what's your vote for the best permaculture animals?

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by qis, Jan 2, 2009.

  1. qis

    qis Junior Member

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    There are so many animals available for farming - it's hard to know which one's to get. I love milk and beef, and have experience as a cattle farmer, but I know that kangaroos emit much less methane. On the other hand, there is a high cost of fencing, and kangaroos don't have a few thousand years of domestication. And if you want fibres, is it more environmentally friendly to have goats, sheep, or alpacas? One goat may be more harmless than one sheep, on the other hand you won't get as much fibre, so you'd need more of them. And what about ducks v chickens, v geese for meat and eggs? And what about hares? What's your preference for animals when it comes to their suitability for permaculture, and their relative impact on the environment? Which are your favourites?
     
  2. ho-hum

    ho-hum New Member

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    Re: what's your vote for the best permaculture animals?

    qis,

    I am a fan of chooks, pigeons, rabbits and quail.

    If you have room then a goat is a worthy adversary. If you have a big garden/orchard and want to produce. Get a pig and some guinea fowl.

    cheers,
    ho-hum
     
  3. Burra Maluca

    Burra Maluca Junior Member

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    Re: what's your vote for the best permaculture animals?

    It depends where you live and how much grazing you have, but I'd say a donkey. Assuming you have enough land, you don't need to buy in any extra food for them. They produce loads of manure for the garden while you're setting it up. You can tether them around the olive trees to keep the ground clear. They mop up any surplus fruit and veg. They can be used to draw water from the well, plough (if you're into that sort of thing), pull carts, carry baskets of olives, carry people, pull a harrow or haul firewood. They make great companions on long walks. I guess you could breed them and milk them. Dunno about eating them, but guess you could.

    And they're musical - you should hear them sing!!!!
     
  4. ho-hum

    ho-hum New Member

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    Re: what's your vote for the best permaculture animals?

    Is this a joke post?

    I have eaten donkey and used them. This post still sounds like a joke because permaculture isnt about reviving subsistence farming.

    cheers,

    ho-hum
     
  5. Burra Maluca

    Burra Maluca Junior Member

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    Re: what's your vote for the best permaculture animals?

    Not sure why you think it's a joke. I guess if you want bigger scale farming you could have more of them, but one donkey seems enough for me, though originally the farm was run with two larger ones. What's wrong with 'subsistence farming' in permaculture terms? I wouldn't want to produce very much more than my family needs as I have other responsibilities and want time to do other things. Subsistence seems the way to go as far as I'm concerned.

    Oh, and as far as impact on the environment is concerned, they can be a bit hard on trees, especially young ones, but generally not so destructive as goats in my opinion. They graze more evenly, too.
     
  6. thepoolroom

    thepoolroom Junior Member

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    Re: what's your vote for the best permaculture animals?

    I vote for chooks, since they're available to almost everyone interested in permaculture. They are fine in a suburban backyard or community garden, they don't take much looking after, they give you eggs and meat, they turn the soil and process kitchen scraps into wonderful fertiliser.

    Be warned, though, chooks are a 'gateway animal' that will lead you to seek out bigger and more exotic livestock. Before you realise what's happening, you'll be hooked and won't want to go back to your old way of life!
     
  7. baringapark

    baringapark Junior Member

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    Re: what's your vote for the best permaculture animals?

    PIGS!!

    meat (pork, salami, bacon, ham), manure, tilling the soil, eat anything, great companions, easy to to fence (solar electric mobile setup) - brilliant

    Chooks are also invaluable! My third choice is either cow or goat for meat and milk depending on availablilty of fodder and space.
     
  8. MonteGoulding

    MonteGoulding Junior Member

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    Re: what's your vote for the best permaculture animals?

    Hi

    Can you provide me with some more info on using electric fencing for pigs. I'd like to tractor them around our place then sow behind them.

    Cheers

    Monte
     
  9. bazman

    bazman Junior Member

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    Re: what's your vote for the best permaculture animals?

    Could worms be classed as an Animal? I also love chooks. I have a new tractor system in my orchard which is working great, and they are working for me.
     
  10. JoanVL

    JoanVL Junior Member

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    Re: what's your vote for the best permaculture animals?

    Chooks - so easy and productive and small and available.
     
  11. christopher

    christopher Junior Member

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    Re: what's your vote for the best permaculture animals?

    Hahaha, I knew pigs would be your animal of choice, E, and I am hard put to disagree, but.. I think chooks are the best animal in any orchard situation.... though I also like muscovy ducks and turkeys.

    Tezza should be along any minute to promote RI Reds as the chook of all chooks, and I can't disagree with that, either..
     
  12. lovingmygarden

    lovingmygarden Junior Member

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    Re: what's your vote for the best permaculture animals?

    I would have to say absolutely.....chooks are the best permaculture or any type of gardening animal, they give so much more than any other. And yes I would also say that Rhode Island reds are the best of all.........mine haven`t stopped laying for about 330 days nows. Can`t beat that for good production.
     
