animal permaculture?

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Countryside : One Thread

I have been reading about permaculture but have found little on which animals can be housed together or which can follow what on pasture. I would appreciate some input on this as I would like to raise an assortment of animals on a small acrage. I am contemplating using movable hoop houses in the winter with a diverse array of animals that are compatible ( pigs, chickens, rabbits, small calves, pigeons or quail, etc.) in small numbers and then using the area for garden in the spring. Is this feasible? Thanks, Mother

-- Beth Eshelman (mother@ncn.net), April 29, 2001

Answers

mother,

Try reading Pastured Poultry (?) by Joel Salatin. I think that he advocates cows folowing chicken tractors. Also,worms and rabbits are compatible, I think.

I'm new to this, but I'm sure some of the long-timers will answer your questions soon.

Some websites that will help; www.attra.orr, www.permacult.com.au
I ran a search on yahoo for livestock permaculture and got lots of hits.

Hope this helps! : )

-- Kristin, in LA (positivekharma@aol.com), April 29, 2001.


Dear Mother,

There are lots of considerations and most depend on acreage available and feed.

There are lots of possibilities for using livestock to do your 'plowing and fertilizing'. Pigs will root and really turn over your ground if penned close. Goats are good for cleaning out brush and invasive plants. Old timers used to turn lambs into cornfields(they would eat the lower leaves on the stalks making harvest easier.)Then pigs would 'hog off' the corn if it wasn't to be harvested. This would finish them for market. Then a farmer could turn overwintering cattle into the stubble after first seeding the field for pasture the next Spring.

I've also read about chicken coops set up with two yards. The chickens run in one while the garden grows in the other. After the last harvest, the chickens are run in the former garden and thier old run becomes the next year's garden. Many times the compost pile is right by the coop too.

Try to find Gene Logsdon's books for some insight into the possibilities along with lots of how-to. The Contrary Farmer is good. And if you're working with a small lot, The Contrary Farmer's Invitation to Garden is EXCELLANT!!! There is an entire chapter devoted to garden husbandry explaining how to integrate livestock into a backyard garden.

Hope this gives you a start. E-mail if you need more.

Randle

-- Randle Gay (rangay@hotmail.com), May 02, 2001.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