"Thinking is fun"

I just found this as part of an article on Sugar Mountain Farm's blog (They do all kinds of pastured animals in Vermont):

"Another trick is changing the animal species that uses a space. Different species put different loads on the pastures. They each have their own adapted set of parasites and hangers on who can't survive with other species. By changing who is using a pasture or permanent housing space we again break the cycles in a safe natural organic manner.

With permanent housing like the winter dens I carved into the hillside or the post and beam animal sheds we built, we achieve the cleanout by only letting the animals use those spaces for part of the year. These are all winter spaces so during the warm weather the animals are not in them. In the spring, fall and summer the livestock move out to pasture giving the dens and sheds time to air and rest. The bedding gets composted and then used on the gardens. Disease and parasite loads are vitually eliminated without having to use any chemical treatments. This is healthier for us, the plants, the animals and the soil. Good practices like this are also less expensive and less work although they do take more thinking to implement. Thinking is fun."

We've been talking a lot lately about putting in more fencing so we can do rotational grazing with our sheep and goats, which will be complemented by following them with the chickens. But I think it will be poor management practice to give the sheep and goats fresh pasture but then bring them into the same stinky stall every night of the year. I like this idea of only taking them in during winter, and maybe heavy rains. I will have to talk to Neil and also the program. Right now, letting all the animals out in the morning is a big part of the program. It is a regular scheduled activity, giving them a constant routine and the sense of resposibility and daily chores. I think feeding them and other daily care would be alright, without letting them out too. Man that would save me so much work of 2x/wk stall mucking in the summer too!

christmas time

despite the fact that its the middle of december (although its like 50 degrees outside), we seem to be in the middle of some of the most work since we've been here. we're doing tons of planning for the poultry aspect of the farm next year, and that also includes some additions and alterations to the ruminant pastures as well. we'd like to do more of a rotational pasture, following the sheep and goats with the poultry for the health of all the animals and the pasture. we've divided the poultry planning as follows:

housing - brooks
feeding storage - brooks
nutrition - anna
general management (including freezer space, scheduling, moving and feeding) - anna
marketing/sales - brooks

this is for both layers and broilers. the tentative plan is to have between 50 and 100 layers and do batches of 50 broilers every two weeks.

the biggest issue for me designing the chicken tractor has been the waterers, but i think i have it figured out. we're planning on using the EverFull dog bowl that hooks directly to a garden hose and has an internal float valve. the top is open, so we'll turn a pan upside down on it and provide head openings for the chickens to get into it. that way we have a lightweight, fresh water supply. ill draw a picture of the whole idea soon and get a cost estimate on here. one of our biggest points is still in the method of moving. i like the idea of having a levered wheelbarrowish system, but i think anna is into the skid idea more. maybe we should do one of each and see which we prefer, it wouldnt be hard to retrofit either way. the marketing stuff is pretty important for the business plan, so id like to get on that immediately as well. we should talk to the rovners about it by late january i think.

we're got the composting toilet in place and have a third compost bin in place as well. yesterday we made new goat feeder so they dont waste so much hay and feed and today we installed chicken wire in the bunnies' pen so they can be let out. the next big project is the wvo on the mercedes. im meeting with stamm to go over some of it next weekend. but i need to do a cost analysis of that as well.

we're also making some christmas presents! anna had the awesome idea of doing planters with little herb gardens for our siblings. she made noel and jim window gardens out of a couple of plastic planters and covered jims in bamboo (awesomely) and painted noel's. lisa's will be plain wood so she has a clean slate to decorate or bask in its simplicity, and kai's is made of a used coffee maker. im also making devin a planter out of an old alphie toy, we'll put some pics up.

more soon

brooks