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Grow your own protein

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Kaido said:
I've had cricket energy bars & cricket cookies, they're fine:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2396232

80% of the world eats bugs. It's only weird here 😛
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I like cockroaches and spiders of the sea (lobster & king crab legs).

dawp said:
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/seattle-washington-chicken-ordinance

this might be more palatable.

fresh eggs every morning

as far as the OP, might not be so bad in a stir-fry.
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Oddly, when I saw the invention in the OP, the first thing I thought of was, "can I use that to create a sufficient amount of high protein to feed the animals?" I grow a lot of protein at home. And, some of that protein needs a fairly high protein diet for the first year.
 
I think the most realistic animal based protein for me would be eggs. I think having yearly sustainable vegetarian protein requires more land than I have available for beans and the like.

Not sure what the cost of ownership would be on like 12 or so hens to produce enough eggs to get sufficient protein.

Might also have to do diary for milk whey protein.
 
I could finally do away with all those cans of beef soup. They're so heavy to carry in bags up the stairs to my apartment anyway.
 
shrimp are basically cockroaches, and they're delicious.

i'll eat me the heck out of some oysters and they're basically snot rockets.

unfortunately between pollution and overfishing the oceans aren't as productive as they were.

maybe the oil companies will grow shrimp in the algae vats and solve both energy and food at the same time.
 
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ElFenix said:
shrimp are basically cockroaches, and they're delicious. i'll eat me the heck out of some oysters and they're basically snot rockets.
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Which genus are snot rockets in, again?

(man, I love me some snot rockets on the half shell with a little hot sauce)
 
I know it's more of the norm in most places, and perhaps the direction of the future.. Not sure I want to be an early adopter here, though.
 
DrPizza said:
I like cockroaches and spiders of the sea (lobster & king crab legs).



Oddly, when I saw the invention in the OP, the first thing I thought of was, "can I use that to create a sufficient amount of high protein to feed the animals?" I grow a lot of protein at home. And, some of that protein needs a fairly high protein diet for the first year.
Click to expand...

And you didn't tell us the answer to your question. Ass. :colbert:
 
I see this happening - when / if the earth's enviro can no longer feed/support 15 billion people.

Or, we need to travel long distances in space.

Plus, I would imagine this is where the 'building blocks' of food replicators would come from.

Sure it sounds gross,... so, you can go right back to eating an animal's anus, lips, eyelids and hooves (dude, it's beef).
 
momeNt said:
I think the most realistic animal based protein for me would be eggs. I think having yearly sustainable vegetarian protein requires more land than I have available for beans and the like.

Not sure what the cost of ownership would be on like 12 or so hens to produce enough eggs to get sufficient protein.

Might also have to do diary for milk whey protein.
Click to expand...

Owning chickens isn't really a cost saving proposal. After buying chicks, feeding them to laying age, then the continual feeding. with varying feed costs, especially the high price of corn right now, you could be looking at anywhere between $3-$5 a dozen.
 
tcsenter said:
If you think about it, you're just eating a steak minus a few hundred million years of evolution.
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Hello, this is why a good steak comes from aged beef!

You can have your insects and un-aged beef while us civilized folks enjoy our 32oz T-bone (no fork required).
 
momeNt said:
I think the most realistic animal based protein for me would be eggs. I think having yearly sustainable vegetarian protein requires more land than I have available for beans and the like.

Not sure what the cost of ownership would be on like 12 or so hens to produce enough eggs to get sufficient protein.

Might also have to do diary for milk whey protein.
Click to expand...

waffleironhead said:
Owning chickens isn't really a cost saving proposal. After buying chicks, feeding them to laying age, then the continual feeding. with varying feed costs, especially the high price of corn right now, you could be looking at anywhere between $3-$5 a dozen.
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Price of corn isn't that high right now. I've been purchasing corn for about $7.50 per 50 pound feed bag. If I'd just get it straight from the mill, I can get it for significantly less in bulk. (I usually buy 25-30 bags at a time; since I'm hauling it in my van, I don't want to put more than 1500 extra pounds in it, though I have exceeded 2000 pounds a few times.) Anyway, corn probably isn't sufficient for the chickens - they need a slightly higher protein diet than corn provides, plus a source of calcium.

