Nick Klein is the founder of Hostile Hare, a company driven to support people from all walks of life to become more self-reliant by learning to, as Nick says, “control what you eat, from seed to meat.” In this interview, Taylor and Nick discuss how anyone can make small steps to be more self-reliant and prepare for small crises to large scale disasters. Nick talks about raising rabbits and quail for food, as well as other homesteading activities that can be done both on multiple acres of land and in downtown apartments.

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On the benefits of raising rabbits:

Was raised in Wisconsin, and cattle is in his blood, but moving to Arizona and living in an HOA didn’t allow for owning cattle, so he bought rabbits
- The first reason he bought rabbits wasn’t to eat them but instead, he wanted to use their manure as fuel for a generator
- Bought 5 female rabbits, one of which turned out to be a male, and 8 months later he had 50 rabbits, which he began to sell
- Eventually scaled to 50 breeding females and was producing 250 baby rabbits per month (or 1200 lbs of rabbits per month)
  - Can sell about 5 rabbits per female per month
  - Was selling rabbits for $25-30/head
Any home with a backyard can host a rabbit breeding operation because the footprint is very minimal
- He even has a client that he built a cage for inside an apartment, and another on the back of a Winnebago!
Rabbits are a very good source of protein and one rabbit can produce enough babies to provide enough protein each year for the average person
Rabbits are 9x more efficient than standard cattle

Nick isn’t really a prepper, but more of a homesteader
Wants to be able to support his family, even if he loses his job
Most grocery stores only have 4 days of food on the shelves, and so having an alternative source of food can be really helpful
Food storage is great, but it has a definitive end – you eat it or it expires
- Raising animals and gardening is far more sustainable – and more enjoyable
Currently has 3.5 acres in the desert with a well, a bunny barn, a storage container, a shop, and a new butcher facility
- Working on a walk-in freezer as well
Once you reach 50+ breeding rabbits, you have to look into other markets outside of just pet sales
Working on planting fruit-bearing trees
Eventually may purchase some cattle for milking
Also going to be working on aquaponics – a mixture of hydroponics and fish
- Combining this with his rabbits and quail he has created a system where one food source goes in and 4 food sources come out

Early on, made the mistake of listing his home as his business address and had angry people show up at his house
Now is more careful and carries a gun for protection, because he has received death threats
- Renamed his business to Hostile Hare to make sure that people knew he wasn’t to be messed with
Recognizes that it’s not for everyone
Thinks that it’s important for people to be more connected to their food and also likes knowing exactly how his food is treated

Believes that the next biggest risk is a failure of the monetary system
- Food is a great hedge for that worry as there isn’t an end to your food

Start with something
- Pick something small and just go for it
- Get your fingers dirty and make an effort