[Ccpg] Small livestock for urban & suburban gardens

[bob banner]

>
> http://sharonastyk.com/2009/02/12/little-livestock-for-urban-and-suburban-gardens/

We posted this at the transiiton CA site as well.
http://transitioncalifornia.ning.com/forum/topics/little-livestock-for-urban-and


>
> Little Livestock for Urban and Suburban Gardens
> Sharon February 12th, 2009
> For most people with a medium sized yard, a little livestock will  
> allow you to do a little more with your space than you can probably  
> do without them.  It isn’t a perfect equation, of course, they take  
> up space, cost money and consume food.  But often, the net return,  
> the net pleasure of the experience, and the quality of the food,  
> manure and environment means you get more than you put in.  One of  
> the most important things you can do is keep records, so you know  
> that you are getting more back than you put in.
>
> When you get livestock, however, you need to ask yourself some  
> questions.
>
>  1. What do I really expect from them?  Am I being realistic?  -  
> There usually is no perfect creature out there.  The perfect goat,  
> the perfect chicken breed - maybe they exist, maybe not, but what  
> really matters are your expectations.
>
> 2. Am I a livestock person? Animals require your attention every  
> day.  When it is freezing out, the rabbits may need their water  
> replaced 3 or 4 times a day. The chickens molt and stop laying.   
> Everything escapes occasionally and has to be chased around.  Even  
> if you plan to eat an animal, that’s no excuse (in fact, IMHO, it is  
> less excuse) for not keeping it warm, safe, healthy and well cared  
> for during its life.  Don’t get animals you don’t plan to take real  
> and proper care of.
>
> 3. Am I prepared to put it out of its misery?  Peter Bane,  
> permaculturist extraordinaire, once answered a question by saying  
> “If you’ve got livestock, sooner or later you’ll have deadstock.”   
> And sooner or later, you are going to have an animal who is  
> suffering, or that you want to eat, or that needs to be removed from  
> your breeding, and you will have to kill it, or get someone to.   
> That is, even the most ardent vegetarian may have to kill an animal  
> that is suffering.  If you aren’t able to do this, or find someone  
> who is, think hard about whether it is a good idea.  IMHO, our  
> animals deserve lives with as little pain as possible - and that  
> means that relieving their pain when it gets to be too much is part  
> of our job.
>
> 4. Am I ready to raise meat animals?  You don’t have to eat the  
> animals you raise - hens, quail, angora rabbits… these animals can  
> be productive pets.  But if you are going to raise a meat animal,  
> you have to be ready to butcher them - or find a pro.  Learn how to  
> do it before you need to, and make sure you will be able to do it  
> humanely.
>
> 5. Think about how they will be fed if the supply lines get cut.  If  
> you are planning on raising chickens for long term food self- 
> sufficiency, great.  But ask yourself where their food will come  
> from if the feed store closes near you.   Think about alternatives.  
> Moreover, my feeling is that as much as possible, our meat should  
> not compete with land planted to human food plants (grains, legumes)  
> but act as a supplement to it - ethical meat eating begins, IMHO,  
> from the point that says “I want to put a few grains and beans into  
> my animals as possible, and make the best possible use of space and  
> plants that people can’t eat or grow human food on.”  Your animals  
> should be eating grass and scraps whenever possible.  But to do  
> that, you  may need to do some real research on optimal and healthy  
> diets with supplementation for your animals - make sure you know  
> what you are doing.
>
> So let’s start with the little livestock, of the sort suitable to  
> apartments, backyards, etc…  Basically, this post will only cover  
> livestock not bigger than a breadbox ;-).
>
> - Worms.  Even urban dwellers can have worms - I know someone who  
> made a bench out of his worm bin.  You’d never know you were sitting  
> on top of 20,000 wigglers (this is the sort of thing that would have  
> filled me with glee when I was a kid!).  Worm keeping basics here: http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/publications/worm/worm.html
>
> Pluses of worms: Great, great compost, those who can’t compost  