You can google feed conversion ratio. Poultry are very efficient; most of the time, it's under 2. That means, for 2 kilograms of feed, you get 1 kilogram of chicken. Presumably, if it's similar for egg layers, that means 12 pounds of feed = a 6 pound chicken ready to lay eggs. Using decent feed, that's going to cost about $4. Cost of chicks varies significantly, depending on the time of year. Late summer, they practically give them away. Spring, about $2 each (for small quantities). So, figure $6 before you get a single egg.

Shot in the dark - it's been a while since I was stupid enough to have that many chickens: a 50 pound bag of layer mash (chicken feed with calcium added) ran about $12. It was probably enough to last most of a week for a dozen chickens. Worst case scenario - 2 bags a week. That's $24 in feed for a week in the worst case. 12 chickens will lay 7 eggs in 7 days. You're getting 7 dozen eggs for that $24. Though, I think it'll be closer to $12-15 worth of feed. So, under $2 per dozen. Obviously, major producers can get feed for a cheaper wholesale price; so it's possible they can produce eggs for half that cost, hence eggs on sale for $1/dozen.
 
DrPizza said:
Price of corn isn't that high right now. I've been purchasing corn for about $7.50 per 50 pound feed bag. If I'd just get it straight from the mill, I can get it for significantly less in bulk. (I usually buy 25-30 bags at a time; since I'm hauling it in my van, I don't want to put more than 1500 extra pounds in it, though I have exceeded 2000 pounds a few times.) Anyway, corn probably isn't sufficient for the chickens - they need a slightly higher protein diet than corn provides, plus a source of calcium.

You can google feed conversion ratio. Poultry are very efficient; most of the time, it's under 2. That means, for 2 kilograms of feed, you get 1 kilogram of chicken. Presumably, if it's similar for egg layers, that means 12 pounds of feed = a 6 pound chicken ready to lay eggs. Using decent feed, that's going to cost about $4. Cost of chicks varies significantly, depending on the time of year. Late summer, they practically give them away. Spring, about $2 each (for small quantities). So, figure $6 before you get a single egg.

Shot in the dark - it's been a while since I was stupid enough to have that many chickens: a 50 pound bag of layer mash (chicken feed with calcium added) ran about $12. It was probably enough to last most of a week for a dozen chickens. Worst case scenario - 2 bags a week. That's $24 in feed for a week in the worst case. 12 chickens will lay 7 eggs in 7 days. You're getting 7 dozen eggs for that $24. Though, I think it'll be closer to $12-15 worth of feed. So, under $2 per dozen. Obviously, major producers can get feed for a cheaper wholesale price; so it's possible they can produce eggs for half that cost, hence eggs on sale for $1/dozen.
Click to expand...

Your feed costs are definitely cheaper than mine. A 50lb bag of layer16/egg maker is $16. My layers are going on 2 years, so production has declined. I'm not getting anywhere near those numbers, which is a good thing as we had way to many eggs as it was. It's about time to either refresh the flock, or just get rid of them.
 
waffleironhead said:
Owning chickens isn't really a cost saving proposal. After buying chicks, feeding them to laying age, then the continual feeding. with varying feed costs, especially the high price of corn right now, you could be looking at anywhere between $3-$5 a dozen.
Click to expand...

Yea I wasn't entirely thinking about just the cost savings, also about knowing where your food comes from. At least with grubs you grow, you know where they came from.
 
momeNt said:
Yea I wasn't entirely thinking about just the cost savings, also about knowing where your food comes from. At least with grubs you grow, you know where they came from.
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Yeah they came from eggs and fed on your "Bio waste". MMMMMMMMmmmmmmmm Tasty.
 
waffleironhead said:
Your feed costs are definitely cheaper than mine. A 50lb bag of layer16/egg maker is $16. My layers are going on 2 years, so production has declined. I'm not getting anywhere near those numbers, which is a good thing as we had way to many eggs as it was. It's about time to either refresh the flock, or just get rid of them.
Click to expand...

I actually just ordered some powdered whole eggs today. Been going through a ton of eggs baking stuff up lately...you get the equivalent of like 80 eggs in a can for twenty bucks. OTOH, they said they're terrible for making scrambled eggs & stuff, apparently you have to buy egg crystals instead of the powder, which is almost fifty bucks a can...
 
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