Livestock Needs and Yields for On The Road Again Farm

Nancy Buddington

• Animals can be an important component of a permaculture system. As Peter Bane explains in his book, The Permaculture Handbook, plants take energy from the sun and change it into food. Animals move this food around, concentrate it and deposit the leftovers as manure. The manure in turn stimulates plants to grow strong and enriches the soil beneath.

• Animals can also provide services to the homestead including clearing of brushy areas, consumption of surplus vegetables and fruits, grazing in rough, hard to cultivate areas , and/or pulling a cart full of compost to a new garden. They can also provide surplus eggs, milk, fiber and meat.

• In order to design this animal component, I looked at three different animals and began assessing their needs, yields, habitats and behavior characteristics. This analysis would then be used to determine a specific animal’s suitability for the homestead.

Livestock Needs and Yields Analysis for On The Road Again Farm

Dairy Goats Chickens Angora Rabbits

Needs Clean water. Prefer twigs, leaves and stems of shrubs and trees. Dry shelter from wind, snow and rain. Herd animal, communal housing. Commercial grain if needed, hay for winter.Consume 4.5 units dry matter/ 100 u body weight

Clean water, dry shelter from wind, rain, snow and predators. Grit, seeds, insects, fruit, worms. Roosting perch, brooding nest box. Commercial grain if needed in winter.

Clean water. Dry shelter from wind, rain, snow. Succulent, dark green vegetation. Twigs to gnaw on. Commercial grain if needed, hay for winter, lining cage in cold weather. Nest Box

Yields Milk, cheeses, yogurts cajita, kefir, meat, manure, driving and pack, breeding stock, soap and lotion. I goat 250 gal milk/year. 16 mo kid = 30 lbs meat. Breeding stock sales $75 - $200/ animal.Soap – I quart /20 bars

Eggs, meat, predator control ( insects ), Manure. 1 hen 200 eggs /year. Meat birds - $2/chicken

Fiber, manure. 2 – 4 oz fiber/ 90 day period or 8 – 16 oz/year. This equals 2 – 3 rolls of 6 0z yarn/pluck. $12 - $15/oz fiber

Habitat Prefer mixture of shrubs, trees and grasses. Will eat poison ivy, sumac, multiflora rose, thorn bushes such as raspberry and blackberry. Overgrown, brushy ground.

Red and Grey Jungle Fowl wild progenitor. Browse for insects, seeds and fruit on forest floor. Roosts in trees at night. Modern chickens also roost on perches at night.

Descendants of the European wild rabbit. Solitary animals. Live in burrows in ground.Prefer succulent , dark green vegetation but will gnaw on twigs. ? origins Ankara, Turkey. Long hair recessive trait selectively bred for fiber. Angora Rabbit

Livestock Needs and Yields Analysis for On The Road Again Farm

Dairy Goats

Chickens Angora Rabbits

Characteristics and Behaviors

Goats are herd animals. The queen goat is usually the oldest doe. If the bucks run with the herd, the king buck is usually the strongest. Younger does will regularly challenge the queen when they reach a comparable size.

Modern chickens have been selectively bred for meat and eggs. They have retained many of the qualities of their ancestors including brooding and roosting at night. They are omnivores eating seeds, fruits, green vegetation and insects.

Angora rabbits are solitary animals. They live in burrows. Fiber plucked every 90 days or animal will pluck. Prone to hair ball obstructions, deadly.

Characteristics and Behavior

Goats European breeds breeding season runs from September until January. African breeds can breed all year long. Gestation is 5 months. Does usually give birth to twins or triplets.Will not be herded, will follow.

Chickens They usually lay 1 egg/ day for 9 – 10 months out of the year depending on length of molt and light manipulation.

Angora Rabbits Ovulation occurs upon stimulation by the buck. Gestation is 30 days. The female can become pregnant again 2 days after kindling. The female will dig a nesting burrow in the ground and completely cover it. She only visits the nest once or twice a day to feed the young kits. They are weaned in 30 days and leave the nest.

• I chose dairy goats, chickens and angora rabbits as elements to be included in my homestead design.

• Dairy goats are suitable because there is ample acreage available to incorporate their herding behavior into a plan of pasture rotation both utilizing them to naturally prune and manage 30 acres of grass/shrub/woody vegetation and provide us with nutritious milk, milk products, meat and soap.

Rotational grazing manages pastures and provides food needed for healthy dairy production

• There is ample housing for the goats. Four separate buildings house bucks, milking does, yearlings and kids.

• We do need to construct a 12ft. X 25 ft. milk parlor/• Milk house/ processing room.

• This structure would need to comply with Massachusetts (raw milk) and Federal (processed cheese, yogurts, Kefir, etc) regulations as well as local ( Wilbraham ) bylaws. Plans are to either renovate the present milking area located in the main barn or renovate the shed at the back of the barn.

• Those wanting raw milk would need to come to the farm to purchase it. The proximity to a very ethnically diverse population in Springfield as well as the interest in local, fresh food will no doubt make the farm a popular stop.

• Farmers Markets and an active website and online store will also attract customers.

• Chickens have been present at this property for many years. The owner has experienced heavy predation in the past. As a result, she keeps the chickens confined to a yard and brings food and water to the chickens.

• Possible incorporation of tunnel runs to surrounding areas adjacent to the coop might be a suggestion to provide the chickens with fresh, living vegetation and insects.

• Egg production from 35 hens is good. Surplus eggs are sold locally at farmers markets and private sales.

• The owner does not slaughter old hens. • I did have 7 chickens at my home in Springfield and would like

to once again raise chickens. A mink killed 6 of 7. I would need to improve the chicken coop and secure the area where the chickens free ranged before keeping chickens in Springfield.

• I included Angora Rabbits in my analysis because I have raised rabbits for many years.

• Rabbits are easy to keep and harvesting ( plucking – animal is not sacrificed) and use of the fiber is a viable option. The fiber is popular with spinners in my community. My daughter also spins.

• A cost would be purchase of new breeding stock. My rabbits are too old to breed.

Rabbits also provide a rich manure.

Sources for goats: Peter Bane, The Permaculture Handbook, pages 287 – 290; Jerry Belanger, Storey’s Guide to Raising Dairy Goats, pages 16 – 30, 75 – 105.

Sources for chickens: Peter Bane, The Permaculture Handbook, pages 268 – 272; Gail Damerow, Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens pages 111 – 135, The Smithsonianmag.com/How the chicken conquered the world. Sources for angora rabbits: Northern California Angora Guild pages 3 – 11; 57; Peter Bane, The Permaculture Handbook, pages 280 – 282. Rabbittalk.com/weight of one plucking.