> outside in winter or in apartments can make good use of their  
> kitchen scraps, provides great liquid fertilizer (worm juice) and  
> great solid fertilizers (castings), kinda cute.
>
> Minuses: If you overfeed, you can get fruit flies, if you don’t like  
> worms, you have worms in your house ;-).
>
>  - Rabbits. Rabbits are generally considered pets, so your local  
> zoning is not likely to give you problems with them.  They are  
> quiet, easy to raise and care for, and easy keepers - they can live  
> mostly on marginal weeds and a little, quite cheap, supplemental  
> feed.  They make great little lawn mowers if you tractor them.  You  
> essentially can choose between (assuming you are keeping them for  
> something other than the mowing and manure and cuteness factor)  
> between angora rabbits for fiber or meat rabbits for meat.
>
> Fiber info: http://mammals.suite101.com/article.cfm/angora_rabbit_wool
>
> Meat Rabbit info: http://www.i4at.org/lib2/rabbits.htm
>
> Pluses of Fiber rabbits: Friendly, adorable, you can make hats and  
> socks out of their fiber, they aren’t as good diggers as most other  
> rabbits, and can probably be kept in a bottomless bunny tractor,  
> great manure, fiber is stunningly warm.
>
> Minuses of Fiber rabbits: You really need to be willing to spend  
> time once a week or so grooming them, they need more protein than  
> meat rabbits, so you might need to feed more pellets, they can get  
> wool block (they lick the wool and it blocks their intestines) or  
> infected areas if you let them mat up, not quite as enthusiastic  
> breeders (at least mine aren’t) as other rabbits, not good in hot  
> climates where they overheat easily.
>
>  Pluses of meat rabbits; One of the most productive converters of  
> food people can’t eat to food people can in the world, delicious  
> meat (yes, once I did not keep kosher), can provide a partial  
> solution to the pet food dilemma for cats and dogs, quiet, easy to  
> butcher.  Rabbit manure is great for the garden, they breed like  
> rabbits.  The hides have value as well.
>
> Minuses of meat rabbits: They are cute, and you may have trouble  
> butchering them.  Rabbit meat is extremely lean, which means that  
> you and your pets will need some other source of fat, they do need  
> some extra attention in warm weather, must be kept in bottomed pens   
> if tractored.
>
> Pigeons/Doves - Many city dwellers have pigeons anyway ;-).  Others  
> keep them for messaging or pleasure.  But you can eat them, or train  
> them to carry message or even race them (although the latter seems  
> outside the usefulness focus of this course) - and you can keep them  
> in coops on rooftops and in backyards.  Most can be let out to  
> forage and will require only a small amount of grain from you.  They  
> don’t provide a lot of meat per bird, but they are prolific  
> (duh ;-)), and their manure is good for the garden.
>
> Pros of pigeons - Pleasant cooing noises, suitable to highly urban  
> settings, gentle, easily handled, easy to raise with minimum  
> investment, provide meat, with extensive training some  
> communications capacity and manure.  They can eat bread scraps and  
> waste grain from
>
> Cons of pigeons - Some people and municipalities don’t like pigeons  
> and strongly discourage them, they can be messy, they are a prey of  
> many other birds, so expect to lose some.
>
> More about raising pigeons: http://www.bokhari.com/
>
> Quail - Quail are very small, tasty game birds that can be raised in  
> cages in urban spaces quite easily.  They are prolific egg producers  
> - 20 tiny quail can keep a family in eggs using much less space than  
> chickens and less feed.  Some people who can’t eat chicken eggs can  
> eat quail eggs.  You can also eat the quail, although they are very  
> small - and there are markets for them at upscale restaurants.
>
> Pros of Quail: Very small, very adaptable to cage culture, great egg  
> layers, kinda cute.
>
> Cons of Quail - They are small - a fair bit of work to butcher for  
> what you get.  They rarely hatch their own eggs, so you will either  
> have to incubate them with an electric or gas incubator, or put them  
> under a broody hen.  If you don’t have a broody hen, that means your  
> flock depends on electricity.  Some areas are hostile to gamebirds  
> in zoning.
>
> Guinea Pigs/Cuy: While most of us associate these with childhood  