  13. Hamishmac

    Hamishmac Junior Member

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    Re: what's your vote for the best permaculture animals?

    I vote for the backpacker, Homo Erectus Backpackerii

    For relatively modest inputs, beer, sandwiches, a bit of water if it is hot, you get level swales dug.

    They'll also spread mulch of their own accord. Tell them there's a handful of $2 coins hidden in a big pile of mulch and watch 'em go.

    Ubiquitous worldwide, will tolerate a wide variety of climates, and the only animal that will work under a hot midday sun out of choice.

    :wink:

    Hamish
     
  14. raincrow

    raincrow Junior Member

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    Re: what's your vote for the best permaculture animals?

    Good one Hamish,
    I've actually fallen for the coin thing myself. It works! We raise Kiko goats originally from New Zealand. They are wonderful. rc
     
  15. worowa

    worowa Junior Member

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    Re: what's your vote for the best permaculture animals?

    Bees.
     
  16. Noz

    Noz Junior Member

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    Re: what's your vote for the best permaculture animals?

    I've only got worms (so to speak) and chickens.
    Having said that, I feel that ducks or quail could well give the above a run for their money. Chickens are very destructive and while their manure is fantastic & they seem to eat almost anything, ducks apparently preferentially eat the insects off your plants, rather than the actual plants & don't scratch the ground up as much.
    And quail, apparently you can raise them in 6 to 8 weeks for eating. I'm very tempted to get some, but I'm confronted with a husband that might make me make my own quail enclosure & the fact that I don't have a lot of healthy nutrition for them at this stage - so it would be bought food.
     
  17. janahn

    janahn Junior Member

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    Re: what's your vote for the best permaculture animals?

    Perhaps, and I must admit this is my opinion, would it not be more prudent to ask, what are the best animals for this particular system.
    Your question is lacking perhaps in understanding permaculture and what it as and what it has the potential to be.

    You show me the desert, I will show you the forest, suited to that desert landscape.
     
  18. Noz

    Noz Junior Member

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    Re: what's your vote for the best permaculture animals?

    I guess if you want to come at it from a landscape perspective, I should explain that I live in suburbia and quail really appeal because:
    1. They're small
    2. They're quick breeders
    3. Won't make a big mess
    4. Won't make too much noise.
    5. Will control some insect pests and not do too much damage if they escape and browse in the garden.

    Worms are pretty good for suburbia!!

    If I had a bigger landscape, I'd have to reflect again.
     
  19. Stripey

    Stripey Junior Member

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    Re: what's your vote for the best permaculture animals?

    Chooks in a tractor -- in a coop/pen and free range they accmulate up too many parasites if you don't use poisons. Natural remedies aren't enough by themselves if chickens occupy the same land week after week. But a tractor moved every day is a great way to keep soil and chook healthy, fertile and (the chook) with low parasite load, often low enough to avoid poisons altogether.

    Shedding sheep like wiltshire horn (probably the best sheep for organic farming). With high mineral supplements and frequent fresh pasture (i.e. rested for 10 weeks — you do need a fair bit of space for this) they provide wool (not high quality fibre but useful for quilts and rough yarn), meat and can be used to keep orchard grass down. Their manure is low acid and good for vege patches. Best of all, they are a very manageable-sized animal compared to a cow. I had a trio of wiltshires and they thrived here with no worm control aside from natural methods above. I was also able to train them to respect a small electric fence, so I could then move them anywhere I wished to on the property (tread-ins, 6-strand tapes and a solar charger).

    I'm not sure how sheep fit with permaculture, but certainly the right sheep can be organic.

    regards
     
  20. newwavehealth

    newwavehealth Junior Member

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    Re: what's your vote for the best permaculture animals?

    I'm loving my turkey right now, she lays more consistently than the chickens, is cleaner and very intelligent. The eggs are fine to eat. Have to get a Tom and start breeding but they seem hard to find. Ducks eat a lot, but Muscovy down is very useful. I think fish in an aquaculture set up with hydroponic veggies is great but haven't done it yet. But perhaps best of all would be the Soldier Fly larvae to feed the fish and poultry. In terms of making money from an animal, live poultry is better than killed. I can get $20 for a live chook and $5 for babies. But today I've been thinking of providing restaurants with soldier fly compost bins, harvesting the larvae to sell or use to supplement a poultry business. Since I've been on the farm, trying various ways to build some kind of profitable animal business, I see why commercial farmers do what they do-shut their poultry up all day etc. I have lost so many to foxes, letting them free range, but I would prefer they have a short happy life than one without joy. I'm getting two piglets soon, doing the pig tractor thing, eating one, breeding with the other. Bit concerned about the amount of food required but have a cafe lined up to provide scrap.

    a very long winded answer. Best permaculture animal? Soldier fly larvae
     

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