Hi All Can anyone out there give me some advice on Livestock??? I have made the "Tree Change"and have purchased a small peice(2 1/2 acres) of land near Crows Nest, Qld. It is at least 30% covered with young to middle age Ironbarks and a scatterring of Gums. My long Term Goal is to be as close to self sufficient as possible while following as closely to the Principles of Permaculture as well. I have done some reading and am planning to do some courses this year, but would love some feedback. Ok finally to the question; How many pigs could I reasonably be able to keep in a area of 1/2 acre ? I will be setting it out in a rotational grazing pattern. Apart from Chickens for eggs and meat and the obvious other benefits what other animals should I be looking into? Any advice would be most welcome. p.s. Anyone know a good Permaculture designer in Toowoomba or Surrounds?????
Re: How Many Pigs???? If you're really going to do rotational grazing on a half acre, probably one pig.
Re: How Many Pigs???? Anduramba, My knowledge of pigs extends to the best way to make a bacon sarnie. And no further. But I suppose in a self-sufficiency/permie sense your question might be read as "I have this need/problem which I think pigs might answer." So the answer, of course, is easy: " Well it depends." ! Do you need then for a food source? A means of turning over ground? Luvy-dovey pets? Breeding? Something to stick in a zone 3 or 4 region while you think long-term? A manure producer? So then perhaps the inputs they will require, and outputs you might gain, might become more sharply focussed. And from there you can see how they'll fit into your total self-sufficiency permacuture plan, and how many you might be able to run. And also whether to start fully stocked or under-stocked. Are you well fenced re wild pigs roaming around anyway? Hope this helps rather than confuses the issue. Short answer: I haven't a clue. Hamish
Re: How Many Pigs???? i can tell you from experience, 1 0r 100 0r more, how much food do you have for them ? wild pigs need carrion. I am deveoping a permaculture demonstraion farm about 100k west of you. send me your postal address and i wil send you my info. Regards Leo Mahon Permaculture Design Institute Jimbour 07 4663 6288
Re: How Many Pigs???? extra info. in your type of country,natural pig yield on 1/2 acre is zero. ironbark country, unless you remove and replant other species, is really only suited to grazing. you need 10kg of of dry matter yield to run one 450 kg bovine per day every dat. regards leo mahon permaculture design institute
Re: How Many Pigs???? by the sounds of it you are o scrub country so that is not going to be high yield, it would ahve served you better had you done some research into grazing rates, currently without seeing your place i would be thinking it would be around 1 full sized animal to 5 to 7 acres, if it is a western aspect that might stretch to anywhere beteween 1 to 10 acres. the rule of thumb in the bush is any land 10 acres and under in size is too small to do much with and too large to keep as lawns and gardens. also look to the safety and integrity of yourselves and your home etc.,. the other rule of thumb is that you must be at least far enough waway from euc's as to be 50% further away than the maximum growing height of the trees, that is a tree that is going to reach say 40 meters high you need to be 60 meters away from, for me i like the 100% rule, at a guess site unseen i'd say blocks under 5 acres aren't going to have much room for home and gum trees living together, you also have a duty of care to you neighbours if your trees can fall into public space or neighbour space you are going to be held liable. most property owners on larger more manageable & productive blocks are creating app' 40 meter clear ways around their property lines. as for the pig thingy, the rule most fanciers use is you need 2 pigs at all times, so if you are going to use them for food then might be you need 3 and replace the one each time you take one out. might be you could re-hash your strategy? and concentrate on growing fruits and vegetables? we have varous essays and notes on some matters that might matter on our site, take a look might be something there and then there might not? another general rule in scrub country never go for a bore as the water could be salty enough to raise king prawns in. len
Re: How Many Pigs???? For the pigs sake, get two pigs. You won't be able to sustain them just on 1/2 acre of pasture, so be prepared for high food costs or try and get good local sources of food such as bread, veggies and cafe scraps, fruit. You could try dividing the paddock up in half with a covered area at the end accessible to both areas. Let the pigs into one area and let them churn it all up, then move them into the next paddock when you are ready to plant the first, preferably with a crop that the pigs can eat. When that is ready to go, swap paddocks and plant the other one. That's the theory anyway. I'm gearing up to that myself. I have opted to get two piglets, one to breed from and one to eat. I don't want to keep a boar cause I can't afford to keep two huge mouths, but I can transport my girl to a friend who has one for a few days till she's knocked up. Selling the piglets should cover the cost of my sows food for the year and keep me in bacon and home smoked ham. Maybe you could keep one milking goat or sheep on the other 2 acres, but you'll probably have to bring in feed from time to time. You'll have to take them to a neighbours to keep them in kid. Its nice and warm where you are, if you've got access to plenty of fruit/veg/compostable waste why not set up a Soldier Fly larvae breeder to add protein to your poultry's diet. I have light sussex breed because they are good for both eggs and eating. What about fish in an old watertank cut in half with a water cleaning and veggie growing system? check out https://www.backyardaquaponics.com/ You'd probably get better tomatoes, herbs and greens and use less water than growing them in the soil .