> pets, in many parts of South America, Cuy is a commonly eaten meat.   
> Because they are traditional pets, you aren’t likely to have much  
> trouble keeping them.  They are cheap, and mostly odorless even  
> indoors, as long as you take decent care of them.  Their meat is  
> said to be extremely sweet and tasty, and a UN FAO study found that  
> raising guinea pigs for meat in South America provided more protein  
> for less cost and effort than raising pigs or goats.  20 females and  
> 2 males can keep a family in reasonable supplemental meat.  The  
> major problem may be the freakout factor, since they are so  
> associated with pet culture.  Do not get the long haired, fuzzy  
> beatrix potter type, since these will not gain weight as well.
>
> Pros - Very tasty meat, easy to keep, cheap to get started with,  
> lovely pelts, high in protein, good manure, prolific breeders.
>
> Cons - Vulnerable to disease, require good ventilation and housing,  
> so cute they may be hard to butcher, associations with pets hard to  
> break, low fat meat requiring supplementation, can be loud at night  
> if kept indoors, more difficult to butcher than rabbits, but still  
> not that hard.
>
>  More on home guinea pig culture:http://www.echotech.org/network/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=589
>
> Chickens: The uber-backyard livestock. Who doesn’t like chickens?   
> They are even trendy!  3 Good layers will give you an average of 2  
> eggs a day year round, heavily weighted to spring and summer.  They  
> can forage about half their diet, if given the right one, and can  
> live fairly well on urban restaurant scraps.  They come in many  
> sizes, tolerance to heat and cold and appearances.  Good for  
> vegetarians, since they can be kept for eggs only.  Banties have  
> been known to be kept in apartments, but this isn’t ideal.
>
> Pros: Familiar, eggs are nutritionally brilliant, hens are pleasant  
> to be around, you don’t need a rooster since they can be acquired in  
> most localities, tasty, familiar meat, friendly, easy to accomodate,  
> great manure once composted, will eat plenty of bugs, do great in  
> chicken tractors.
>
> Cons: Not all breeds equally good at foraging, some localities  
> prohibit them, if you aren’t feeding them mostly on scraps and  
> forage, you’ll be feeding human food (grains) to critters, which  
> isn’t that efficient, can be a garden pest, can scratch the ground  
> down too far if kept on a small piece of land.
>
> Lots of resources on backyard chicken keeping - here’s just one:http://www.backyardchickens.com/
>
>  Fish: One of the most exciting ways of producing small scale  
> protein in a backyard is aquaponics, which involves fish farming and  
> using the nutrient rich water to then grow plants. Tilapia, the  
> traditional fish, are delicious and have the best feed conversion  
> ratio of any animal protein.  You can do a full scale indoor version  
> info here: http://www.ehow.com/how_2087955_build-small-aquaponic-garden.html 
>  or you can do backyard fish farming, where fish are raised in stock  
> tanks and the water is used to fertilize garden plants.
>
> Pros of fish culture: Makes superb use of resources, fish has  
> powerful nutritional benefits, can bring fish to inland areas with  
> contaminated fresh water, helps the garden enormously, fish are  
> probably the easiest animal to slaughter.
>
> Cons of fish culture: Indoor aquaponics is extremely energy and  
> resource inefficient, most small fish operations will not be self- 
> reproducing and depend on farmed spawn.
>
> More here: http://journeytoforever.org/farm_pond.html
>
> Bees: If there is one single kind of small livestock keeping that  
> I’d love to see expand, it would be beekeeping.  The more small  
> beekeepers using low input practices, the better off we are in the  
> face of Colony Collapse Disorder and the destruction of native  
> pollinators.  One study found that urban bees actually do better  
> than rural ones, because they don’t face monocultures, nor come into  
> contact with so much agricultural spraying.  We lose a lot from  
> inadquate pollination - we really all need to play a part here.   
> Plus, there’s the honey, the wax… what’s not to love?
>
> Pros of bees: Improve your garden crop production, provide a supply  
> of sweets, can be a source of income even with a few hives, suited  
