scot obar

There's no "wild game" feed in this country.

We're (hopefully) going to have some newborn goslings soon. There aren't any special products here for geese feed. So we'll just have to blend our own. Can you feed them alfalfa pellets? What else is recommended?

We're thinking of using crushed rice with generous additions of brewer's yeast as the base.

Anything to avoid?

It would be great if you can recommend something that Muscovy ducklings can eat too. Also the adult geese and adult muscovies. Really just want a gosling starter feed that can serve the other birds too.

I looked into this topic extensively a few months ago. I spent a good couple weeks researching it, because it's a great idea, and I would love to have it. Unfortunately, none of these companies are very eager to expand into the 3rd world, and since the tech is based on GPS, I believe the companies require permission from the communications agency from any country that they want to do business in. Maybe I'm wrong about that though. Either way, none of them are planning to expand to Peru anytime soon. Basically, I'd have to build my own base station and I can't imagine the nightmare it would be trying to import all the different components for that and then trying to build the thing out. https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/what-is-gps-rtk
It's just not my wheelhouse.
Plus I have my doubts about the performance in this topography. Likewise, I was able to rule out all the companies (such as NoFence for example) that operate off a cellphone signal, because the signal here is too unreliable.

Here's a post I made on another forum, after spending a while reading about this topic.

I've been interested in this technology for a while now, because I'm looking for a way to rotationally-graze livestock through my silvopasture. I'm in a remote, mountainous part of South America, and the foothills that comprise the property are pretty steep. There's no plumbing available to get water to the tops of hills. That's why it would be nice to use virtual fencing to give the animals access lanes to the creek from each paddock. Electric fencing is a hassle here due to the very irregular topography. So, I was hoping to learn more about the pros and cons of virtual fencing by posting here.

I've been learning a lot on the topic recently, so maybe others can compare notes with me and share experiences. One thing I'm still curious about is if there are any systems on the market that work well in remote locations at the bottom of canyons and deep valleys?

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like any of the companies are available in my country here in South America. These are the companies I've come across. Most of them seem to not be scaling properly, as deployment seems to be lacking especially for some of the companies that have been around for years. It is not clear to me if they need some special government permits to operate in different countries since they're GPS-based.

Vence - bought by Merck and seemingly only used on a "trial" basis in very rural areas of the USA", which is odd cause they've been around for years. Should be further along by now. I think maybe I read something about trials in Australia.

Basto - An Argentinean brand. They also seem like they're mired in some sort of beta testing phase. I'm not in Argentina, but I contacted that company and they didn't even respond.

E-Shepherd (Gallagher) - New Zealand based, barely getting deployed at the moment. Not likely to land in South America anytime soon.

Halter - Also a New Zealand company. Only available in New Zealand and oddly exclusively aimed at dairy operations. Read one post on this forum of someone who knew a producer who was not satisfied, because the cows kept getting through the fence.

Corral Technologies - US based, just barely getting going. Don't think they're even available yet. Obviously will only be available for USA.

Herd Whistle - Canada based

NoFence - Norway based, but probably the most aggressive of all of these companies in terms of market penetration. Now available in Spain and the USA...I think available in maybe one or two other countries. Not in South America. Doesn't sound very accurate. For example, the webpage says laneways should be a minimum of 30meters wide to avoid unwanted triggering of the collars. A 15m buffer on each side of the animal is way too much room for error. That tells me the system will often be innacurate by 5-10m.

NoFence does not require a base station, and requires that collars be located in areas that could reliably receive a phone call or text message.
It seems a number of the other companies have users install base stations. I'm not sure what the purpose of the base station is. Does the use of base stations, mean that that company's setup uses RTK GPS? If so, that would be an advantage. My property has steep areas, some forested areas, but is not very big. A base station could be located at our tallest hill, but would have to cross through perhaps 100 meters of forest to reach certain areas of the property. Not sure if that is an issue. Main property is 17 hectares and there are a couple adjacent rental properties 7 and 10 hectares respectively. Not every single spot on every single property is direct line of sight to where the base station would be located. As some valleys would be blocked by the top of a hill.

I'm not familiar enough with the tech to know if these scenarios are dealbreakers.

I have been reading a lot about silvopasture over the course of the past couple years, because we are trying to reduce ongoing maintenance costs of our highly experimental farm (currently done with weedwackers). Our farm is ten hectares of former cattle pasture that we reforested, by planting about 11,000 trees five years ago. We have primarily tropical fruit trees, and support trees, as well as a handful of timber trees. Our site is located in the high jungle of northern Peru.

