i've read so far any squabs i raise will be inclined to stay once the reach adulthood and they can then be "free range."
my family loves duck, but from what i've seen they require more work than what i'm reading about pigeons. but is that just raising up the brood stock or is that ongoing?
 
My experience is--if it is raised in a cage, it is totally depended on you for food and water. In winter, you need to go in and change out their waters when frozen. In summer, yo need to make sure they are not overheating, and again, masking sure they have plenty of water. If they don't-they die. Now, mind you , I have never raised them, but I did do quail and I woul dimagine it would be similar.

Ducks, on the other hand, need an enclosure to lay their eggs, brood their babies, and have access to water, such as a kiddie pool, as I mentioned.It is alot less work to keep that filled up than little waterers. The ducks freerange (if you have the land to accomodate), eat grass, bugs etc (scovies really help with the mosquito and fly control) and really only need to be fed once a day, just to keep them from going too wild. They will brood up to 20 eggs, raise their own ducklings, and then in four short months, you have 20 ( at minimum, it depends on how many hens you have, and how many eggs you let them set on) in the freezer.
 

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