[Scpg] small livestock for urban & suburban gardens

[LBUZZELL at aol.com]

_http://sharonastyk.com/2009/02/12/little-livestock-for-urban-and-suburban-gar
dens/_ 
(http://sharonastyk.com/2009/02/12/little-livestock-for-urban-and-suburban-gardens/)    



_Little Livestock for Urban and Suburban  Gardens_ 
(http://sharonastyk.com/2009/02/12/little-livestock-for-urban-and-suburban-gardens/) 
 
_Sharon_ (http://sharonastyk.com/author/admin/)  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_ 
(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_ 
(http://mammals.suite101.com/article.cfm/angora_rabbit_wool)  
Meat  Rabbit info: _http://www.i4at.org/lib2/rabbits.htm_ 
(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/_ 
(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_ 
(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/_ (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_ 
(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_ 
(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_ 
(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_ (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
 
 
 
 
 
 
 










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