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Summary
part 3 of a 3 part podcast
Permaculture smackdown 33 with Paul, Rob and Samantha
Rob raises the question of how many chickens will be self-supporting in Paul's proposed paddock system.
Paul says the chickens will probably get protein from insects, but there are also kitchen scraps and offal from hogs and other things which can boost it. Paul feels that 20 chickens would give him enough eggs for the people at base camp. He further figures that 20 chickens in an acre in which there are hügelkulturs for 7-10 days won't have time to turn it into a wasteland.
Rob also mentions that chickens tend to expand, to which Paul counters with chicken soup: the population can be managed so that it doesn't overload the land.
They take a few questions from the chat
* how would feral chickens cope in a Montana winter? Paul figures that the wild turkeys do fine, so the right kind of chickens should be good.
* maybe you could raise fish or have a fish trap to get more protein? This is something Paul hadn't thought of.
Rob says if chickens were the size of ostriches he'd be scared of them, as they catch and eat 'most anything. Paul agrees that chickens are great at keeping insects down.
Paul starts to sum up his proposed system: It needs to be reliable without relying on human discipline, and produce excellent quality eggs and meat.
Samantha comments that mulberries are great chicken food, so mulberry trees could be a good plan.
Rob wonders what the next steps are - will they start with a smaller scale pilot scheme? Samantha suggests that if enough people at the lab want chicken and eggs, they will be keen to help build the chicken infrastructure. Paul takes the point that a quarter-acre paddock scheme could be good as it would be easier to build, but Paul feels going for it with the 1-acre paddocks from the start will be how it goes.
Relevant Threads
Chickens forum
Turkeys forum
chickens at basecamp
Rotational Grazing forum
Weave a fish trap - PEM BB traditional.straw.fishtrap
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