> to urban life, can provide beeswax for candles, we desperately need  
> more bees.
>
> Cons of bees: Vulnerable to disease, bears and agricultural  
> spraying, can be expensive to get started, tough on the allergic,  
> some places limit zoning, some people are scared of them.
>
> Beekeeping basics: http://www.gobeekeeping.com/lesson_one.htm
>
> Frogs and Turtles: All over asia, wherever paddy rice is cultivated,  
> people eat frogs, and they really do taste like chicken.  If you  
> have wetlands or a pond, you could consider raising frogs for  
> meat.    The edible part is the legs.  Turtles are also quite  
> edible, and can be raised in backyard ponds.  The problem I see is  
> this - all the information I was able to find on the web involves  
> starting from native species you harvest from your pond, but many  
> frogs and turtles are endangered, and I don’t want people taking  
> them out of the wild. So until/unless someone here can find a  
> reliable source for farmed turtle and frog starts or eggs, I’m  
> staying out this one.  Anyone want to help out?
>
> Ducks: A couple of ducks are incredibly endearing.  Many ducks are  
> extremely disgusting ;-).  Generally speaking, my suggestion for  
> backyard producers would be to raise a couple of khaki campbell  
> ducks for eggs, rather than any large number of meat ducks, because  
> they are messy and trash the ground under them.  A few ducks,  
> however, are charming, funny, great garden buddies (they love slugs)  
> and can live mostly on your scraps.  They can produce as many eggs  
> as chickens, and are far friendlier.  The eggs are amazing for baking.
>
> Pros of Ducks: Cuteness and amusement factor, eggs, delicious dark  
> meat, good fat quantity (could be useful), superb slug eaters, will  
> not do as much damage to garden cros as chickens, can be used to  
> till up ground.
>
> Cons of Ducks: Even as animals go, they poop everywhere.  They will  
> trash a small pond rapidly, so make sure they have a dedicated duck  
> water source, they do need a pond or at least reliable water source,  
> can fly, will till up ground that you don’t want tilled.
>
> More about Ducks:http://www.pathtofreedom.com/pathproject/simpleliving/ducks.shtml
>
>  Remember, whatever animals (if any) you choose to have, you need to  
> design them into your life and landscape - the happiest combinations  
> of creatures are a creature that fills an ecological niche and a  
> person who really thinks that critter is cool and wonderful.  Think  
> about how these animals can be integrated into your life.
>
> Your design strategies should include manure management, plenty of  
> space to give the animal a good life, and a plan for its whole  
> lifecycle.  There are lots of ways to use animals to get the most  
> possible return - for example, chicken runs along the edge of the  
> garden will keep grass and weeds from penetrating, rabbit housing  
> can be put over worm composting, animals can be used to clean up  
> garden wastes, till ground, fertilize it.  And, they can bring  
> happiness.
>
> Ok, next time: Critters bigger than a breadbox.
>
>  Sharon
>
>
>
> Need a job? Find an employment agency near you.
>
> --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google  
> Groups "sbfoodfuture" group.
> To post to this group, send email to sbfoodfuture at googlegroups.com
> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to sbfoodfuture+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com
> For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sbfoodfuture?hl=en
> -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
>

__________________
Bob Banner
Publisher & Director
HopeDance
Radical Solutions Inspiring Hope
2975 Vineyard Dr.
Templeton, CA 93465

FiLMs, PRiNT & Web: info at hopedance.org / http://www.hopedance.org /  
805.369-0203
Transition Towns PORTAL: http://www.hopedance.org/cms/content/view/535/1
Transition CA: http://transitioncalifornia.ning.com/

Disclaimer:
The information we send out originates from reliable sources which we  
believe to be accurate; but this cannot be guaranteed. We are not  
responsible for any errors or omissions and we disclaim any liability  
incurred as a consequence of any of the content.



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.permaculture-guilds.org/pipermail/central-coast-ca-permaculture/attachments/20090216/072daebd/attachment.html>