Ducks, Chickens, Dogs, and Sheep

7/28/2019 Ducks, Chickens, Dogs, and Sheep

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The Resilient Farm and Homestead

An Innovative Permaculture and Whole Systems Design Approach

BEN FALK


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The Resilient Farm and Homestead130

and abandoned arm that requires that as a oundation

we establish healthier soils and a better sward o grass

rom which to raise uture animals.

As a whole, when evaluating animal suitability or

your systems, keep in mind that the most sensible

animals in a homestead geared to be adaptable to a

rapidly changing world should be chosen based on the

criteria below. And keep in mind that trying various

animals is oten the only way to nd hidden synergies

and constraints in a specic animals interaction withyour unique system. Each sites conditions are di-

erent enough that no solution ound on another site

will be wholly adaptable to your own. Find the closest

examples, and learn rom them, then try, tweak, and

try some more. In all likelihood it will take a number

o years to establish a synergistic animal aspect to your

system. Criteria and considerations or selecting ani-

mals in a unctioning permaculture include:

Input-output ratio: The most outputs, in both

quality and quantity, relative to inputs should be a

primary determinant o an animals suitability. This

seems clear enough: We must enjoy and be invigorated

by the bulk o the work we perorm in lieno destina-

tion, just a journey.

duk, chiken, dog, an sheep

In the development o the WSRF, we have thus ar used

three species o animal consistently: two birdsducks

and chickensand one grazersheep. We tried goats

and pigs but decided that the quantity and type o oodthey require is not a good match or the resource fows

o this arm. Animals well tted to a arm ecosystem

must utilize an excess o a resource and transorm that

into a resource area that is lacking. For us that so ar

has been two things: (1) browse and orage (leaves and

some grass) into soil and more grass, and (2) slugs,

snails, and bugs into eggs and soil. This need or the

transormation o one resource into others will always

change over time and at some point here will go rom

seeking soil and more grass alone into seeking other

yields such as meat, milk, and ber. It is the system-

establishment phase and the act this land is an abused


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Fertility Harvesting and Cycling 131

human contact as they run into more problems

healthwise that require human care.

Infrastructure needs: These range rom a dry

space or the toughest grazers, which can spend all

winter out in deep snow, to goats, which do best

with some cover rom even mild, warm rainstorms.

Pairing your inrastructure with the needs o the

animal is key.

Soil needs: Are you starting with good-quality agri-

cultural soil or a beat-up subsoil slope? Vegetation needs: Do you need to grow the veg-

etation you already have on site (e.g., good pasture

orages), or do you need to change the composition

o plants radically (abandoned eld or young or-

est)? The more you need to change composition, the

greater animal and human impact youll need, the

greater the work and time rame involved.

Health needs: This aspect should be considered

under Input-output ratio above but is so crucial

and ot-missed that Ive listed it separately. I am

amazed how many people endeavoring to carry out

a sel-reliant homestead and arm (even those doing

aspect includes time, oten orgotten as a crucial

input (see below). This aspect is contextual and

requires an understanding o how the arm/home-

stead ts into its surroundings. An output such as

meat or ber, or instance, may have a huge value i

your neighbors want it, even i you do not. Or your

local community may not want or need any animal

products rom you, and their outputs are only valu-

able i they can be used on-site.

Likeability: What animals do you get along with thebest, pay most attention to, are naturally inclined to

observe and relate to? Those, all other aspects being

equal, will always do better on your site than those

you eel no connection withsimply or utilitar-

ian reasons: You cant care or someone you arent

attentive to as well as someone you are. Domestic

animals, like people, thrive based on their connec-

tions and the degree to which they are cared or.

Care means something dierent to each animal as

well. Care or a bee cow is good grass, lots o room,

and good water but does not involve tons o human

contact. Care or a milking sheep involves more


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The Resilient Farm and Homestead132

your most valuable asset in a unctional home/arm

system, and its limited, so choose to apply it wisely.

Nothing in the system short o another human being

or inrastructure emergency can suck up the kind

o time that a sick, injured, or otherwise problem

animal cannot a ruit tree, or a berry bush, or a

vegetable bed. Animals are a big commitment, and

when they have problems, the devotion needed or

that part o the system goes through the roo.

ull grass-ed and reusing to use grain) think little

o the medicinal and veterinary needs o their ani-

mals. The need or wormer, vaccines, birthing aid,

disease management, and other specialized or time-

consuming medical needs o an animal vary

enormously by species. This is a primary reason I

view sheep as transitional or my arm and not viable

at this scale or even remotely close to this scale

they need too much health maintenance inputs

One o the many happy accidents on the arm: The discovery that chickens guard sheep against y inestation, made by grazing them together. This sheep

was ound with y strike two weeks ater being separated rom these chickens ater an entire summer o y avoidance while cohabitating with the poultry.


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Fertility Harvesting and Cycling 133

Why? Maybe because it was very dry and the slug popu-

lation plummeted. Maybe. The point is just because an

animal or group o animals tend to have acted in certain

ways in the past is no reason to think they will always act

that way. They respond to conditions just the way people

do, actually probably more.

And they learn, too. Birds didnt touch our rice crop

or three years, then in year our they decimated it.When asked during tours o the property, What do you

do about birds? Id respond, They dont eat the rice.

Then they did. Thats happened a dozen times here in

all animal aspects. Take our rst chickens a ew years

ago. We put them under the orchard in June just like a

good permaculturist is told to do. Theyll eat the allen

ruit! Well, ours didnt. Why? No idea, but they didnt,

and it wasnt because they werent hungry, because they

weresubsisting on almost no grain.

Heres another: Sheep dont eat bark, only goats

will. Nope. Ours ollowed this rule or two years and

in the third year took out our oldest pear, a peach, and

some other trees. They learned that bark was good.

They broke the rule. Given enough time, most animals

seem to make similar decisions. Our most recent meat

birds, Kosher Kingswere great or rotational grazing!

I was told. Yeah, well, not ours. They never stayed inthe poultry netting. Why? No idea. They didnt fy out;

they just ound their way under and through the ence.

The birds we had the year beore did stayCornish

giantsand those are supposed to be poor choices or

ranging. A clear example o the recommended approach

not working at all. That happens a lot, so you will have to

experiment countless times with countless approaches

to nd out what is true for you in your site.

Its essential to point out at the outset o this section

that making generalizations about animals is about as

accurate as it is about people. Its pervasive, and you read

or hear such nonsense as the ollowing:

Goats eat everything! (Actually, goats are one o the

most selective grazers in the world and more picky

than most creatures when given the choice.) That heirloom chicken breed is great or pest control.

Chickens eat allen ruitput them under your

ruit trees.

That variety is such good oragers.

Why are such statements nonsense? Because they

treat an entire species or variety as though they all act

the same. Excuse my French, but when you actually

work with such animals, you see immediately that such

ideas are complete bullshit. Animals are individuals, just

as you and I are. Lets get that out o the way imme-

diately because it really retards the conversation about

animals and only comes about rom too much reading

and not enough doing.

The point here is to remember that animals act based

upon not only their instinct (breeding results) but out

o their training, environment, stimulus, what theyvelearned, and many other actors. So we need to think in

as nuanced a way about animal behavior as we do about

people behavior. The accurate way to think o it is this

individual duck does this or this particular sheep does

that. And also, like people they change rom year to

year. Our ducks never ate mature vegetation during the

growing season, just during the winter, or three years.

Then in year our they attacked my large cabbage plants.

THE AIMAL GEERALIzATIO MTH

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Ducks, Chickens, Dogs, and Sheep