Mobile Chicken House Construction
Animal Housing, Bird Life, Building, Fencing, Land, Livestock, Working Animals — by Paul Kean July 8, 2010
by Paul Kean, aka ‘Ringo’, who, incidentally, recently returned from Afghanistan.
Several years ago I was living and working at Dalpura Farm in Moriac,Victoria a 100 or so acre silvapastoral project. The client, George Howson, was interested in implementing an aquaponics system so we all went for a day and a half trip to Melbourne to attend a seminar on the subject.
Leading up to this I had started gathering chickens and roosters from the local area, from people giving them away for one reason or another, to start using as workers on the farm. At that time I had sourced 21 birds, a third being roosters. The plan was to eventually separate them into tractoring groups to reduce the competition and fighting between roosters. Long term they would go into a set of 4 cell grazing areas and rotate with crop systems. Even longer term the roosters would be our meat source and hens kept for egg production. (I have always been an avid poultry enthusiast and had raised a good flock in past years in Humpty Doo, NT. I always loved to just sit and watch new chicks making their way and learning from their parents. The breed I had were ‘Old English Game Fowl’ and the hen (Ruby) and rooster (Rudy) were a fantastic pair for parenting and protection of their young.)
We had always been present on the farm during the day and the chooks would free range after being let out of their house in the mornings. Everything was great and eggs were coming daily and the animals seemed happy. Unbeknownst to us though, there was a menace lurking.
Comments (2)Grazing and Browsing? Forage Trees and Shrubs for Horses
Animal Forage, Livestock, Working Animals — by Mariette van den Berg June 4, 2010
By Mariette van den Berg B.(Hons), MSc. (Equine Nutrition)
This photograph © copyright Craig Mackintosh
Introduction
Within the Equine industry there is next to no research based on alternate feeding sources such as forage trees and shrubs for horses. Adding trees in and around pastures can be beneficial for a number of reasons; it not only plays a major role in the hydration of the land and the control of erosion, but it can also provide shade, shelter and fodder. Many of you may be familiar with feeding tree and shrub forage to livestock but not a lot of horse owners know about the use of fodder tree and shrub for horses. In this article I will describe the benefits of trees and scrubs as a fodder and will give a small selection of potential forage trees and shrubs for horses.
Comments (3)Urban Worm Farm Solution – Step by Step Setup
Compost, Rehabilitation, Soil Conservation, Urban Projects, Working Animals — by Patrick Blampied May 24, 2010
After discovering our family compost bin was in a dangerously anaerobic state I decided a worm farm would be a much more suitable and productive way to deal with organic waste from the kitchen.
Comments (3)Make Your Own Worm Farm from Car Tyres
Compost, Fungi, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Soil Biology, Soil Composition, Soil Conservation, Structure, Waste Systems & Recycling, Working Animals — by Craig Mackintosh April 8, 2010
A certain truck driver in Asia has discovered the value of good road-hugging (or bridge barrier-hugging, as the case may be) tyres.
But, that’s not the topic of this post. Here, instead, we offer the suggestion of taking well worn tyres not capable of such extreme feats, and putting them to other worthwhile purposes – like feeding your garden with nutrient rich worm casts.
At Zaytuna Farm we use a couple of old bathtubs for this purpose, but if you don’t have a bathtub at your disposal, this simple car tyre system (700kb PDF) looks like a great alternative.
Comments (5)Letters from Slovakia – The Horse Whisperer
Livestock, Working Animals — by Craig Mackintosh March 15, 2010
Although he may not succeed Robert Redford in a sequel to ‘The Horse Whisperer’, I think Rob could definitely learn a thing or two from this guy. The passive control he has over his horse is incredible to watch, and took me quite by surprise.
The man and his horse quietly and efficiently harrowed this field – with the foal learning the ropes from the sidelines.
Comments (4)Hooray for the Water Buffalo!
Livestock, Working Animals — by Craig Mackintosh July 30, 2009
They are called water buffalo for good reason
Photos Copyright © Craig Mackintosh
Did you know that more than five percent of the world’s milk supply comes from water buffalo? Yes, that’s it, just like the one enjoying a leisurely soak above.
There are approximately 160 million water buffalo in the world, and about 95% of these are found in Asia (and about half of those are in India). Between 20-30% of farm power in asia is provided by these self-replicating, fertiliser-producing tractors. (Animal Diversity Web). Most of our readers will be oblivious to how dependent a large percentage of the world’s population are on these enormous, domesticated bovines.
In Vietnam I had opportunity to see these mild mannered friends of humanity at work and at play, and so thought I’d (finally) share a few pictures in a bid to give them a little credit for their labour on our behalf.
Comments (4)The Dam Letter
Comedy Break, Working Animals — by Craig Mackintosh July 1, 2009
Who says we’re not getting out of touch with nature? Well, I think we are, and read on to see a bit of a comedic look at this.
The following two letters are said to be the actual correspondence between a Mr. Price of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, State of Michigan and a Ryan DeVries of the same state (enjoy the letters first, then stay tuned for why I say ’said to be’ at bottom — no peeking though):
Comments (2)The One Duck Revolution
Animal Forage, Animal Housing, Bird Life, Breeds, Food Plants - Annual, Plant Systems, Working Animals — by Bill Mollison March 7, 2009
PIJ #58, Mar – May 1996
 Aigamo ducks in rice paddy |
Mr. Takao Furuno’s modest business card reveals that he is a farmer in a world where “one duck creates boundless treasure”.
He farms rice very successfully in Japan and is a private aid volunteer, working in Vietnam when I met him. He had a message for all rice farmers, perhaps all wet paddy farmers, and gave me his book (all in Japanese) on the duck-rice paddy design he has perfected. Luckily I also have a condensed translation.
Comments (9)Permaculture Pooch
Bird Life, Breeds, Livestock, Working Animals — by Alanna Moore November 3, 2008
Alanna Moore is the author of ‘Backyard Poultry – Naturally‘ – where you can read more about Vikki and poultry care, including a permaculture approach to keeping them.
You don’t often hear about the positives of dog ownership, in a permaculture sense. My Jack Russell terrier Vikki is a permaculture farm dog, who works for her keep – a real ‘WOOFer’. Not only does she provide a 24 hour fox warning system, but she also uses special skills with the rare poultry I keep.
Vikki can catch a chook on the run. One mention of "catch the birdie" and she flies off in hot pursuit, to finally land on top of the target bird and hold it firmly (but unharmed) underneath her until I arrive on the scene. Other Jack Russel owners can’t believe it’s true. One guy lost 57 chickens to his dog in three minutes! Vikki’s dad happens to be a chook killer too.
Comments (3)Making Pests a Pleasure
Bird Life, Insects, Working Animals — by Justin Harrison September 27, 2008
 Australian Honeyeater |
It’s an age-old struggle: ever since people gave up the hunter/gatherer lifestyle for a more settled agricultural age, food production has been subject to the ravages of creatures with appetites similar to our own. The ‘taming’ of our natural environment has come at a huge price, the only subject of debate is what our excesses will cost our children. Home food producers, not to mention an ever increasing contingent of commercial producers, are looking for new solutions to old dilemmas. Where the aim was to protect ourselves from the elements, we now seek to protect nature and ourselves from the many stresses of a ‘tamed’ wilderness.
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