PIGS AND POULTRY
Chickens and pigs are the ultimate homestead companions. They are easy to care for and, like humans, opportunistic omnivores. They can be fed all manner of scrapes from the kitchen and yard, making them the ultimate compost companions. Besides processing organic matter and providing nutritional compost for plants, these animals fill many niches on the farm.
Chickens and pigs both open up soil, pigs by rooting, and chickens by scratching. Chickens can destroy patches of weeds. I start by pulling up a few weeds, say around a tree that I want to weed, and then the chickens come over to see what I am doing. They start pecking and scratching, looking for what I am doing, finding some bugs along the way. With this method, I can get the chickens to weed out a specific area for me.
Pigs are effective at rooting up areas. In the wild, I have seen them root up and take down entire hillsides. This potentially destructive power can be focused and used to prepare an area for planting. The pigs are kept in a confined area for a while until the vegetation is rooted up and the topsoil is loose. They also automatically add manure at the same time. This pig area is now cleared, fertilized, and ready to plant, and no human labor or tools are needed.
Pigs have another special property. They have pointy hooves, which can be used to tamp down soil and seal natural ponds.
Ducks are somewhat similar to chickens, but they have different characteristics, so they are useful for different purposes. The main difference is their very different diets. Some wild ducks, like true mallards, eat bugs, slugs, snails, worms, and other small creatures almost exclusively, so they are referred to as “buggers,” and are safe in and around gardens. Ducks are more likely to consume slugs and snails than chickens. Unlike chickens, which are strictly daytime birds, ducks also like to hunt at night, when those pests are active. Ducks allowed to roam and hunt at night will offer the best slug and snail control.
Domestic ducks are used to eating grain and plant material, so they may not be safe around gardens, although they will not scratch up the soil, but rather stick their bills in the ground to hunt for worms. This action aerates the soil, so they tend to be much easier on the land than chickens.
Guinea fowl are particularly fond of insects like ticks, beetles, grasshoppers, ants, and termites, which makes them useful for pest control, but they will also eat vegetation. Tick control is supposed to be their superpower. I’ve seen chickens eat an ant here and there, but they are not effective in controlling ants. Guinea fowl may be a better animal for controlling ants.
Geese are primarily herbivores, and their diet consists mainly of grasses, plants, and grains. Not only are they large and effective grazers, but they can also be used to protect against intruders. While not as intimidating as dogs, they have been employed as natural "guard animals" for centuries and can be enough to deter some people or animals.
Pigs and Poultry and other small animals are helpful in KNF. All these small animals (well, pigs can get rather large, but they are still smaller than grazers) have different diet preferences, habits, and characteristics, and there are a large number of them we didn’t cover. Which ones will work for you depends on your needs and your ability to care for them.
Comments