When planning for dangerous times then security always comes to mind. For most people, that usually means that they learn to protect themselves and their property. If part of your survival plan includes raising animals for meat then their safety is already a concern but special plans will probably need to be made for their protection from predators, theft and danger if society breaks down. Animals, big and small have to be considered and a plan needs to be made.
For now, our cows are free ranged in the pasture. Cows eat grass year round when its available and hay which is simply dried grass in the colder months. That may seem like obvious information to most but maybe not to city folks. It takes alot of land for just a few cows since all they eat is hay. We do not feed grain to our cows. They do eat acorns when they begin to fall. They are contained by a perimeter fence and they drink from the pond. They know when it's feeding time for the other livestock and they show up to try to get anything that may fall to the ground.
If society breaks down and there are people out stealing and looking for food wherever they can find it then the cows will be at serious risk if they are allowed to graze freely all over the pasture which has frontage on the road. Our plan to prevent that will include penning them up in the day time in a moveable coral. As soon as humanly possible their numbers will have to be decreased to make the herd easier to feed and manage. That probably means butchering and preserving thousands of pounds of meat as quickly as possible.
The rest of the herd will have to graze. To do that they will have to have people guarding them and it will probably have to be done at night. Cows don't go to bed at night and get up in the morning by the way. They tend to graze with periods of rest all during the day and night so allowing them to graze at night wouldn't be unnatural to them. Confining them for long periods would be difficult and that's where the coral being moveable helps. They can be grazing on new ground but protected at the same time which helps keep them from getting ornery and restless standing in a nasty feedlot type situation.
Things to be considered for this arrangement are water which will have to be brought to the cows rather then allowing them to go to the pond to drink on their own. They drink large amounts of water and that means alot of hauling by hand or pumping it to them. It also means having large tubs for them to drink from which we have. They will have to be filled several times a day. We have livestock guardian dogs to help with their protection and we have an Australian shepherd to help with herding. They are two different dogs with two different Important skills just like people.
Another consideration with cows is poop patrol. Even if they are grazed at night they will leave evidence in the form of cow pies. Those piles will have to be removed especially in the pasture visible from the road. There is nothing so obvious as cow pies dotting the pasture. They can be scooped and placed in a compost pile for the garden. The coral will also have to be kept clean of waste to prevent too much mess which can quickly turn it into a feedlot situation.
Our goats and pigs are kept penned year round. Their food and water are brought to them and fed in their pen. They are allowed out of their areas to graze but only while supervised and for the most part they are trained to return to their areas when called or when offered feed. If they are out and it gets dark they return to their pens on their own. Pigs do not graze at night. They bed down and sleep most of the day and night. They also don't range far and are fairly easy to round up. They would however need someone to protect them if they are allowed to free range away from their pen. The goats will test their boundaries on occasion if they are left out for too long but for the most part they are herd animals and don't like to be seperated. I have found that keeping some of them contained in their pen while the others free range means they will not leave them and tend to stay close enough to watch and talk to each other. They especially don't like to leave their own mother or daughters no matter how old they are so splitting them up keeps them close to home. I have several generations of the same families together so it is not unusual to have the oldest mother goat with several daughters and granddaughters all sleeping together in a happy family. Allowing only a group of them out at a time assures that they stay closeby. Having one guardian dog inside the pen and one outside the pen also means that the dogs do their work of protecting while the goats graze and sleep instead of goofing off with each other.
For smaller animals like rabbits, chickens and ducks, their situation is a little different. They are easily contained in a house with pen situation and can have their food brought to them regularly with no problem. For grazing they can be placed in a portable Chicken/rabbit tractor and moved around to fresh ground periodically then returned to their pen when done. Rabbits are nocturnal and tend to rest in the daytime and eat and drink at night. Chickens sleep when its dark. Ducks do too but if there is a moon out they can be found swimming and about at night. Small animals like poultry and rabbits are also easily housed indoors for security purposes. Of course they cause more mess and have to have droppings cleaned religiously to keep them smelling fresh but if they are your meat and fertilizer source it is possible.
Basically, what it all comes down to is keeping the livestock healthy by keeping them well fed and watered but also keeping them safe by having an old fashioned shepherd to guard and herd them to safety. We have dogs to help guard and herd but WTSHTF there will have to be people assigned that duty as well especially when they are grazing. They will need to be protected from wild animals and hungry people too. Feeding and watering will be more difficult but it too can be managed. Cleanup will have to be diligent to keep down on smell and disease if animals are more confined then before. The key is to plan now what will need to be done so that everyone understands the special security that will be needed for the livestock.
Southern Wood Elf