maybe a daft thread but ill post it anyway

The problem with with edible animal life (especially bacon...MMMMHHH) is that it carries a disproportionate amount of meat to weight ration. Say you carry a 300 lb hog...really only translates to about 140-160lbs of edible stuff (even with pigs feet, hog maws, etc.)

It's is far more efficient to carry dried foodstuffs that can easily be reconstituted with water than carry live animals for food.

As for cloning animals, it would seem reasonable that any future level of technology where we can travel to the stars, we should also be able to clone basic animals, maybe even to the point of growing them from stem cells.

Plant life in the form of seeds do not consume a lot of space or weight so that is a given.

With all the requirements in space travel for weight and spacial savings, I just don't see it as being likely as expending additional lift requirements to haul Old McDonald's farm into space. 

Just my two cents worth (or less....)

id agree with not bringing live stock onboard the covenant as they would take up far too much space and that for an initial short period of time dried food would be the most logical method of meeting the crews meat requirements, but beyond that? cloning would make more sense surely.

@ali81

Yes it does, but you can't bring Noah's ark to clone everything...

Rather, possibly having a few base animals onboard with the crew possessing the scientific knowledge and genetic blueprints to build the rest of the menagerie...

Remember, you don't have to introduce all earth species to create bio-diversity. The planet's eco-system will ensure animals evolve and adapt over time to fit that particular planet.

suwhited, I agree and wasn't suggesting noah n his staff were herding every species on board.

@ali81

Yep. Even Noah would hate cleaning up all the animal crap....:)

Seriously, the only two that I would bring is a pig and cow...That way I can have the Bacon Double-Cheese on demand..

On the point of finding edible plants or animals on foreign worlds. One thing we have to consider is that eco-systems on different planets develop differently.

Even consider how diverse organisms thrive in different parts of the world. You know when you travel to different countries, the water or food may make you sick due to the different organisms lurking there. The locals deal with it fine, but I end up living on the toilet.

I don't there it is reasonable to consider that food or animals found on an alien world will be edible. rather evidence would point to the contrary. Our systems would have to adapt (over time). Prior to that anything so small as an insect bit  or an infection might kill us.

Mankind would have to bring their food (wheter it be seeds, cloned animals, etc...) for at least the initial phases of any alien world colonization.

mmmmmmm talking my language my man, wonder what the indigenous animals would be like

"It's is far more efficient to carry dried foodstuffs that can easily be reconstituted with water than carry live animals for food."

Indeed and it think this is what they would have... as far as enough to sustain them while they Terra-form the World they find so they can then start to Plant Fruit and Crops etc.

Also with Animals you can bread them, if you have say 6 Hens and one Rooster then you could increase the amount of Hens for sure...

And so i think they would bring livestock.....  but the Clone theory is interesting... but maybe not quite..

I think instead maybe they could have the Embryos of Livestock Frozen... and when the World is found to be suitable they then unfreeze and grow them.

And then from this they can start to Farm them...

One thing you guys didn't consider during farming is crop pollination for a second season.  This is something we take for granted on earth with the countless ways plants are pollinated.  This may not be something that is done off world.  We may have to either do the cross pollinating or bring an animal/insect with us to do the pollinating.

true rick, they would need to pick carefully to make sure they have the right bird and insects species to match the requirements of the plantlife

@Rick

You are all over it. Every time I cross-pollinate, I rarely get it right and my wife gets sooooo pissed off. Go figure.