Why we work with Animals and critters small and large, wild and domesticated.

As homesteaders, getting livestock is often very important, just like a balanced eco system is for permaculture. Livestock keeps us in eggs and meat, that are cleaner and from animals we raised in a good environment where they can be happy. We do a lot for our animals big and small, and they pay us back with eggs, meat and compost. Chickens are fantastic composters. They will work through a load of weeds in no time and we know that there are no seed left, when they are done. The ducks make the best compost tea I have ever used aka their swimming pool, and rabbits make a fantastic fertilizer aka instant use manure.
One of the consequences of many not eating meat, is that we now are seeing livestock species going extinct, while lack of habitats also puts the wildlife in danger .Thinking about it makes me sad and full of worry.
Because of this my husband and I started to do research. As it turned out, we can  do a lot to help preserve endangered species and support the local wildlife. When my husband and I was talking about getting livestock, we started thinking about how we could turn this into something that benefited not only us, but also the livestock.
Doing research we stumbled over the livestock conservancy organization.  [url=] https://livestockconservancy.org/ [/url]. They have lists, where you can see which species needs to be breed to increase their numbers. Reading about the different species we feel in love with Australorp chickens and silver fox rabbits. Later we added road island reds and road island whites. We are very proud to announce that the RIR and the Australorps now has been removed from the list, and so has the silver fox rabbits.
Next time we need to add to our animals, we will go back to the list and pick new species. This way we do conservation work, which lines up with our goal of building a better world with room for all.
Just like the livestock, the wildlife are also needed on a homestead, and it’s all about balance, smart thinking and compromising. Below is a post a wrote a while ago about this exact thing.

When animals help
I will be the first one to say, that some days I am pulling my hair out in frustration, because of something the wild life has done. One dead plant after another being the victim of gophers, squirrels and birds stealing seeds from the ground, June bugs eating my melons and peaches, and don’t get me started on ants.
It took me many years before I realized, that in some way or another they were all helping me. It’s not always the help I want, but mostly it is, and what if they eat some of what I grow? It’s payment for their hard work. Now I try to compromise and guide the insects, birds, reptiles and critters toward food I don’t mind them eating, and have made for them.
This year I am harvesting tomatoes for the first year in a long time. Before they would always get eaten up by either rats or worms. This year our Night Guard Gawain (a stray Simi feral male cat), are protecting the produce in the back yard, from rodents, while the large bird population took care of the worms.
As for the June bugs, yes, I hate it when they eat my food, but my chickens grow fat from the grubs that they produce.
We live on the edge of a desert, so the soil we starters out with were sand and clay. Let me tell you that it’s almost impossible to dig in. Guess who are experts in digging? If you think gophers, you got it right. We have an agreement now, they can eat anything that’s not wrapped up in metal armor, and to pay for it, they mix the sandy clay filled soil, with the mulch and compost I provide.
I love birds, they are beautiful and sing to me. They also make a mess and don’t always agree with me on what to plant and where to plant it. This year, I wanted to have a sunflower forest out from, but nope, no matter what I did, the seeds either disappeared or was eaten when it came up. It made me a little mad, I admit, since I have a very large critter feeding station set up for them. Well now I have sunflowers coming up all over the garden. Mostly my raised beds, where the squirrels decided to plant corn. It’s beautiful plants, with lots of big cobs on it.
The seeds were from the feeding station. It made me think that in a way they (the wildlife) are now growing their own food.
I will also say that having sunflowers popping up everywhere looks a lot better than the sea I had imagined. Next year I will follow their advice and add seeds to random beds and places. People always ask me why I sow so much lettuce and every kind of brassica you can find. Well, if I do this and make some of it ready available, the wild rabbits and insect pests, will eat that and leave the rest alone. As for the rabbits, their job is to keep the California grasses cut down and they keep the coyotes fed, so they don’t go for our livestock.
I have learned to take things as they come, adapt and grow food for everyone. I am not always happy about what they do, but I am happy to have them. If I hadn’t had gophers, then food forest garden wouldn’t be thriving the way it does. They have changed desert sand and clay to rich dark soil, and they never stop digging and mixing.

I used to keep silver fox rabbits but I couldn't get myself to butcher them. It looks so simple but I just can't do it. 🤦🏼‍♀️

But there are so many benefits to raising rabbits (food, fur, manure) that I'm considering trying again.

I'll have to check out the link to see what rabbits are in danger of disappearing. Thank you for sharing that link. 🙂

Kathleen Marshall wrote:I used to keep silver fox rabbits but I couldn't get myself to butcher them. It looks so simple but I just can't do it. 🤦🏼‍♀️

But there are so many benefits to raising rabbits (food, fur, manure) that I'm considering trying again.

I'll have to check out the link to see what rabbits are in danger of disappearing. Thank you for sharing that link. 🙂

I can’t do it either, that’s why it’s my husband’s project and not mine. It also took some thinking before I could eat them. As for the fur, right now we don’t tan the fur. We just don’t have the time and energy with everything else going on. The manure is a favorite though, and one of the reasons I can grow food year round without problems. Twice a year when we switch seasons, I top up my beds with a mix of compost and manure. The rabbit manure don’t need composting like others do, and they slowly release nitrogen over a long time. Other than beds where I grow heavy feeders like garlic, I don’t add fertilizer again. The beds with heavy feeders I supplement with water from the duck pond/pool.
We only have 1/2 acre and our house and driveway takes away from it too, but I still grow an enormous amount of produce each year. Right now my tally says 1100 pounds of produce in 2024, and I still need to harvest sweet potatoes, cassava plus the rest of my winter squash and pumpkins. My estimate is that I probably have between 250 and 300 pounds of winter squash and pumpkins left.
What we don’t eat or preserve will be used as animal feed. We grow a large portion of our animal feed on top of food for ourselves.