I was watching this conference with Ian Mitchell Innes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27fUjjlwm7U

At about the 1 hour 6 minute mark he shows an image of a (mesquite?) tree in southern Texas and mentions how the high-density rotational grazing ended up contributing to the decline of the tree by changing the soil from a fungal dominated soil to a bacteria-dominated soil.

What do you think of that? Any hard science to back that up, or hard science to refute that? I’ve seen Ian present anecdotal pieces of evidence in some of his other presentations, showing that the management intensive ("mob") grazing favored grasses at the expense of other plant types.

So then, why is it that silvopasture works? Why do natural savannas work? Some of these grazing gurus even talk about the buffalo shoulder to shoulder grazing through savanna areas under trees. What makes a deliberately planted silvopasture tree any different from the Mesquite shown in the above example? If bacterial dominance of the soil created by the management intensive grazing were really a big concern, then what should be done to ensure the health of silvopasture trees in spite of the bacterial soils fostered by livestock grazing?

Ian specifically claims that the tree decline was due to augmenting the Fungal/Bacterial ratio of the soil in favor of Bacteria, and does not suggest that tree decline is a result of mechanical (hoof) damage such as compaction of root zones or direct damage to lateral roots. I know most people blame cows’ weight for killing trees, but such examples are usually where cows are given unrestricted frequent access to the same trees over and over again, not in contexts where a grouping of trees is exposed to cattle for one day and then given two months of rest/recovery.

Fred Frank V Bur wrote:I really wish there were some who were making a place like this in America that I could join, I would make it myself if I had others joining with contributing to it. But I don't have resources myself and can't just travel out from North America, or really this country, for having this, and I would need to go knowing where I would go to join is where I would stay. But I see it is desirable to grow everything for food and materials for having a sustainable community.

I'm sure a lot of people would say you're full of excuses, but they need to keep in mind that Paraguay is remote. It would be costly to get to and from there from North America, and then I'm sure it costs a lot of money to import quality versions of all the useful products we take for granted. That said it must have one of the easiest immigration policies on the planet for people from countries with higher standards of living. A while back I read the headlines about how Paraguay cancelled it's easy residency program, and I thought "finally it's over." Turns out they actually made things even easier. Sure it created a distinction between temporary and permanent residency, but the temporary residency leads to permanent residency. You could go and do what most would recommend: go rent there in a community for six months and see if the culture shock doesn't get under your skin.

I don't think I'd recommend that colony in the youtube video. The living costs like rent seemed exorbitant from my Peruvian perspective. I don't think things should cost that much in South America out in the middle of nowhere. Plus it doesn't look very interesting. I didn't notice any fruit trees on any of the lots. Hardly any trees at all for that matter.

No matter what community wherever, you're going to need to save up for a while unless you've got in-demand skills. Doesn't matter if you go to North America or South America.

Here's a youtube video from our land there. Feel free to PM me with any questions. BTW I'm the same person as the OP, just couldn't figure out how to login to my other account.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYGKkIG_jBk

Ihjan Versch wrote:Hi

I am seriously interested in creating a Vegan, Organic . Permaculture . Off Grid . Self sufficient homestead.
Co-creating a Vegan....potentially with others

I am presently temporarily living in Argentina.
I have been researching Paraguay as one option.

My own post...

HI

I am moving to Uruguay / Paraguay / Ecuador / Chile / Brazil,  or,  in a little under a months time.

My ability to work and live in any country in So. Am is already secured,

I have been immersed internationally in permaculture / organics / ethno-botany
(diversity of edible, medicinal and utilitarian plants from around the world),
and inter-related activities,
such as natural health, veganism,...
all of my life,
both, on a personal and professional level.

I am interested in discovering the right opportunity for me,
to work
(and also, possibly live, upon the same location)
actively within an already existing farm / project / community
or, forming project
or, the possibility of co-creating one,
with another person(s) who our vision are in-sync.

I have previously designed such an educational community previously.
I chose to postpone it, and change locations.

Happy to elaborate into further details
once we start to correspond directly.

I seriously prefer to video chat
or, at minimal,
talk by phone
on Signal +549 294 410 2929
or
on Telegram +54 294 410 2929
Encrypted systems ONLY.

Initially, you can write via email,
listeninsilence@protonmail.com

Though, I strongly affirm,
I do NOT like to text nor type
to any depth.

Kindly,

Ihjan

This community is in a different part of Paraguay, and demonstrates a good model for how this could be done.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYGKkIG_jBk