I especially enjoyed reading your ability to 'compromise' with animals and balance both of your interests. I find pride in being able to strike an appropriate cord in balancing my foodstuffs with everything else's foodstuffs.

I have a lot of garden space, most of it fenced, but I make sure to grow things that will be appreciated by all the furry woodland creatures.

I find the ability to feed things to my chickens that would otherwise go to the compost pile to be satisfying. I feel like I'm getting "free" eggs by doing this rather than waiting for compost to go on the garden. You still get the manure to do just that! It's pretty neat.

What a fantastic amount of produce! 😃

I live in a colder climate so I can only garden part of the year. I injured myself about two years ago and was unable to garden, which about killed me.

I'm doing better now so I'm excited to start again in the spring. But I don't think I could grow nearly what you do! Very inspiring!

Timothy Norton wrote:I especially enjoyed reading your ability to 'compromise' with animals and balance both of your interests. I find pride in being able to strike an appropriate cord in balancing my foodstuffs with everything else's foodstuffs.

I have a lot of garden space, most of it fenced, but I make sure to grow things that will be appreciated by all the furry woodland creatures.

I find the ability to feed things to my chickens that would otherwise go to the compost pile to be satisfying. I feel like I'm getting "free" eggs by doing this rather than waiting for compost to go on the garden. You still get the manure to do just that! It's pretty neat.

I love getting “free” eggs too. One of the reasons we grow so much of our livestock feeds, is that it has gotten crazy expensive. The chicken feed we used, cost the same as 2 years ago, but now it only contains 40 pounds, instead of the 50 pounds it used to. This year we are also upgrading our chicken coop, since we keep loosing chickens to raccoons, and our two roosters do nothing to protect the flock. Once done, they will be locked in from dusk to dawn. I think that the raccoons are the only animal, I can’t find a place for. They are just thieves and too smart. They have figured out how to open the latch on the door of the chicken pen, and how to remove the tie downs we also use. Anyway, once done, the chickens will be as secure as if they were living in our house LOL.

I think the key word for your splendid view is co-operation. This is how Nature works. It's wonderful, simple, harmonious....

Madeleine Innocent wrote:I think the key word for your splendid view is co-operation. This is how Nature works. It's wonderful, simple, harmonious....

Yes, it’s about being flexible, look outside the norms and compromise. This year I harvested 1 metric ton of produce, grains, herbs and nuts. This from a 33k squar feed forest garden and 20 raised beds. It shows that you really don’t need to use chemicals to grow large amounts of food. It can also be done by making smart choice, and by broadening once perspective.

Ulla, thank you for including your lot size! That is very helpful / hopeful for me! I am impressed by how many farm animals you keep. Congratulations on the lbs and lbs of harvest!

Suzette Thib wrote:Ulla, thank you for including your lot size! That is very helpful / hopeful for me! I am impressed by how many farm animals you keep. Congratulations on the lbs and lbs of harvest!

You are welcome. We keep the maximum of animals we are legally allowed to have. As for produce, I ended up with a total of 2206 pounds in 2024,  so a little over a metric ton. With 5 and now 4 adults to feed, we need to produce a lot. As the kids leave for college, we are probably going to scale some of our production down. 3 thousand eggs a year will be too much for just 2 adults. I am also slowly transitioning beds from annuals to perennials, so it will be less work, when it’s just the two of us.

Ulla Bisgaard wrote: This year I harvested 1 metric ton of produce, grains, herbs and nuts. This from a 33k squar feed forest garden and 20 raised beds. It shows that you really don’t need to use chemicals to grow large amounts of food. It can also be done by making smart choice, and by broadening once perspective.

That is magnificent! Well done!

I notice that the local food bank is now giving out free seeds to people with food insecurity. It's the right idea, but executing is not that simple. They need a system, and a tribe of supporters, and a radical troupe of peeps who know where to find the resources. Sorta like this tribe.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:

Ulla Bisgaard wrote: This year I harvested 1 metric ton of produce, grains, herbs and nuts. This from a 33k squar feed forest garden and 20 raised beds. It shows that you really don’t need to use chemicals to grow large amounts of food. It can also be done by making smart choice, and by broadening once perspective.

That is magnificent! Well done!

I notice that the local food bank is now giving out free seeds to people with food insecurity. It's the right idea, but executing is not that simple. They need a system, and a tribe of supporters, and a radical troupe of peeps who know where to find the resources. Sorta like this tribe.

While I don’t send seeds and food to the food banks, I do offer free garden tours and help others get started on growing food.
I am also in a buy nothing group, where I offer up extra food, plants and seeds. It continues to surprise me, how many people have no idea how to grow food, or about foraging. A few days ago, I had a talk with two of our neighbors. They were talking about how to get started growing food, to feed their families. When I pointed out, that they already have nettles and mustard growing wild, they had no idea those were edible, and were not comfortable preparing and eating them. I think that things like this is part of the culture we have now, about not eating weeds, or what we see as weeds instead of food.